2022 Football Roster
Jersey Number 63
Alex Palczewski
- Position:
- OL
- Class:
- Senior
- Height:
- 6-6
- Weight:
- 315
- Hometown:
- Mount Prospect, Ill.
- High School:
- Prospect
Pronunciation: pal-CHESS-key
 2022 All-American |
 Four-Time All-Big Ten |
 University of Illinois Graduate |
2022 Senior
- Team captain
- Second two-time bowl captain in Illinois history, joining Moe Gardner
- Sporting News All-American first team
- First offensive tackle first-team All-American in the modern history of Illinois football
- AFCA All-American second team
- CBS All-American second team
- PFF All-American second team
- Phil Steele All-American third team
- AP All-American third team
- All-Big Ten second team (media)
- All-Big Ten third team (coaches)
- Fighting Illini Spirit Award winner
- Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner
- Started all 13 games at right tackle
- Tied the FBS record with his 65th career start in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Mississippi State 1/2/23
- Big Ten record holder for career starts (65)
- Ended career with 713 consecutive pass-block snaps (99% at RT) without allowing a sack, according to PFF
- Did not allow a sack in 2022
- No. 10 graded tackle in the nation and fourth in the Big Ten (81.4), according to PFF
- Part of the first offensive line in Illinois history to be named a Joe Moore Award semifinalist
- 49 career starts at tackle, 16 career starts at guard (11 as a freshman, 5 in 2021)
- PFF National Team of the Week following the Indiana game
- PFF Midseason All-American third team
- Rotary Lombardi Award Midseason Watch List
- Athlon Preseason All-Big Ten third team
2021 Senior
- All-Big Ten honorable mention (coaches and media)
- Started all 12 games, seven at tackle and five at guard
- No. 35 rated tackle in the nation by PFF
- No. 13 rated run blocking tackle in the nation by PFF
- Athlon Preseason All-Big Ten third team
2020 Senior
- Started four games at right tackle
- Missed last four games due to injury
- Finished the season with 40 career starts, eight away from tying the Illinois record (Nathan Scheelhaase, QB, 2010-13; Ryan McDonald, C, 2005-08; Tim Simpson, OL, 1988-91)
- 40 career starts is tied for the most among current Illini (Vederian Lowe)
- Phil Steele Preseason All-Big Ten third team
- Athlon Preseason All-Big Ten third team
- Outland Trophy watch list
2019 Junior
- Started all 13 games at right tackle
- Ended the season with 36 straight starts
- All-Big Ten third team (coaches)
- All-Big Ten honorable mention (media)
- PFF Big Ten Team of the Week after Akron game 8/31/19
2018 Sophomore
- All-Big Ten honorable mention (media)
- Pro Football Focus All-Big Ten first team
- Started all 12 games at right tackle
- 23 straight starts
- No. 30 rated tackle in the nation by PFF
- No. 4 rated tackle in the Big Ten by PFF
- No. 9 rated run-blocking tackle in the nation by PFF
- Part of an OL that paved the way for the most-improved running game in the nation (+137.4 ypg from 2017 to ’18), finishing 12th in FBS and second in the Big Ten at 243.0 ypg.
- PFF National Team of the Week 11/11/18
- Academic All-Big Ten
2017 Freshman
- BTN.com All-Freshman Team honorable mention
- Started the final 11 games at guard
- Teamed with Vederian Lowe and Larry Boyd to be Illinois’ first ever true-freshmen trio to start the same game on the offensive line
- Missed the opener with an injury
High School
- Three-star recruit by Rivals and Scout
- Ranked No. 45 offensive tackle in the nation by Scout and No. 120 by 247Sports
- Ranked No. 12 recruit in Illinois by Scout and No. 39 by 247Sports
- Ranked No. 2 offensive tackle in Illinois by Scout
- Mid-Suburban League East All-Conference
- Played for football coach Mike Sebestyen
- Also wrestled (4 years), played water polo (2 years) and was on the track and field team (2 years) in high school
Personal
- Born Aug. 3, 1999
- Son of Andrzej and Bozena Palczewski
- Has two older brothers, Adam and Alan
- Most of his extended family lives in Poland
- Picked Illinois because, “It is the flagship of my hometown state, and I want to play for where I grew up.”
- Listed Ivan Drago as his favorite athlete because, “Even though he is a fictional character I like him because he would never talk. He would let his work do the talking for him.”
- Graduated with a bachelor's degree in kinesiology in December 2021
Thursday, March 05
Thursday, February 12
Thursday, February 05
Wednesday, January 21
