Some of Indiana’s biggest transfer portal losses from last season to this year came at safety.
The Hoosiers had a group of three safeties who played in primary roles last season, and two of those players left. Curt Cignetti and new safeties coach Ola Adams brought in some others from the portal to fill those gaps, and along with IU’s returnees, those moves helped build a deep safety room that could be even better than last year’s group.
Prior previews:
- Quarterbacks
- Wide receivers
- Running backs
- Tight ends
- Offensive line
- Linebackers
- Defensive line
- Cornerbacks
Roster turnover — who’s gone
- Louis Moore (transfer — Ole Miss)
- Phillip Dunnam (transfer — Florida Atlantic)
- Jordan Grier (transfer — Memphis)
- Connor Hole
- Mitchell Evans
Roster turnover — who’s back
- Josh Sanguinetti (sixth-year senior)
- Nic Toomer (redshirt senior, moved from cornerback in spring)
- Tyrik McDaniel (redshirt senior)
- Bryson Bonds (redshirt junior)
- Amare Ferrell (sophomore)
- Reece Bellin (walk-on, redshirt freshman)
- Anthony Chung (walk-on, redshirt freshman)
- Clay Conner (walk-on, redshirt freshman)
Roster turnover — who’s new
- Shawn Asbury II (transfer — Old Dominion)
- Terry Jones Jr. (transfer — Old Dominion)
- DJ Warnell Jr. (transfer — Arizona)
- Heath Kizer (walk-on, Indianapolis)
Projected depth chart
Here’s our best estimate of Indiana’s starters at safety and who the other key players will be.
- Free safety: Shawn Asbury II, senior, 5-foot-10, 199 pounds (15 career starts at Old Dominion)
- Bryson Bonds, redshirt junior, 6 foot, 199 pounds
- Nic Toomer, redshirt senior, 6-foot-2, 199 pounds (12 career starts at IU and Stanford)
- Strong safety: Josh Sanguinetti, sixth-year senior, 6-foot-1, 194 pounds (six career starts at IU)
- DJ Warnell Jr., fifth-year senior, 6-foot-3, 200 pounds (two career starts at Arizona)
- Tyrik McDaniel, redshirt senior, 6 foot, 195 pounds
- Rover: Amare Ferrell, sophomore, 6-foot-2, 200 pounds
- Terry Jones Jr., redshirt senior, 6-foot-1, 200 pounds (26 career starts at Old Dominion)
Asbury and Sanguinetti have run with the first-team defense for most of fall camp, so they should be out there together for the season-opener against FIU. Warnell is also a candidate to start if things have changed behind the scenes, and he may also be a reserve option at rover. Ferrell looks like the choice at that rover spot, with a lot of experience behind him in Jones. Toomer saw a lot of playing time at cornerback for IU last season, with mixed results, and he moved to safety in the spring. Bonds has seen regular action for the Hoosiers over the last several years.
Quotable
Amare Ferrell on the secondary:
“It’s coming good. We’ve got a lot of older guys. I’m probably going to be the youngest guy that’s going to play. But I feel like we all have a good chemistry, we talk a lot off the field, on the field, so I feel like secondary’s going to be really good this year.”
Amare Ferrell on safeties coach Ola Adams:
“He’s helped me. He pushes me and the room every single day. Like I said, one percent better every day. He demands perfection from all of us, not just me. He’s just a really good coach, and he’s going to always stay on us, all the time.”
Why it will work
Indiana has more depth at safety than it does at any other position on defense. There’s a lot of experience and talent at safety, with a variety of skill sets. Asbury graded as the 20th-best safety in the country last season on Pro Football Focus, with a particularly strong grade in run defense. He’ll need to prove that success can translate to the Power Four level, but if it can, the Old Dominion transfer would be a nice upgrade for IU at free safety. Sanguinetti has made some big plays in his IU career, though has also allowed some big gains the other way. He’ll need to show more consistency to stay in the starting lineup, especially if Warnell plays well. Ferrell is talented, and rover could be a good spot for his versatility.
Why it won’t
Indiana finished second-to-last in the Big Ten in takeaways last year, with just 13 as a team. A lot of those opportunities came from two safeties no longer on IU’s roster: Moore and Dunnam each recorded three interceptions last season, and Moore also forced three fumbles. Turnover production doesn’t fall solely on the safeties, but Indiana does need that group to pick up the slack from those two departed players, if not top what they did. There’s obviously a lot more that goes into playing safety than just creating turnovers, but some of those other impacts may be diminished if Sanguinetti and Asbury aren’t making enough game-changing plays this year.
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