Welcome to the 10th part in our series looking at the rosters of every Big Ten team as we head ever closer to opening day.
The order is organized by my team talent rankings. For more information on how those numbers came about, check out the intro for the Maryland post
. And while you’re there, go ahead and read the whole thing then come back. We’ll wait for you.Past Teams
Tier 5— 18. Maryland Terrapins, 17. Purdue Boilermakers
Tier 4— 16. Iowa Hawkeyes, 15. Minnesota Golden Gophers, 14. Northwestern
Wildcats
Tier 3— 13. UCLA Bruins, 12. Illinois Fighting Ilini, 11. Washington Huskies, 10. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
(Names in bold are projected starters by Phil Steele. Otherwise, names are listed in order of scoring in the talent ranking system)
Average 247 Composite Rating of Phil Steele Starter: 0.8024 (18th)
Average # of Snaps Played by Phil Steele Starter: 1,133 (1st)
Average Career PFF grade of Phil Steele Starter: 67.7 (4th)
TOTAL OFFENSE- 1,139 (8th)
Quarterback- 145 (13th)
Starter- Fernando Mendoza (68)
Reserves- Grant Wilson (57), Jacob Bell (26), Alberto Mendoza (21)
Indiana struck gold last year with Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke and this time around managed to pry Fernando Mendoza away from Cal in the portal. The raw stats are promising. The former walk-on threw for 3,004 yards on 7.7 YPA with 16 TDs and just 6 INTs last season. He threw for 250+ yards in 7 of Cal’s final 10 games. He also though had 5 more turnover-worthy plays than big-time throws per PFF charting which is not a ratio you want and suggests he got extremely lucky to not turn it over more than he did.
Mendoza should look better in Indiana’s offense with great skill position guys around him but color me skeptical compared to Phil Steele making him preseason 3rd team all-conference. Old Dominion transfer Grant Wilson (career 2,771 pass yds) was brought in to compete for the backup job along with Mendoza’s younger brother Alberto who is a redshirt freshman.
Running Back- 119 (11th)
Starter- Roman Hemby (71)
Reserves- Lee Beebe (68), Kaelon Black (55), Solomon Vanhorse (37)
The Hoosiers lost the duo of Ellison/Lawton to graduation, who combined for 1,516 yards and 22 TDs last year on 5.0 YPC. Back is #3 option Kaelon Black who put up an impressive 5.5 YPC on limited touches after coming in with the coaches from James Madison. The coaching staff though didn’t rely on him seizing the job and brought in another pair of potential starters from the transfer portal.
The likely starter is Roman Hemby who started 38 games for Maryland over the last 4 years and has averaged 4.9 YPC for his career. Hemby won’t make an all-conference team but he’s an extremely reliable above-average option who is proven in the Big Ten. The higher upside option is Lee Beebe Jr. who has averaged 4.2 yards after contact per rush for his career while at UAB. None of that trio were better than a low three-star recruit out of high school which prevents them from finishing in the top half of the standings but I really like this group.
Wide Receiver- 339 (1st)
Starters- Omar Cooper Jr. (86), EJ Williams (75), Tyler Morris (74)
Reserves- Elijah Sarrat (73), Makai Jackson (71), Jonathan Brady (62), Davion Chandler (44), Lebron Bond (37)
This is where the Mendoza optimism starts to look a little better founded. Do you know how hard it is to come in at #1 at wide receiver when you’re in the same conference as Ohio State? No one on Indiana’s roster is as good as Jeremiah Smith but the depth here is 2023 Washington-esque.
Despite what my talent ranks say, the #1 option is Elijah Sarrat who narrowly comes in 4th on his own team here. Sarrat was arguably the best receiver in the G5 in 2024 then came up to the Big Ten and immediately had 957 yards and 8 TDs. He’s rightfully preseason 1st team all-conference for Phil Steele. Also returning is Indiana’s #2 receiver former four-star Omar Cooper Jr. who averaged 21+ yards per catch as their primary deep threat with 7 TDs.
Another four transfers round out the depth chart, three of whom are new this offseason. Former Clemson elite recruit EJ Williams re-entered the portal after hardly playing this past season amid Indiana’s WR depth but ultimately chose to come back. Tyler Morris started 13 games for Michigan last year as another former four-star option.
The other two transfer adds were both 2-star recruits out of high school who are now on their 3rd college. Makai Jackson started at FCS Saint Francis PA (same school and recruiting class as Elijah Sarrat) but had 745 yards and 5 TDs for Appalachian State last year. Jonathan Brady began at New Mexico State but had 386 yards and 3 TDs for Cal last year. And yet Phil Steele thinks true freshman three-star recruit LeBron Bond will be the starting slot receiver. We’ll see about that one but Indiana is loaded with quality options.
