Illinois
Big Ten · 2026 season. What the roster costs, what every player is worth by our Model Price, and who came and went in the portal. Estimates with the inputs public; reported deals labeled and sourced.
Est. roster spend
$12.1M - $16.3M
#68 of 68 in our spend model
Portal net stars
-28
19 in, 27 out
Top Model Price
$1.8M
Katin Houser
Roster strength (fantasy model)
#53 in P4
Skill-position value over replacement, summed
Spend is a band on purpose: collective money is not public, so anyone quoting an exact payroll is guessing. Roster strength covers skill positions only, from the same college fantasy model behind our 2026 rankings.
Roster with Model Prices
Every Illinois player in our valuation set, priced by the model. Where a real deal has been credibly reported, that number shows instead with a source link and the word reported right on the badge.
| # | Player | Pos | Role | Price | Model Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Katin Houser | QB | starter | $1.8M | $1.8M |
| 2 | Alex Perry | WR | starter | $1.3M | $1.3M |
| 3 | Collin Dixon | WR | starter | $1.2M | $1.2M |
| 4 | Hudson Clement | WR | starter | $1.2M | $1.2M |
| 5 | Darrell Prater | DL | starter | $868K | $868K |
| 6 | Jayshon Platt | WR | rotation | $704K | $704K |
| 7 | Micah Smith | IOL | starter | $651K | $651K |
| 8 | Kai Pritchard | IOL | starter | $651K | $651K |
| 9 | Nick Hankins | CB | starter | $568K | $568K |
| 10 | Connor Sullivan | DL | starter | $525K | $525K |
| 11 | Carter Janki | DL | starter | $525K | $525K |
| 12 | Jake Renfro | IOL | starter | $458K | $458K |
| 13 | Christian Martin | OT | starter | $458K | $458K |
| 14 | Deuce Fillmore | CB | starter | $454K | $454K |
| 15 | Isaiah Thomison | DL | starter | $433K | $433K |
| 16 | Robert Edmonson | LB | starter | $429K | $429K |
| 17 | Jacob Eberhart | LB | starter | $407K | $407K |
| 18 | Lavon Williams | S | starter | $399K | $399K |
| 19 | Isaiah Williams | S | starter | $399K | $399K |
| 20 | Kaden Feagin | RB | starter | $383K | $383K |
| 21 | Kaedyn Cobbs | LB | starter | $286K | $286K |
| 22 | Carson Boyd | QB | rotation | $273K | $273K |
| 23 | James Finley | S | starter | $267K | $267K |
| 24 | Carter Smith | LB | rotation | $266K | $266K |
| 25 | Ayden Knapik | OL | starter | $252K | $252K |
| 26 | Parker Crim | EDGE | rotation | $206K | $206K |
| 27 | King Liggins | DL | rotation | $206K | $206K |
| 28 | Kingston Shaw | EDGE | rotation | $206K | $206K |
| 29 | Jacob Alexander | EDGE | rotation | $206K | $206K |
| 30 | Matthew Bailey | DB | depth | $187K | $187K |
| 31 | Will Vala | TE | starter | $183K | $183K |
| 32 | Aidan Laughery | RB | rotation | $177K | $177K |
| 33 | Eddie Kasper | WR | rotation | $170K | $170K |
| 34 | Tanner Heckel | DB | depth | $137K | $137K |
| 35 | Ty Robinson | WR | rotation | $134K | $134K |
| 36 | Dylan Rosiek | LB | depth | $121K | $121K |
| 37 | Xavier Scott | DB | depth | $114K | $114K |
| 38 | Grant Smith | TE | depth | $110K | $110K |
| 39 | Logan Farrell | TE | depth | $110K | $110K |
| 40 | Trey Peters | TE | depth | $110K | $110K |
Portal ledger
2026 transfer portal traffic for Illinois: 19 in, 27 out, net star flow -28. Source: CollegeFootballData.
