Indiana’s offensive line became a major weakness throughout the final seasons of Tom Allen’s tenure in Bloomington.
But offensive line coach Bob Bostad was the only assistant from Allen’s staff that Curt Cignetti retained entering 2024, and that proved a smart move. Bostad’s group took huge steps forward last year, playing a big role in IU’s offensive success throughout a historic season.
The Hoosiers return three starters from that unit, though Drew Evans remains a question mark after recovering from a midseason Achilles injury. During spring camp, Cignetti said he expects the redshirt junior to be back in practice during fall camp, but there’s no clear timeline — and simply returning to practice may not indicate his readiness for game action. So while he could slot into IU’s offensive line at some point this season, it’s best to pencil his name into a lineup instead of using ink.
IU has several new pieces on the offensive line entering 2025. But left tackle Carter Smith said the unit has the same type of cohesion coming out of spring ball as last year’s group did at the same time.
“At the same time last year, culture-wise, I think we were very close. And I think we’re about at the same level that we were last year. So I expect really good things,” Smith said after Indiana’s spring game. “We’re going to keep bonding, we’re going to keep our heads in the film room and keep hitting the weights together, and, everything is going to be okay. I think we have a great group. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Indiana’s offensive line has a lot of potential for continued success this year. But there are also some clear areas where some individuals have to improve for that to happen.
Run-blocking
Indiana’s offensive line paved the way for its strong run game last season. Pro Football Focus ranked the Hoosiers 17th in the country and third in the Big Ten in run blocking, with a 75.6 grade. They finished just ahead of Pat Coogan’s former team, Notre Dame, in that respect.
But IU lost its biggest run-blocking stalwart from last season, as Trey Wedig exhausted his eligibility. Wedig’s 85.1 run-blocking grade on PFF ranked ninth in the country and second in the Big Ten among tackles. His replacement at right tackle, Ohio State transfer Zen Michalski, graded 74.1 in the run game on limited snaps last season, but that’s still the second-best mark on Indiana’s 2025 offensive line behind Carter Smith (75.7).
Bray Lynch, IU’s other holdover from last season, posted a 67.1 run-blocking grade. Coogan’s 69.0 run-blocking grade, which ranked 40th in the country among centers, is a slight step down from Mike Katic (71.8, 28th in the country, second in the Big Ten). Kahlil Benson’s 71.3 grade at Colorado exceeded Evans’ 66.1 mark, but IU will still surely want Benson to improve from there if Evans isn’t ready by the start of the season.
Tight end Zach Horton typically also factored into IU’s run-blocking, grading at 66.3 by PFF. The team’s tight ends for this season, Wisconsin transfer Riley Nowakowski (57.2) and Tennessee transfer Holden Staes (53.4) both finished below Horton’s mark.
It’s hard to gauge how much Wedig boosted Indiana’s team run-blocking grade, but it’s an undeniably big drop-off for IU’s top individual run-blocker on its starting offensive line to go from an 85.1 grade to a 75.7 grade. The Hoosiers did look solid in run-blocking in the spring game, but that should be taken with heavy grains of salt. They’ll need individual improvement from several players in run-blocking for their running game to live up to its potential.
But Coogan expressed optimism about IU’s rushing attack after the spring game.
“It’s an explosive run game, which is super exciting. We can come at you with the ground and pound, but then, like we saw tonight, we can also pop a few for for big chunk plays,” Coogan said. “Honestly, you can’t really gauge run games based on (spring), cause it’s a whole different system, new players. But I’m overall super excited about the progress we made and where we’re headed, because it’s gonna be a great run game, for sure.”
Pass-blocking
The passing game provides a similarly mixed bag for Indiana’s offensive line entering this season.
The Hoosiers, as a team, ranked 34th in the country and fourth in the Big Ten in pass protection last season, per PFF, with a 73.9 grade. Evans was the team’s highest-rated pass-blocker, earning an 81.7 grade, which ranked 38th in the country and first in the conference among guards. Benson’s 70.1 grade is a drop-off from Evans’ pass-blocking mark.
Michalski, in 78 pass-blocking snaps, also performed significantly worse in the passing game than the running game — PFF graded him at just 33.2 in pass-blocking. While Wedig’s 74.2 grade at right tackle last season was less noteworthy than his run-blocking mark, Indiana needs Michalski to improve as a pass-blocker at that position for this offensive line to hold up this year.
However, Coogan is notably stronger in pass protection than run-blocking, at a 79.1 grade. That mark topped Katic’s 75.7 grade at center last year for IU. Lynch (72.4) and Smith (79.5) also grade higher in pass-blocking than the run. Smith’s mark ranked 46th in the nation and seventh in the Big Ten among tackles.
Additionally, Nowakowski should be a good extension of IU’s offensive line in pass protection. He graded 76.9 in pass-blocking last season at Wisconsin, good for 12th in the nation and third in the Big Ten among tight ends. The sixth-year performed significantly better than Horton (61.9 PFF grade) in pass protection last season.
Fernando Mendoza’s mobility, particularly compared to Kurtis Rourke, adds a different element to Indiana’s passing game than it had a year ago. Rourke played through a torn ACL last season, and still led the Hoosiers to a historic season. But he typically operated as a traditional pocket passer within Indiana’s option-heavy offense. Mendoza will give IU better scrambling ability at quarterback, whether to pick up yards on the ground or to more effectively extend plays than Rourke was able to at times.
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