With football season approaching, we’re going through Indiana’s roster to look at each position group going into fall camp.
First up in our IU football position preview series is defensive line, a group that ranked among the most consistently solid on Curt Cignetti’s team last year. Pat Kuntz and Buddha Williams did an excellent job with Indiana’s defensive line in 2024, and the Hoosiers did well in addressing vacancies in the room in the offseason. The Hoosiers have a lot of reason for optimism on the defensive front in 2025, anchored by one of the best players in the Big Ten.
Roster turnover — who’s gone
- CJ West (exhausted his eligibility, went to NFL)
- James Carpenter (exhausted eligibility, went to NFL)
- Jacob Mangum-Farrar (exhausted his eligibility)
- Lanell Carr Jr. (exhausted his eligibility)
- Ta’Derius Collins (transfer — Texas State)
- Race Stewart (transfer — Western Michigan)
- Marcus Burris Jr. (transfer — Memphis)
- Robby Harrison (transfer — Western Kentucky)
- Venson Sneed Jr. (transfer — Western Kentucky)
- Caleb King (entered transfer portal, no landing spot)
Roster turnover — who’s back
- Mikail Kamara (redshirt senior)
- Tyrique Tucker (redshirt junior)
- J’Mari Monette (redshirt junior)
- Mario Landino (sophomore)
- Daniel Ndukwe (sophomore)
- Andrew Depaepe (redshirt sophomore)
- Quentin Clark (redshirt freshman)
- William Depaepe (redshirt freshman)
- Andrew Turvy (walk-on, redshirt senior)
- Aden Cannon (walk-on, redshirt junior)
- Finn Walters (walk-on, redshirt sophomore)
Roster turnover — who’s new
- Hosea Wheeler (transfer — Western Kentucky)
- Stephen Daley (transfer — Kent State)
- Kellan Wyatt (transfer — Maryland)
- Dominique Ratcliff (transfer — Texas State)
- Kyler Garcia (3-star, Nashville, Tenn.)
- Jhrevious Hall (3-star, Columbia, Tenn.)
- Keishaun Calhoun (3-star, Groveport, Ohio)
- Triston Abram (3-star, St. Louis, Mo.)
- Tyrone Burrus Jr. (3-star, Indianapolis)
Projected depth chart
Here’s our best estimate of Indiana’s defensive line starters and who the other key players will be.
- Stud: Mikail Kamara, redshirt senior, 6-foot-1, 262 pounds (35 career starts at IU and JMU)
- Kellan Wyatt, senior, 6-foot-2, 257 pounds (28 career starts at Maryland)
- Defensive tackle: Hosea Wheeler, redshirt senior, 6-foot-3, 298 pounds (25 career starts at WKU)
- Dominique Ratcliff, redshirt senior, 6-foot-3, 296 pounds (four career starts at Texas State)
- Defensive tackle: Tyrique Tucker, redshirt junior, 6 foot, 302 pounds (five career starts at JMU)
- J’Mari Monette, redshirt junior, 6-foot-3, 286 pounds
- Defensive end: Stephen Daley, senior, 6-foot-1, 273 pounds (24 career starts at Kent State)
- Mario Landino, sophomore, 6-foot-4, 284 pounds
Kamara is locked in at the stud, after changing over from defensive end during spring ball. Wyatt is a pretty versatile player — he may fit best as Kamara’s backup on paper, but there are a lot of avenues for him to see the field in different roles. IU rotates pretty heavily at defensive line, but Tucker and Wheeler seem like good bets to start at defensive tackle. Ratcliff could draw some starts as well, depending on how things shake out. Daley was pretty clearly added from the portal to start at defensive end, but expect plenty of playing time for Mario Landino as well.
Why it will work
The Hoosiers lost some big pieces up front in West and Carpenter, but they still have a strong group of defensive linemen entering this year.. It starts with Kamara, one of the more dominant defensive ends in the Big Ten and the country last year. At his best, he’s capable of carrying IU’s defense. Even when he isn’t at his best, he’s so impactful through the plays he still makes and the attention he draws away from other Indiana players. Tucker was really solid with his opportunities last season, and should be able to handle a bigger role this year. Wheeler was a highly-regarded transfer addition, and Ratcliff graded extremely well in run defense last season; both should give IU a big boost up the middle. Wyatt has proven himself in the Big Ten already at Maryland, and Daley graded out as a pretty well-rounded player on the edge. Landino showed a lot of promise last season and gives IU some versatility on the defensive line. There are fewer question marks about IU’s depth at the position than last year’s team had going into the season, between a solid two-deep across the line and breakout candidates like Ndukwe.
Why it won’t
Kamara isn’t sneaking up on anyone this year. People may not have been familiar with him coming into his first season in Bloomington, but he’s well-regarded as one of the best edge rushers in the country entering 2025. Every opposing game plan, in terms of pass protection, will center around minimizing Kamara’s impact. IU has good players throughout the defensive line, but how much of a hit would that group take if Kamara has any trouble with the additional attention?
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