As fall camp rolls on, Indiana football’s depth chart remains unsettled in many areas.
The quarterback competition has been well-documented, as redshirt freshmen Tayven Jackson and Brendan Sorsby have not separated themselves from the other. But IU has some other notable position battles around the roster as well, and some of those are starting to come into focus.
IU head coach Tom Allen and co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Matt Guerrieri spoke about some of those groups in a press conference Wednesday.
Wide receiver
Indiana’s receiver room is perhaps the most loaded on the team.
The Hoosiers have returning veteran talent in players like Donaven McCulley, Andison Coby, and Cam Camper, who continues to work his way back to full strength from his knee injury last year. IU has transfer portal additions like E.J Williams (Clemson) and DeQuece Carter (Fordham) who have stood out. And underclassmen such as Omar Cooper Jr. and Kamryn Perry have excelled and are pushing for real roles as well.
And that’s without mentioning running back usage in the pass game, something IU has not shied away from planning to do this year.
But there are only so many snaps to go around at wide receiver, and with so much talent, it’s difficult to divide things up now. Allen said the Hoosiers will use a lot of players at those spots, the same way they did last year.
“All those guys are going to play, and we expect them to play,” Allen said. “So I don’t know that we have it all fleshed out on who the starters are, I really don’t think about it like that in a lot of ways. It’s just who is going to be out there on the field to help us win.”
Kicker
With Charles Campbell gone, IU will have a new starting kicker for the first time since he took over the job in 2020.
It appears to be a three-man race between true freshman Nico Radicic and redshirt sophomores Chris Freeman and Alejandro Quintero. Allen had previously mentioned the importance of Saturday’s scrimmage for kicking evaluations, as the staff was able to put the players in more game-like situations than they face in practice.
Radicic was not with the team for spring ball, and missed Saturday’s scrimmage with an injury. But he nonetheless seems to be in good position in the competition. He came to IU as a three-star recruit per 247Sports Composite, and the No. 5 kicker in the class of 2023.
Allen said Quintero and Freeman left something to be desired in the scrimmage. Radicic, he added, has been slowly working his way back from the injury this week and should be back to full capacity by Thursday.
“Did not feel like that we got what we wanted out of that (kicking) on Saturday. That’s an area that definitely is very of emphasis for us right now,” Allen said. “But Nico was expected to be in the competition, and he will be here this week. Not to our standard this past weekend, and those guys know that. And so, excited to get Nico back in that competition and see how he responds.”
Defensive back
We highlighted the cornerback room earlier in the week, and things remain just as unsettled there. Allen gave Stanford transfer Nic Toomer some props on Wednesday while running through some players who have impressed him this fall.
But safety is just as much of a question mark as cornerback. Both of last season’s starters, Devon Mathews and Bryant Fitzgerald, graduated. So did Jonathan Haynes, who saw a good amount of playing time behind Fitzgerald.
Senior Louis Moore stood out at safety during spring and has continued to look the part during fall camp. He could be in a good position to earn one of the starting spots.
Guerrieri, when asked which safeties have impressed him this fall, pointed out Moore and redshirt senior Noah Pierre, the lone returning starter in the secondary at Husky.
“Noah Pierre from a leadership standpoint. You could feel from the time he takes the field, in meetings, he has that hungry dog mentality every single day. He’s been awesome from that standpoint as his play continues to rise,” Guerrieri said. “And then Louis Moore would be the other one, too. In the spring, trended in the right direction, has continued that progress. But has been really productive on the field and been a leader off it as well.”
There’s a number of other players who could have cases at the other safety spot. And many of these players will see the field for IU regardless of who starts and who doesn’t.
Redshirt junior junior college transfer Tyrik McDaniel has earned praise from coaches on several occasions between spring camp and preseason. Redshirt junior Bryson Bonds played in all 12 games last year, and redshirt senior Josh Sanguinetti played in 11.
Sophomore Phillip Dunnam earned playing time as a true freshman last season, and Guerrieri said he’s trending in the right direction as well.
“Very talented guy. He’s got length, he has speed, he has physicality, he has ball skills, he has a lot of traits that you want from a safety standpoint,” Guerrieri said. “Consistency is the biggest thing from where he was a year ago to where he is now, an increase from a consistency standpoint.”
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