WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - NOVEMBER 04: An Illinois football helmet sits on the field before the start of the Big Ten Conference game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Purdue Boilermakers on November 4, 2017, at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Finding the right quarterback to run the Illinois football offense is key to winning games in the future.

Since the Nathan Scheelhaase era, the Illini have struggled to find a solid, healthy, quarterback to put behind center. There were glimpses of greatness with Wes Lunt, but his injury issues mixed in with his arm strength really didn’t work out well for the program. After Lunt, the quarterback position continued to decline at an even steeper rate than before.

Illinois now enters the 2018 season with a new group of quarterbacks – minus Cam Thomas – who are all competing for the starting job. As training camp continues, the murky quarterback situation starts to become clearer by the day.

To start training camp, there were two quarterbacks who were likely to take the starting job. AJ Bush was the incoming graduate transfer with a lot of bravadoes. The incumbent quarterback, Cam Thomas, was the other passer who was thought to potentially snag the No. 1 position on the team.

Now that we are a week into training camp, there looks to be some changes happening on the depth chart. From what I have gathered, Bush is still in the lead for the starting job day one. He has shown an ability to not only run the ball, but he has an arm that is solid as well. He is my odds-on favorite to open the year behind center.

Doug Bucshon of Rivals reported yesterday that there is a new quarterback who is pushing Bush, though. Freshman Matt Robinson is now pushing Bush for the starting job. Bucshon reports, Robinson has the “it” factor going on. This comes as a huge surprise to me.

Top 3 takeaways from #Illini training camp so far.

1. Young defense has legit talent, could be exceptional in 2019.

2. Totally new offensive identity with the spread attack.

3. QB competition isn’t what was expected. It’s AJ Bush vs frosh Matt Robinson who has the “it” factor. — Doug Bucshon (@IllinoisRivals) August 10, 2018

Robinson was a three-star recruit who was the No. 2237 player in the class of 2018 and the No. 56 dual-threat quarterback in the nation. The fact he is pushing Bush for the Illini starting job is amazing. Illinois has possibly found a gem with this Robinson kid. This also has me questioning what is happening with Thomas. I thought he would be right there in line for the starting job. He must not be showing what the coaches need.

It is exciting to see which quarterback emerges as the starter for the Illini this season. They finally have a handful of solid quarterbacks to choose from. This depth will only help the program moving forward.