Indiana All-American left tackle Carter Smith had offseason shoulder surgery and will miss the entirety of spring practice.
Smith told the media Tuesday morning he had a procedure to repair a labral tear in his left shoulder. The injury related to the 2025 season and the surgery was before the start of spring practice.
The 6-foot-5 and 313-pound Smith says he should be able to return to weight lifting in a few weeks, and should be fully available for fall camp and the 2026 campaign.
Named a first-team All-American by multiple outlets in 2025, Smith said part of his decision to return to Indiana for his final year of eligibility was due to the procedure. He wanted to be able to show the NFL he was fully healed and able to perform at the same level he achieved in 2025.
“With my first time being like this (injured), I have to go out and prove (to the NFL) I can do all the same things,” Smith said.
Smith started every game for IU in 2025. He was named a consensus first-team All-American. The redshirt junior only allowed nine pressures all season on 483 pass blocking snaps.
The Powell, Ohio product was part of an offensive line unit that paved the way for four-straight 300-yard rushing efforts to start the season – a program-record streak and longest Power 4 stretch since Baylor in 2017.
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