Braelon Allen 2.0: Illinois RB Kaden Feagin
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When the elephant walks, the forest walks with him.
- CFF Wiseman
CFF Wisemen used to tell tales of 250+ pound tailbacks from the 80s and 90s running roughshod over CFB, but many of us new school analysts never believed them, or at least, dismissed these notions as urban legends. “They're old, they don’t even remember how big these guys were” we used to say.
But every now and then there is a specimen that comes along that proves that the old timers might not have been exaggerating about the Ron Daynes and Brandon Jacobs of the world. Illinois’ Kaden Feagin is one of these specimens. Non-coincidentally, his coach, Bret Bielema, is a throwback type of guy also.
Unfortunately, Feagin’s season was cut short last year due to injury. Had that not been the case, we very well could be looking at the reigning B1G Freshman of the Year. Even still, he had a strong debut season with the Illini. This offseason, it appears clear that he will be the primary bellcow on the roster. Here’s an update in June from a beat writer previewing who he thinks the top 10 players for Illinois will be:
Give No. 3 the ball with a full head of steam and it looks like he is a bowling ball knocking pins out of the way for a strike. At 6 feet, 3 inches and 250 pounds, Feagin is a large human being. Especially at his position.
The key for Bielema and offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. is to keep the Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond product healthy. If he plays every game this fall for the Illini, he will top 1,000 yards with ease.
Topping 1000 yards with ease is exactly what we like to hear. And, given this staff’s track record, I believe it.
Coaching & System
RB1 PPG AVERAGE — HC: 17.4 — OC: 19.31 (half ppr)
The aforementioned Bret Bielema is the head coach of the Illini, and his OC is a man named Barry Lunney. Bielema’s been with the program since 2021, and Lunney joined in 2022 after spending two seasons as the OC of UTSA (2020-21). Prior to UTSA Lunney spent seven seasons in various roles (but not OC) at Arkansas (2013-18).
It’s at Arkansas that Lunney most likely met Bielema, as he was the head coach with the Hogs from 2013-17. The lineage of pigs under Bielema is well documented by now, as he spent time with Wisconsin as well from 2006-2012. The Badgers had a 1000-yard rusher every season except one during that span. Ditto for Bielema’s time at Arkansas, with the only non-1000-yard rushing season being 2017. And of course, we know that Chase Brown did it twice with Illinois in 2021 and 2022.
That is to say: of the 15 seasons dating back to 2006 where Bielema occupied the role of head coach, 12(!) of them yielded a 1000-yard runner. How’s that for a track record?
The average from his previous three seasons at Illinois shown in the table projects to 1200 rushing yards per season for his RB1, and about 20 carries per game. In fact, in 2022 Chase Brown accounted for 60(!) % of the Illini rushing production. Holy cow—or, I guess I should say HOLY PIG.
However, as we saw in 2023, nothing is ever a given in this world and there will sometimes be committees even under a pig farmer like Bielema.
Both Bielema and Lunney historically average around a 55/45 run/pass split. Something counterintuitive that I highlighted with the Pat Bryant article a month ago was that despite the run-heavy tendency, and the perception of Bielema’s programs being a slower, B1G-style ground and pound outfit, his Illinois teams move at a fast pace. They were 23rd in the FBS last year with 24 seconds per play and the three year average under Bielema is 24.4 seconds per play.
This is the best recipe for RB success, and the ingredients are as follows: heavy touch concentration to the RB1, strong offensive line play, play calling skewing to the run, and a staff that runs plays quickly. That’s pretty much 4/4 right there on the system end of the equation.
Kaden Feagin (6’3, 250)
2023 STATS: 95-438-2 (9.2 PPG)
Just like the player whose name was evoked in the title, Feagin came out of high school being listed as an ‘ATH’ or athlete. The former three star out of Illinois held offers from Miami, Michigan and Tennessee, to name a few. He was regarded as one of the biggest (literally and figuratively) recruiting wins for the Bielema staff in the 2023 class.
He had a strong freshman season last year, but as usual there is more work to do this offseason if he’s going to take the next step. Here’s a quote from the man of the hour this offseason:
I was still a freshman last year, so getting more of the offense, learning more, more of watching it happen. (Offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr.) talks about being a brilliant learner and learning from other people's mistakes. I'm just trying to do that.
Here’s another snippet from an Illini preview this offseason by a beat writer:
I can honestly not tell you the last time I was this excited to see what a running back can do on the football field. I know Chase Brown had a big season in 2022, but I don’t remember feeling this much excitement and having these expectations for Brown.
Kaden Feagin came into his freshman season as one of the highest-rated recruits in the class of 2023. He was Illinois’ third-highest snag in the 2023 class, checking in as a four-star recruit who was inside the top 375 in the country.
From the start, I was impressed with Feagin. He competed with Reggie Love III for snaps and went toe-to-toe with the multi-year veteran. I fully believe Feagin was the reason why Love transferred out and went to Purdue. The future at running back goes through Feagin.
The biggest reason why I think there will be a huge boost in numbers for Feagin is that he is the man now at running back. Love is gone, and the biggest contender for snaps is Aidan Laughery. I think there could be thunder and lightning with Feagin and Laughery at times, but this is Feagin’s backfield.
I also believe the Illinois offensive line has improved. JC Davis was one of the best offensive linemen in the country last season, and landing him out of the transfer portal was huge. Zy Crisler should improve. I am also excited to see what Kevin Wigenton II and Melvin Priestly can do entering the program from the transfer portal.
Feagin has all of the pieces to have a great season. Don’t be shocked, if healthy, he hits the 1,000-yard mark in 2024.
The note about the offensive line play was of particular interest to me. Illinois returns around 56% of snaps from a year ago, but have obviously brought in some replacements there via the transfer portal. This will be a crucial puzzle piece in determining whether Feagin is a guy who just barely scrapes through to 1000-yards rushing, or becomes a 1500+ yard gangster.
Closing
Feagin currently holds an ADP of 122.6 according to Campus2Canton. His June ADP of 111.5 suggests he is rising up boards, though, and will probably settle within the top 10 rounds of most drafts by the end of the summer.
Every now and then I write articles about a player where my excitement steadily increases throughout the write-up. This is one of those examples as the more I dug into this profile the more I saw things I liked. Feagin will be a riser in my final CFF rankings. ◾
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