No. 27: Kendrick Foster, RB
Why he’s important: Depth and experience. This position group is likely to become a much more prominent part of the offense under Lovie Smith than it was under Tim Beckman and Bill Cubit. That’s because the new Illinois coach likes to have an offense predicated off the success of the run game. Wes Lunt will gladly take an improved run game to help alleviate some of the pressure he faced last season in needing to perform almost flawlessly for the Illinois offense to thrive. Foster received the first Big Ten carry of his college career last season at Purdue, a game in which Illinois compiled a season-best 395 rushing yards.