After Indiana lost running backs Kaelon Black and Roman Hemby following the 2025 season, snaps at the position are wide open this fall.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg surveyed coaches in every Power 4 conference as well as others from the Group of 6 ranks to identify players set to emerge during the 2026 campaign, and IU football running back Khobie Martin is one of the network’s 51 “sleeper college football players who could break out in the 2026 season.”
In fact, Martin is the first player listed.
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti typically won’t say much about younger, unproven players, but he’s been showering the praise on Martin.
“He’s a good, hard, downhill runner,” Cignetti told ESPN. “He really has improved every fall, every spring. He’s taken advantage of all his opportunities when he’s gotten in the game. We’re really counting on him. We love what he’s doing. He had some significant carries last year, and he’s got a bright future.”
It’s a good omen for Martin to be listed as a potential break out by ESPN. IU’s Omar Cooper, Jr. was among their 2025 sleepers, and he went on to be a first-round pick in April’s NFL Draft.
Martin was explosive out of the backfield as a redshirt freshman in 2025. He posted 78 carries for 505 yards and six touchdowns a season ago. That production often came late in games after Indiana had posted big leads.
All indications at fall camp suggest Martin in part of a trio of backs including Lee Beebe, Jr. and Turbo Richard who will split carries to start the season. The Fishers, Indiana product believes he’s now ready to play snaps with the game on the line.
“I feel like I improved in a lot of areas. Pass pro and receiving are some of them,” Martin said last week.
“Before last year, I was still trying to adjust, learn the plays, learn my position, do whatever I could on the field, just make sure the team could benefit in any way. I was still young. This year, I feel like I grew up a little bit, matured some more.”
At 6-foot and 210 pounds, Martin is listed two pounds heavier than last season. But that’s not the real story. A focus on his diet has changed body composition, and has him primed for the break out ESPN projects.
“I feel like a different player,” he said. “My body feels lighter. I can pick my legs up quicker. I feel faster. Twitchier.
“I grew in a lot of areas just off my meal prep. My eating was one of the things, it wasn’t childish, but I matured. Eating was one of the ways I matured.
“Meal prep has really taken my weight and body composition to a different level. I’ve got more muscle in my arms. I toned down a little bit. I had a little bit of baby fat. I got rid of that. Now I’ve got more of a grown man body.”
A former Miami (Ohio) commit who got a late cycle offer from Tom Allen in 2023, Martin fits the mold of the overlooked players who thrive under Cignetti.
The logical next step in his progression is a break out season.
Martin believes he’s ready.
“I feel I’m more of an elusive back,” he says. “I can weave in and out of tackles. I have some speed to me. I can catch passes. I can do a lot of things.”
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