BLOOMINGTON – Indiana football mined last winter’s portal window for experience knowing it would leave itself work to do a year later.
And so it’s been, Curt Cignetti and his staff already north of 15 transfers in this cycle and approaching 20. The Hoosiers have addressed myriad needs, in all three phases, but their visit activity thus far suggests there’s still work to do.
IU football transfer portal tracker:Who’s in, who’s out for Hoosiers
Let’s take stock of what IU’s done at each position thus far:
Needs: 2
Adds: 2
That number ticked up from one to two after Tyler Cherry suffered a long-term knee injury during College Football Playoff prep last month and Tayven Jackson hit the portal.
Fernando Mendoza is the centerpiece of the class, an established Power Four starter who passed for more than 3,000 yards last season and should compete immediately for the No. 1 job in Bloomington.
More recently, Indiana added Grant Wilson, an Old Dominion transfer with 411 career attempts and 23 touchdown passes. Wilson, who has one year of eligibility remaining, gives the Hoosiers veteran depth.
How IU landed one of portal’s top QBs:‘Indiana was the best place for me.’
Needs: 2
Adds: 2
Technically, IU lost three of its top four running backs from 2024, with Ty Son Lawton and Justice Ellison out of eligibility, and Elijah Green back in the portal. But with Kaelon Black returning and multiple young backs in the fold, there’s probably enough depth here to allow for development down the roster.
The Hoosiers added Lee Beebe, a UAB transfer with 1,277 career yards and 11 rushing touchdowns, and Roman Hemby, the explosive Maryland back IU fans know well — across three career games against Indiana, Hemby has 47 touches for 370 yards and three scores.
Together with Black, those additions reinforce the top of IU’s running back rotation, with room for youth to be served in the gaps.
Needs: 2-3
Adds: 2
Omar Cooper, Elijah Sarratt and E.J. Williams are all back at the boundaries, and the staff seems to like Charlie Becker, among other young receivers. But the talent drain in the slot saw three productive players (Miles Cross, Myles Price, Ke’Shawn Williams) all exhaust their eligibility and create a sizable hole.
Indiana added Tyler Morris, a speedster from Michigan, and Makai Jackson, who did more work at the boundary for Appalachian State but has experience in the slot in his career. Is there room for one more? Perhaps, unless Mike Shanahan likes something he sees in one or more of IU’s young receivers.
Needs: 2-3
Adds: 2
At a large-numbers position like this, it’s best to start with who’s back and who’s gone.
Back: Carter Smith, Bray Lynch, Drew Evans.
Gone: Mike Katic, Trey Wedig, Tyler Stephens, Nick Kidwell.
Evans’ status after a midseason Achilles injury is worth watching. Kidwell doesn’t plan to try and get the year back after missing the entire 2024 season through his own injury. Wedig, Stephens and Katic are simply out of eligibility.
Still, IU has a right tackle and, if Evans is healthy, two interior linemen to fit in as well. Lynch could remain at guard or slide to center. And position coach Bob Bostad will have another year with young players like Austin Barrett, Austin Liebfried, Adedamola Ajani and Evan Lawrence, any of whom would provide a significant boost even as a depth piece in 2025.
So far, the Hoosiers have added Zen Michalski from Ohio State, and brought back Kahlil Benson from Colorado. Both players could wind up at Wedig’s vacated right tackle spot, and Benson has experience at guard as well. Whether Indiana tries to add again here might offer insight into the development of those young linemen.
Needs: 1-2
Adds: 2
Zach Horton is gone. James Bomba is back. Indiana isn’t satisfied at tight end.
Cignetti and staff have added Wisconsin transfer Riley Nowakowski and Tennessee transfer Holden Staes here.
Nowakowski graded out particularly well as a blocker last season per PFF. Staes, who was at Notre Dame prior to Tennessee, seems to be more of the receiving threat. He had 15 catches for 131 yards and a touchdown in 2024 for the Volunteers and had 15 catches for 176 yards and four TDs for the Irish in 2023.
Needs: 1
Adds: 0
Mikail Kamara’s return is worth its weight in gold here. But Lanell Carr is still gone, taking 6.5 sacks in the past two seasons out the door with him.
Indiana has players on its roster who could theoretically develop into the void behind him — Daniel Ndukwe, Andrew Depaepe, Ta’Derius Collins — but Cignetti’s preference for proven commodities is well known.
IU tried to sign Bradley Weaver, an end from Ohio who picked Rutgers recently. It would seem the staff wants more veteran options at the edge opposite Kamara between now and next season.
Needs: 2
Adds: 2
Out the door go CJ West and James Carpenter. In the door come Hosea Wheeler and Dominique Ratcliff.
Wheeler was a first-team All-Conference USA player at Western Kentucky last year, and across the past two seasons he’s posted 117 tackles, eight for loss, with four sacks. Ratcliff was particularly good against the run last season, and should compete for snaps alongside Tyrique Tucker and Marcus Burris.
Tucker in particular had a better season than was perhaps acknowledged, largely because of the performance of players ahead of him. Together, that four-man unit looks replenished for 2025.
Needs: 0-1
Adds: 0
IU has kicked around a couple names here, and there’s still time in this window to add. But with Aiden Fisher back, and both Isaiah Jones and Rolijah Hardy showing meaningful growth last season, linebacker isn’t necessarily a must.
If the staff believes in Hardy and Jones, it can probably get by without any transfer adds at linebacker with just a few system tweaks.
Needs: 1
Adds: 2
What kinds of tweaks? Well, have you noticed what IU’s doing at corner?
The Hoosiers added Pitt transfer Ryland Gandy, a consistent starter last season, and Amariyun Knighten, who played 272 snaps for Northern Illinois in 2024. They still have D’Angelo Ponds, as penciled-in as any starter on this team, and Jamier Johnson, who was perfectly solid through most of last season.
Even before you account for young players developing, that’s four experienced corners with a lot of snaps and a lot of ceiling. Last year, IU pretty reliably stuck with players much more closely resembling safeties in that hybrid rover spot. If the Hoosiers want to shift to more across-the-board man coverage, and leave the line of scrimmage to the front six a lot of the time, they’ll need more corners, and now they have them.
Needs: 2
Adds: 1
The Hoosiers will run it back with Louis Moore, who was very good for Indiana two years ago before struggling with injuries at Ole Miss last season. That plugs one of the holes left by departed safeties Terry Jones Jr. and Shawn Asbury.
Again, reading the tea leaves around visits Indiana has hosted recently would suggest the staff wants another player here.
IU has some promising incoming freshmen at safety, including Byron Baldwin and, potentially, Seaonta Stewart, who could wind up at a number of positions in the secondary. But counting on true freshmen is a dangerous game. One more signing here makes sense.
Needs: 2-3
Adds: 3
The Hoosiers needed a new kickoff specialist. They got one in Brendan Franke. They needed a starting punter. They got one in Mitch McCarthy. And for good measure, they added Georgia State long snapper Sam Lindsey. All needs met here with a minimum of fuss.
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