College Football

Illinois Football: Spring Practice Tight End Depth Chart Breakdown

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 1:01 a.m. ET

Fansided, Rees Woodcock/FanSided via Writing Illini

The Illinois football team is building a talented roster in Champaign.

They are starting to collect depth at just about every position. But, there has been one position that hasn’t produced much over the last few years.

That position is tight end. Illinois has lacked at the tight end position since Ron Zook was fired. That is all changing, though.

Illinois has a nice stable of tight ends heading into spring practice and another big tight end coming in from the class of 2017.

Here is the spring practice tight end depth chart for the Illini.

Starter: Griffin Palmer

The 2017 spring practice has a bit of surprise, as the projected starting tight end is Griffin Palmer.

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This is not a name some fans are familiar with but he has the size and pedigree to be a top notch tight end.

Palmer was a member of the class of 2016. He was a two-star tight end out of St. Louis, Missouri. He was redshirted last season but now he has a chance to shine in Lovie’s offense.

I expect Palmer to be a pretty good tight end. He stands at 6-foot-5, 220-pounds and his dad was also a tight end for Iowa back in the mid-to-late 1980’s.

Backup: Caleb Reams

Reams comes into spring practices as the No. 2 tight end for the Illini. He is one of the few tight ends on the roster that has actually had some playing experience in college.

Last season, Reams played in five games and started one of them. He caught 2 passes for 9 yards the entire season.

No. 3 TE: Andrew Trainer

The No. 3 tight end for the Illini is Trainer. Much like Palmer, Trainer was redshirted last season, but he is looking to make an impact in 2017.

Trainer was a two-star coming out of high school, but he stands at 6-foot-7 and weighs 235-pounds. He has a lot of potential in size and hopefully, that translates on the field.

No. 4 TE: Zarrian Holcombe

The final tight end on the depth chart heading into spring practice is Holcombe. He is a 6-foot-6, 220-pound monster who will be an asset this season.

Holcombe played in seven games last season on special teams. He will be looked at to continue those special teams duties and hopefully, become a big-time pass catcher for the Illini.

This squad of tight ends is pretty good and they are adding another one later in the year. Illinois is going to have some nice red zone threats in 2017.