So the News Gazette football beat writer, Bob Asmussen, is counting down the 50 most important Illini Football players for 2009.  Because he’s already way off – and since he’s a diehard Nebraska fan which eliminates him from having a valid opinion about Illinois football – I’ve decided to make my own top-50 list.  I wrote out the list 9 days ago, and am currently sitting at my desk at one in the morning fretting over Fred Sykes or Justin Green at spot #50.  It makes me a better person.

Without further ado:

#50 Justin Green – Freshman running back from Louisville who’s the speediest speedster in all of Speedville.  He’s probably way too thin to find the field this fall, but if he does, check out his Kentucky-state-title-in-the-100-meters speed.

#49 Cordale Scott – Although I still want him at linebacker, he’s too valuable an athlete to not find the field.  He certainly looks the part.  He looked downright Jeff Cumberland-y lined up on the outside in the spring game.

#48 Nate Bussey – Mostly completely lost at safety last year, he’s now moved to outside linebacker.  Hopefully, this “see the guy with the ball? Go get him” change pays off.

#47 Chris Duvalt – Coming out of last year’s spring game, I might have put Duvalt at #15.  And at halftime of the EIU game, when he had 3 TDs in our first 6 quarters of football, I might have even moved him higher.  Then the last 10 games happened.  Gotta work on those hands, Duvey.

#46 Supo Sanni – I went into the spring wanting him to steal the starting free safety spot.  But in the second scrimmage and the spring game, he still looked lost out there.  He’s another looker (tall, strong, fast), but needs seasoning. I hope to see him make his mark on special teams.

#45 Graham Pocic – He’s probably the first guard off the bench.  And I’d like to see him push Randall Hunt for the starting left guard spot.  He might even spell Block at center. And what the hell – we need a holder, too.

#44 Justin Staples – What I WANT is for him to nail down the starting WLB position.  What I THINK is he’ll back up at all three linebacker positions as he learns his way around.  And he’ll probably eventually settle on the outside.

#43 Jack Ramsey – Watching the WR video this spring, I was very impressed by his footwork.  Seems to be waterbug-y, which will pay dividends both at wideout and on kick returns.  I like him to understudy Jarred Fayson for two years and then burst onto the scene in 2011.

#42 Patrick Nixon-Youman – Surprised me by returning from Academic Casualty Land (seriously, who ever comes back after a “he’s headed back home this semester to get his grades straightened out” report?) with an extra name and a chip on his shoulder. Hopefully he’ll get some minutes backing up our corners.

#41 Rahkeem Smith – What a long strange trip. From 2-star high school linebacker to 4-star military prep school linebacker to sophomore starting fullback in the Rose Bowl to senior backup defensive tackle.  Can he punt?

I’ll try to update this each time Bob tosses out another 10 gems. And seriously Bob – true freshman linebacker Eric Watts at #50? Really??