Kendrick Green originally was ranked one of the top centers in the country, but it was his senior film at defensive tackle that elevated him from a 3-star offensive line prospect struggling to get power-five attention to a 4-star defensive tackle with some of the Midwest’s top programs vying for his services.

But Green is moving back across the line of scrimmage to give Illinois some depth on its offensive line. The 6-foot-4, 300-pound redshirt freshman is listed as an offensive lineman on the updated official Illinois football roster and is expected to compete at left guard and possibly back up starting center Doug Kramer.

Green repped on the second string at defensive tackle for spurts last fall training camp but was one of just three true freshmen — all defensive tackles: Green, Lere Oladipo and Deon Pate — who redshirted last fall. Green again repped at defensive tackle this spring.

But with the Illini adding 4-star freshmen defensive tackles Calvin Avery and Verdis Brown to an already pretty deep group of interior defensive linemen — Jamal Milan, Tymir Oliver, Kenyon Jackson, Pate and possibly Oladipo and Jamal Woods, who both also could play defensive end — Green may provide more value on the offensive line, where Illinois is very thin.

The Illini first-string offensive line during the spring included Jake Cerny (left tackle), Alex Palczewski (left guard), Kramer (center), Nick Allegretti (right guard) and Vederian Lowe (right tackle). Sophomore Larry Boyd is expected to compete for a starting spot. The Illini bring in four true freshmen but would ideally like to redshirt most of them, unlike last season when it had to throw its freshman class into the fire.

Green played center for the U-19 USA Football teammate the IFAF World Championships in China and was an all-state selection after leading Peoria to a Class 5A state championship in 2016.

Also, Danville product Julian Pearl was recruited as an offensive lineman, but Pearl will at least start his career on the defensive line. The 6-foot-6, 250-pound freshman likely needs multiple years of strength gains to play the offensive line, but he also has traits Illinois looks for at defensive end and Illinois needs depth at the position, which he played in high school. Regardless of which position he eventually settles at, Pearl is expected to redshirt.

Ayo Shogbonyo officially has moved from linebacker to defensive end, where he earned reps this spring. Shogbonyo mostly made an impact on special teams last season but now may fill a pass-rush specialist role on the edge.

Other quick hits

- After an off-season of more than a dozen transfers out of the program, there appear to be no scholarship player defections since the spring.

- Blueshirt additions Caleb Griffin (kicker), AJ Bush (quarterback) and Dominic Stampley are not yet listed on the official roster. Illinois is unable to publicly comment on the blueshirt additions because they won't officially be members of the team until after the first practice. A blueshirt recruit cannot be officially recruited (a coach can't visit the prospect at his home and the program cannot host that recruit for an official visit) and cannot take part in official team activities until the first day of practice. Afterward, they will be put on scholarship and count toward the school's allotment of 2019 scholarships. Illinois added those three as blueshirts because it already had filled its allotment of 25 scholarships for the Class of 2018.

- Freshman Louis Dorsey is now listed as Lou Dorsey.

- Freshman quarterback MJ Rivers is officially listed as MJ Rivers II.

- Converted tight end Andrew Trainer is listed at 305 pounds. He switched to offensive line last fall training camp and weighed about 270 pounds at the time.

- Illinois officially added a walk-on class that includes QB Drake Davis (Naperville North), WR D'Ante Cox (Rochester via Missouri Baptist), DB Alec Andrea (Barrington), RB Mitch McNutt (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley), OL Preston Engel (Normal Community), LS Ron Gaines (Simeon), WR Donald Navarro III (Neuqua Valley via Valparaiso), WR Dylan Thomas (Monticello) and WR Jordan Holmes (Columbia).

- Verdis Brown was listed as No. 5 on the spring roster. He now is listed as No. 94. While some recruited Brown as an offensive lineman, he is a defensive lineman for Illinois. Brown was enrolled at Illinois this spring but did not participate in spring practice for an unspecified reason.