BLOOMINGTON — As Indiana football’s fall camp continues on, the team’s roster and potential difference-makers have come more into focus.
IU has a lot of returning talent, along with a strong crop of transfers who will step into big roles this year. The Hoosiers have good depth in a lot of areas as well, but some position groups have depth chart battles or question marks behind the starters.
Head coach Curt Cignetti answered some questions about some of those position groups during his press conference Monday.
Offensive line
Indiana has a pretty established and set starting five on the offensive line: left tackle Carter Smith, left guard Drew Evans, center Bray Lynch, right guard Adedamola Ajani, and right tackle Joe Brunner.
The depth behind that group is less certain. IU has youth an inexperience in reserve on the offensive line, but there are players sticking out under the surface. Cignetti named redshirt sophomore Austin Leibfreid, redshirt freshmen Matt Marek and Baylor Wilkin, and true freshman Sam Simpson as younger guys who are performing well in fall camp thus far.
Some of those names could become important if Indiana suffers any injuries among its starters.
Wide receiver
IU’s wide receiving corps is loaded, with projected 2027 first round NFL Draft picks Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh leading the way.
Tyler Morris missed the entire 2025 season with a knee injury suffered in spring ball, but is healthy and playing well in fall camp. He should be a regular presence in the slot.
But Cignetti gave sophomore Davion Chandler the type of praise to make him worth watching heading into the regular season. He included Chandler among the top group of IU’s receivers with Marsh, Becker, and Morris.
“I think Davion’s made good progress here, recently,” Cignetti said. “He’s got a lot of talent, can play inside and outside.”
But after those four, Cignetti said, things are up in the air. Sophomore Lebron Bond and former walk-on turned scholarship player Jackson Wasserstrom are in the mix. Tulane transfer Shazz Preston is an experienced option, but Cignetti said the redshirt senior needs to be more consistent.
“Shazz Preston has talent, but he’s got to be locked in assignment-wise and do the right thing play in, play out. He can help us if he can do that,” Cignetti said. “He missed the first three or four practices with a hip (injury). He’s gotten on the field recently, he’s made some nice plays, but we got to eliminate the MA’s (missed assignments), with him.”
Linebacker
The Hoosiers lost Aiden Fisher after last season, but return Isaiah Jones and Rolijah Hardy at linebacker.
Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Bryant Haines has experienced players backing up that duo in redshirt seniors Jeff Utzinger and Kaiden Turner. Both have played plenty of football through their IU careers, both on special teams and on defense.
The exact pecking order, though, is not yet known.
“They know what they do. They played before. Good special teams players, as well,” Cignetti said of Utzinger and Turner. “Competitive situation, as far as the third, fourth, and fifth linebacker right now. Of course, in two tight end (formations), we’d like to play three linebackers. Kellan Wyatt could figure into that mix as a linebacker against 12 personnel. But that’s speculation, because he hasn’t been out there yet.”
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