Tight End- 95 (12th)
Starter- Holden Staes (70)
Reserves- Blake Thiry (37), Riley Nowakowski (29), Andrew Barker (28)
Staes was one of the top tight end options in the portal after the 2023 season when he had 4 TDs for Notre Dame as a redshirt freshman. He only had 131 receiving yards for Tennessee last year though before re-entering the portal and winding up at Indiana. There’s still some untapped upside here as he was used almost exclusively as a dump off option at Tennessee with an extremely low average depth of target. Former starters Riley Nowakowski and James Bomba are back but have combined for just 208 receiving yards over 10 years of college ball.
Offensive Line- 441 (8th)
Starters- LT Carter Smith (81), C Pat Coogan (76), RG Bray Lynch (68), RT Kahlil Benson (63), LG Drew Evans (60)
Reserves- Zen Michalski (54), Adedamola Ajani (39), Matt Marek (33), Evan Parker (31), Baylor Wilkin (30)
(A note that my listed starters here are the 5 highest scorers even if some of them play the same position. If the backup right tackle has a higher rating than the starting left guard, the LG gets bumped to reserves above.)
The starters on this line are pretty clear cut. All five of them have at least 9 career starts for a power conference team with an above-average career PFF grade. Sounds pretty great to me. Things fall off with the depth as no one else after that has started a game before and only Ohio State transfer Zen Michalski has played at least 50 snaps in their career. Michalski is also the only member of the O-line, starter or not, who was a four-star recruit coming out of high school.
Indiana though probably will live with that given the experience of the starters. LT Carter Smith is a 2-year starter and is projected 2nd team all-conference by Phil Steele. Making it on Steele’s 3rd team is Notre Dame transfer Pat Coogan who had 26 career starts for the Irish. The other new face (sorta) is Kahlil Benson who last offseason transferred to Colorado, started 4 games at RG/RT then transferred back to Indiana this year. This should be a really nice offensive line if everyone stays healthy but there could be trouble if they don’t.
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Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn ImagesTOTAL DEFENSE- 1,054 (13th)
Defensive Line- 195 (12th)
Starters- Dominique Ratcliff (66), Mario Landino (57)
Reserves- Hosea Wheeler (57), Tyrique Tucker (52), Jhrevious Hall (36), Andrew Depaepe (35)
There’s a pretty clear cut top four although my rankings and Phil Steele disagree on the likely starters. Both of last year’s starters are gone which opens up a void for playing time. Last year’s #3 was Tyrique Tucker who had a really nice season as an interior pass rusher with 21 QB pressures at 298 lb. Mario Landino is counted as a DL by Steele but has the body type of a jumbo defensive end.
There are also a pair of new transfers. Dominique Ratcliff was a backup at Texas State last year but put up elite PFF grades when he was in the game. Meanwhile, Hosea Wheeler had fantastic counting stats for Western Kentucky (55 tkl at 300 lb) but put up worse PFF grades. Steele is buying into the hype for Wheeler and put him preseason 3rd team all-conference.
Edge Rushers- 214 (12th)
Starters- Mikail Kamara (72), Stephen Daley (68)
Reserves- Kellan Wyatt (67), Triston Abram (44), Tyrone Burrus Jr. (44), Quentin Clark (30)
Indiana fans are likely furious about finishing 12th here and I get it. Mikail Kamara’s status as a former unrated recruit lowers his ceiling in my rankings but it’s hard to argue he has anything left to prove. He only got better with the move up from James Madison to Indiana and had a Bralen Trice-like 68 pressures and 10 sacks on the way to 1st team all-conference. He unsurprisingly is on Steele’s preseason 1st team all-conference list.
A pair of new transfers join him in the rotation. Kellan Wyatt comes over from Maryland where he has 28 career starts but just 7 career sacks and might be better setting the edge in run support. The other new addition is Stephen Daley who was the best defensive player on a winless Kent State squad with 35 pressures and 5 sacks. All three of those players have 1,150+ career snaps but no other edge has more than 17 in college so there’s no proven depth behind them which knocked them down a couple spots.
Linebackers- 170 (13th)
Starters- Aiden Fisher (65), Rolijah Hardy (60)
Reserves- Isaiah Jones (53), PJ Nelson (36), Amari Kamara (23), Andrew Turvy (20)
Fisher led Indiana in total defensive snaps last year and finished with 110 total tackles, 2 sacks, and 1 INT after transferring in from James Madison. That was good enough to put Fisher on Steele’s preseason all-conference 1st team this year*.
Also returning are Indiana’s #3 and #4 LB from last year. Isaiah Jones played just a tiny bit more to get the #3 option but Steele expects him to get passed over as they’ve put up similar numbers but Jones is 2 years older. Rolijah Hardy put up elite run defense PFF grades while starting 4 games late in the year as an unrated true freshman. The Hoosiers are very high on his potential, but there’s not a lot here beyond that trio.