| Player | Pos | Stars | Direction | From / To | Window |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Finley | S | 4 | IN | Northern Illinois | spring |
| Lavon Williams | S | 3 | IN | East Texas A&M | winter |
| Carter Janki | DL | 3 | IN | Pennsylvania | winter |
| Katin Houser | QB | 3 | IN | East Carolina | winter |
| Jake Renfro | IOL | 3 | IN | Wisconsin | winter |
| Christian Martin | OT | 3 | IN | Colorado State | winter |
| Jayshon Platt | WR | 3 | IN | Florida Atlantic | winter |
| Ty Robinson | WR | 3 | IN | Ball State | winter |
| Alex Perry | WR | 3 | IN | Florida International | winter |
| William Holmes | EDGE | 3 | IN | Utah State | winter |
| Connor Sullivan | DL | 3 | IN | Washington State | winter |
| Deuce Fillmore | CB | 3 | IN | Georgia State | winter |
| Robert Edmonson | LB | 3 | IN | Colorado State | winter |
| Ethan Moczulski | K | 3 | IN | Washington | winter |
| Isaiah Thomison | DL | 3 | IN | Bowling Green | winter |
| Darrell Prater | DL | 3 | IN | Jacksonville State | winter |
| Eddie Kasper | WR | 3 | IN | Illinois State | spring |
| Maurice Smith | ATH | - | IN | Chowan | winter |
| Zach Haber | LS | - | IN | Arkansas | winter |
| Cole Rusk | TE | 4 | OUT | Arizona | winter |
| Justin Bowick | WR | 4 | OUT | Oklahoma State | winter |
| Tomiwa Durojaiye | DL | 4 | OUT | South Carolina | winter |
| Easton Baker | LB | 3 | OUT | In portal | winter |
| Tyson Rooks | S | 3 | OUT | In portal | winter |
| David Olano | K | 3 | OUT | Texas A&M | winter |
| Kaleb Patterson | CB | 3 | OUT | Kansas State | winter |
| Malachi Hood | LB | 3 | OUT | West Virginia | winter |
| Amar Reynolds | CB | 3 | OUT | Florida Atlantic | winter |
| Curt Neal | DL | 3 | OUT | Purdue | winter |
| Jojo Hayden | LB | 3 | OUT | Purdue | winter |
| Jake Furtney | TE | 3 | OUT | Ohio | winter |
| Malik Elzy | WR | 3 | OUT | LSU | winter |
| Jeremiah Warren | DL | 3 | OUT | Pittsburgh | winter |
| Saboor Karriem | S | 3 | OUT | Temple | winter |
| Trey Petty | QB | 3 | OUT | Western Michigan | winter |
| Ethan Hampton | QB | 3 | OUT | Southern Miss | winter |
| Angelo McCullom | DL | 3 | OUT | Texas A&M | winter |
| Eli Coenen | DL | 3 | OUT | Michigan State | winter |
| Vernon Woodward III | CB | 3 | OUT | Jacksonville State | winter |
| Mario Sanders II | WR | 3 | OUT | Southern Miss | winter |
| Tyler McMillan | OT | 3 | OUT | Eastern Michigan | winter |
| Ashton Hollins | WR | 3 | OUT | Georgia Southern | winter |
| Donovan Turner | CB | 3 | OUT | Sacramento State | winter |
| Alexander Capka-Jones | WR | 3 | OUT | In portal | winter |
| Harrysson Ngassa | EDGE | 2 | OUT | South Florida | spring |
| Kellen Francis | OT | - | OUT | In portal | winter |
The money behind the program
Rev-share layer (est.)
$15.3M
School money shared with athletes under the House settlement cap, football's estimated slice
Third-party NIL layer (mid)
$-1158K
Collective and endorsement money on top, midpoint of our estimate
Athletics revenue
$174.6M
Total athletics revenue from the school's federal EADA filing, public record
How the numbers are built: revenue-share layer plus third-party NIL layer, calibrated against published benchmarks and our ledger of reported deals. Full methodology on the roster spend page and the NIL rankings page. What goes in is public; the exact weights are ours.