You can look back to the 1990s with Simeon Rice tearing up the college ranks for the Illini and then getting picked in the first round of the 1996 NFL Draft. The Arizona Cardinals took him with the third overall pick. More recently, you can look at Whitney Mercilus who was picked by the Houston Texans in the first round in the 2012 NFL Draft. Jihad Ward was picked in the second round and Dawuane Smoot in the third round. The history of Illinois putting defensive ends into the NFL is there.
Illinois has some solid pass rushers on the team right now.