Fritz Rock
Wide Receiver
6′-1″, 210 lbs.
Sophomore (on scholarship, 3 years to play 3)
Wayzata HS / Golden Valley, Minnesota

ALE Ranking last year: #65

What I Know About Him:

I know he’s a 21 year-old sophomore. Rock was an interesting recruit. He was a 3-star recruit in the fall of 2008 with offers from schools like Cincinnati and Indiana, but then didn’t sign anywhere that February because of academic and personal reasons. He and his brother worked to make sure he would make it through the NCAA Clearinghouse issues after he took a year off, and in the summer of 2010, he joined the Illini right before training camp.

That year he was tried at safety, but in the spring of 2011 he moved back to his high school position of wide receiver. He only played in one game last year (South Dakota State), but I think he’ll play in a lot of games this fall.

What I Expect From Him:

With the loss of Anthony Williams, Jordan Frysinger, Jake Kumerow, and JJ Robertson, we’re down to seven scholarship receivers: Darius Millines, Spencer Harris, Ryan Lankford, Jeremy Whitlow, Kenny Knight, Hayden Daniels, and Fritz Rock. Rock is probably fourth or fifth on that list right now (actually, given that I have four receivers ahead of him on this list, I must think he’s fifth). It will be interesting to see what he provides this fall. By years from high school, he should be a senior this fall. Which, let me check the birth dates real quick… yes, makes him the oldest receiver on the team.

Catch guess: 13. I think Fritz Rock will catch 13 passes this fall. Unless, of course, Terry Hawthorne plays every snap on offense and defense, catches 91 balls (along with 8 interceptions), and I write my second book, “99: The 99 Electrifying Times That Terry Hawthorne Got His Hands On The Ball During Illinois’ Magical Rose Bowl Season Of 2012″. That’s right, second book. My first book, as loyal readers know, will be “Fifty Three: The 53 Games Of Nathan Scheelhaase As The Illini Starting Quarterback”. It’s a working title.

And yes, he’s still on pace.