Indiana has made significant additions via the transfer portal over the last few weeks at every offensive position but one.
And the Hoosiers mostly escaped significant injuries in 2024 at every position but one.
Those two variables combined lead to what looks like Indiana’s most obvious need on the offensive side of the ball heading into 2025: Offensive line.
Two of the team’s top performers from 2024 are out of eligibility: Center Mike Katic and right tackle Trey Wedig. They leave two massive holes to fill.
And the Hoosiers lost two starting guards to injury over the last four months — Nick Kidwell and Drew Evans. Kidwell might be able to get a medical hardship waiver to play in 2025, but it isn’t clear yet whether he wants to pursue what would be an eighth year in college. And Evans suffered an Achilles injury in November, so in his case it isn’t clear whether he’ll be back to 100 percent when the 2025 campaign starts in eight months.
Evans filled in for Kidwell when he went down during fall camp, and he performed at a very high level. Tyler Stephens, who filled in for Evans, is also out of eligibility.
So there are more questions than answers along the offensive line right now.
But there is some certainty up front.
Left tackle Carter Smith had a solid sophomore season and should be even better in 2025. And guard Bray Lynch earned a starting role at fall camp and never let it go. Those two are the foundation going forward.
Lynch and Evans serve as a reminder that not all of the gaps need to be filled via the transfer portal. Both players were carryovers from the Tom Allen years, and both came into 2024 with more than a full year under offensive line coach Bob Bostad.
Overall, IU’s play up front has improved considerably since Bostad arrived, and he’s got an army of young players with one to two years of development under his tutelage. Don’t be surprised if one or more of tackle Cooper Jones (50 snaps in 2024), tackle Austin Barrett (49), center Jack Greer (34), guard Austin Leibfried (49), guard Adedamola Ajani (39) and tackle Max Williams (8) emerge and compete for starting roles. Those players are shown in order of (2024 snap counts).
Vince Fiacable is the longest tenured returner, and he’ll look to come back from a season-ending injury. Freshmen Mitch Verstegen, and Evan Lawrence didn’t play in 2024 but are in the mix as well, along with high school recruits Matt Marek, Baylor Wilkin, and Evan Parker. Those latter three will likely all need time to develop, as is typically the case for offensive linemen making the leap from high school to college.
One way or another, Indiana needs to improve along the line in 2025. Because when the schedule stiffened late in the season, the offense sputtered. And a lot of that had to do with pass protection that didn’t hold up long enough to give the Hoosiers time to throw the football.
Indiana will have 14 or 15 on scholarship next season at offensive line depending on what Kidwell does. So they’re already close to the amount of players you’d typically see on a full ride unless there are defections via the transfer portal, which is always a possibility.
But in any event you’d expect Indiana to aggressively be in the portal looking to plug the two primary gaps — at center and right tackle. To this point IU hasn’t made any portal additions along the line, but here are some candidates in the portal right now who could be fits:
- Zen Michalski, tackle, Ohio State – 158 snaps in 2024
- Boaz Stanley, center, Troy – 786 snaps in 2024
- Lawrence Hattar, tackle, Ferris State – D2 All-American
- Sterling Porcher, tackle, Texas Tech – 747 snaps in 2024
- James Brockermeyer, center, TCU – 812 snaps in 2024
- Zylon Crisler, guard, Illinois – 449 snaps in 2024
- Jacob Dennison, tackle, Ohio – 598 snaps in 2024
- Zarian McGill, center, Louisiana Tech – 412 snaps in 2024
- Anton Ambuehl, guard, UNLV – 872 snaps in 2024
Keep in mind, the portal reopens in the spring, and IU will have another chance to address needs following spring practice.
For complete coverage of IU football, GO HERE.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- Find us on Facebook: thedailyhoosier
- You can follow us on Twitter: @daily_hoosier
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