*Although Steele bizarrely includes 4 LB on each of his teams so it’s almost more difficult to not have a LB make one of his preseason all-conference teams.
Cornerbacks- 293 (9th)
Starters- D’Angelo Ponds (71), Devan Boykin (67), Jamari Sharpe (67)
Reserves- Ryland Gandy (64), Amariyun Knighten (60), Byron Baldwin Jr. (52), Jaylen Bell (37)
D’Angelo Ponds is in a similar spot to Kamara where his recruiting ranking is holding him way back even though his performance has shown he’s an elite outside corner despite measuring in at 5’9. I only start lowering the impact of the recruiting rankings after their 3rd year in college so Ponds would have a score of 74 if he were one year older and even that is too low. He earned 1st team all-conference honors last year after transferring in from James Madison and understandably is on Steele’s preseason 1st team to anchor the unit.
There’s a lot of depth behind Ponds for good but not great talent. Three new transfers join the party from North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, and Northern Illinois and all have played at least 750 career defensive snaps. Also back is Jamari Sharpe who started 12 games over the past 2 seasons for the Hoosiers and was their #4 corner on last year’s team.
Safeties- 182 (16th)
Starters- Amare Ferrell (83), Louis Moore (64)
Reserves- Seaonta Stewart Jr. (39), Garrett Reese (30), Bryson Bonds (27), Jah Jah Boyd (21)
This is a spot where Indiana has a loaded starter spot but things drop off quickly. Amare Ferrell was 2nd on the team in defensive snaps last season and finished with a team-high 4 interceptions from the free safety spot. He projects as one of the better safeties in the conference. The other starter should be Ole Miss transfer Louis Moore who started his college career at Indiana as an unrated WR but has found his way back after a season in Oxford narrowly missing out on a CFP berth (while his old team made it). Only one other player behind that duo has played even 5 college snaps before.
OVERALL TEAM- 2,193 (9th)
My talent system was one of the leading optimists about Indiana football last year. Sure, they were a bunch of unrated or lowly rated recruits but all of those James Madison players had proven to be really good at the G5 level. That performance wasn’t being adequately respected by most of the national media and that combined with an easy schedule turned into a College Football Playoff berth.
Now I find myself on the opposite side of the argument. Many of those JMU transfers are back yet again after dominating competition in the Big Ten for a year including 1st team players WR Elijah Sarrat, ED Mikail Kamara, and CB D’Angelo Ponds. But my system doesn’t have a way to put more weight on their B1G performance from last year and still punishes them for their lack of “stars” out of high school.
Case in point, Indiana’s starters are 1st in the conference in career snaps played and 4th in career PFF grade. They are a veteran group who have both played a lot and played well. But they’re also dead last by quite a bit in starters’ average recruiting ranking with 8 projected starters who were unranked in high school and just 2 four-star players. This year’s Indiana team will be another referendum on the importance of the Blue Chip ratio.
If Phil Steele is right and Indiana winds up with four 1st team players, one 2nd team player, and three 3rd team players then Indiana will be in CFP contention yet again. There’s not a clear weakness on offense and they have one of the better skill position groups in the conference to go along with a very experienced starting offensive line. The defense might take a step back but they return JMU-to-Indiana standouts Kamara, Ponds, and Fisher while adding in a few transfers to fortify the line.
The schedule is a mixed bag this year. They’ve got 5 conference road games including having to travel to Oregon and Penn State. Although they do get my #18, #17, and #16 teams on the road with Maryland, Purdue, and Iowa (but I wouldn’t exactly rejoice at having to go to Iowa). The non-con should be a complete cake walk (Old Dominion, Kennesaw State, and Indiana State) while a game versus Illinois is the only home game in which they won’t be a substantial favorite.
It seems very doable for Indiana to sweep their home slate and win at least 2 of their 5 games on the road. I’d expect Indiana to once again overperform where these rankings have them and put the spectrum of results from somewhere between 8-4 to 10-2. The top end of that would likely be required in order to dream of another CFP appearance as they won’t get the benefit of the doubt without a true marquee win this time around.
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Top-10 Players (with position rank and overall conference rank)
- WR Omar Cooper, 86 (6th, 51st)
- S Amare Ferrell, 83 (9th, 68th)
- OL Carter Smith, 81 (10th, 82nd)
- OL Pat Coogan*, 76 (16th, 124th)
- WR EJ Williams, 75 (23rd, 128th)
- WR Tyler Morris, 74 (24th, 136th)
- WR Elijah Sarrat, 73 (28th, 154th)
- ED Mikail Kamara, 72 (22nd, 175th)
- WR Makai Jackson*, 71 (34th, 181st)
- CB D’Angelo Ponds, 71 (15th, 194th)
*Incoming transfer
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