Name: Casey Thomann
Position: OT
High School: Olney East Richland
Graduation Year: 2026
Height: 6-foot-7
Weight: 280 pounds
Recruiting Status: Committed to Illinois. Thomann was a pretty heavy lean to Illinois from very early on in his recruiting process. Thomann also had offers from the likes of Iowa, Eastern Michigan plus Nebraska and Northwestern.
HUDL:
My impressions of Casey Thomann: Casey Thomann has been on my recruiting radar since his freshman year when a handful of coaches around the Little Illini conference began tipping me off about a enormous kid playing for East Richland as a sophomore. Thomann has been a dominant player for the Tigers and also a multiple sport athlete as well. Thomann no question was a key player in helping the Tigers go from a 0-9 record in 2023 to a 10-1 record last season and a state playoff appearance and Round 1 win in Class 4A. Thomann overall physical tools and upsdie for development no question are big keys here and Illinois will need to have a bit of patience with Thomann early on, but I can see this kid also having a shot at making some noise down the line while at Illinois.
Evaluation of Casey Thomann: Casey Thomann is every bit 6-foot-7 and 280 plus pounds and his raw physical and God given ability will allow him to develop and become a much different and a much more effective player at the Big Ten level in a year or two. Thomann has generally just steamrolled smaller opponents in his high school career and his sheer size and strength has allowed him to just dominate anyone lined up against hm the past few seasons. Thomann has been operating in a run heavy offense and his learning curve will also include having to really focus hard on his overall, pass pro technique along with just raising his overall game and intensity level for the Power 4 level. Thomann is in many ways a bit of a project in my opinion...yet his overall physical tools, strong work ethic and his "want to" is high and will serve him well over the next year plus as he gets ready for college football. It won't come easy for Thomann or really any high school linemen to be fully prepareed for college football out of high school....and the sooner Thomann can shorten that learning curve the better for Thomann and the Fighting Illini.
Room for improvement? Again the learning curve here will be very high on several levels for Thomann most importantly getting adjusted to and ready for the sheer level of power, speed and physicality of Power 4 football. Thomann again is a smaller school level player who has seen limited competition (again nothing you can control) especially going against kids of similar size and skill set. Thomann will need to also work on and improve his overall fundamentals and technique both in the run game as well and most importantly in pass pro.
Projected level: Rivals has Casey Thomann ranked as a mid 3 star ranked recruit in the Class of 2026 along with being the #11th top recruit in the State of Illinois Class of 2026 recruit rankings.
EDGYTIM Recommended Initial Rankings: I pretty much agreee with the Rivals ranking here taking in to account everything. Yes....Casey Thomann will be a bit of a project early on and he will have a ton of work to do....yet he also has a chance to develop into a really strong player and someone who could benefit from the Illinois staff especially head coach Bret Bielema another small school kid back in the day who found a way to make it in the Big 10. Illinois continues to pile up wins on the recruiting trail and this is yet another important get for the Illinoi in my opinion.
Position: OT
High School: Olney East Richland
Graduation Year: 2026
Height: 6-foot-7
Weight: 280 pounds
Recruiting Status: Committed to Illinois. Thomann was a pretty heavy lean to Illinois from very early on in his recruiting process. Thomann also had offers from the likes of Iowa, Eastern Michigan plus Nebraska and Northwestern.
HUDL:
My impressions of Casey Thomann: Casey Thomann has been on my recruiting radar since his freshman year when a handful of coaches around the Little Illini conference began tipping me off about a enormous kid playing for East Richland as a sophomore. Thomann has been a dominant player for the Tigers and also a multiple sport athlete as well. Thomann no question was a key player in helping the Tigers go from a 0-9 record in 2023 to a 10-1 record last season and a state playoff appearance and Round 1 win in Class 4A. Thomann overall physical tools and upsdie for development no question are big keys here and Illinois will need to have a bit of patience with Thomann early on, but I can see this kid also having a shot at making some noise down the line while at Illinois.
Evaluation of Casey Thomann: Casey Thomann is every bit 6-foot-7 and 280 plus pounds and his raw physical and God given ability will allow him to develop and become a much different and a much more effective player at the Big Ten level in a year or two. Thomann has generally just steamrolled smaller opponents in his high school career and his sheer size and strength has allowed him to just dominate anyone lined up against hm the past few seasons. Thomann has been operating in a run heavy offense and his learning curve will also include having to really focus hard on his overall, pass pro technique along with just raising his overall game and intensity level for the Power 4 level. Thomann is in many ways a bit of a project in my opinion...yet his overall physical tools, strong work ethic and his "want to" is high and will serve him well over the next year plus as he gets ready for college football. It won't come easy for Thomann or really any high school linemen to be fully prepareed for college football out of high school....and the sooner Thomann can shorten that learning curve the better for Thomann and the Fighting Illini.
Room for improvement? Again the learning curve here will be very high on several levels for Thomann most importantly getting adjusted to and ready for the sheer level of power, speed and physicality of Power 4 football. Thomann again is a smaller school level player who has seen limited competition (again nothing you can control) especially going against kids of similar size and skill set. Thomann will need to also work on and improve his overall fundamentals and technique both in the run game as well and most importantly in pass pro.
Projected level: Rivals has Casey Thomann ranked as a mid 3 star ranked recruit in the Class of 2026 along with being the #11th top recruit in the State of Illinois Class of 2026 recruit rankings.
EDGYTIM Recommended Initial Rankings: I pretty much agreee with the Rivals ranking here taking in to account everything. Yes....Casey Thomann will be a bit of a project early on and he will have a ton of work to do....yet he also has a chance to develop into a really strong player and someone who could benefit from the Illinois staff especially head coach Bret Bielema another small school kid back in the day who found a way to make it in the Big 10. Illinois continues to pile up wins on the recruiting trail and this is yet another important get for the Illinoi in my opinion.
