Ahead of Indiana football’s season opener against Ohio State, we’re breaking down some players to keep an eye on this season.
The Hoosiers take on the Buckeyes on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
The game will air on CBS — the first Big Ten game on the network.
We ran through our offensive “picks to click” on Thursday. These are our defensive picks.
Andre Carter
Widely regarded as Indiana’s biggest addition in the transfer portal, Carter will be a critical part of the IU defense this year.
Carter posted impressive numbers at Western Michigan last season, ranking fifth in the MAC with seven sacks and tying for seventh with 13.5 tackles for loss. He also recorded two forced fumbles, an interception, and a safety, and he earned first team All-MAC honors for his efforts.
And he’s looked like that player throughout spring ball and fall camp. He brings versatility to the defensive line, with ability to line up in several different spots. He’s a guy who can get to the quarterback consistently and cause disruption for opposing offenses.
Indiana’s pass rush, frankly, was often not strong enough last season. Dasan McCullough had a good freshman season and showed massive potential for the rest of his career, but he transferred to Oklahoma in the offseason. Carter is a stronger pass-rusher than anyone IU had last season — Pro Football Focus graded him the No. 17 pass rusher in the nation last year. If Carter replicates that performance at IU, it would be a huge boost for the Hoosiers defense.
Aaron Casey
Casey and Noah Pierre are the two returning veterans on IU’s defense, and both are key pieces for the Hoosiers.
But Casey, in the middle, is especially important. He’s the heartbeat of the defense. After Cam Jones went down last season, Casey joined McCullough as the team’s two best players on defense. He led IU with 86 tackles and 10.5 tackles for loss, both of which tied him for 11th in the Big Ten. His game is pretty balanced — he’s solid in both pass rushing and run defense (although he’s not great in coverage).
He’s not a perfect player — he misread some key plays last season, and missed some tackles like nearly every IU defender did. But Casey, so often, got into the right spots at the right times and made plays. That’s what you want out of your middle linebacker and field general. Casey has risen even more into a leadership role this season as a team captain.
It’s hard to envision Casey regressing this year. And if he manages to improve upon an already solid foundation, he could be in for a huge senior season.
Nic Toomer
There are so many question marks in the secondary for Indiana, particularly at cornerback. It’s hard to have more turnover in one position room in a single offseason than IU’s cornerbacks did this year. It’s still not entirely clear who the preferred options are at the position — head coach Tom Allen has identified four to six players who could be factors for IU this year, and it could be a competition extending into the season in some ways.
But let’s go with Toomer as a player to watch here. The Stanford transfer missed spring ball but impressed coaches with a strong fall camp. He showed good tackling ability, something sorely needed in the IU secondary. He’s one of a few players who coaches and teammates have said has stepped into a leadership role in the cornerback room.
It’s pretty close to a shot in the dark trying to guess who Indiana’s starting cornerbacks will be a month from now. But from what we’ve seen and heard, Toomer has as good a shot as anyone to at least be in that mix.
Lanell Carr Jr.
Carr has a real chance of starting at Indiana’s Bull position. He was among the top defensive performers in fall camp, as coaches constantly praised him and grouped him with the biggest standouts of preseason.
He’s actually the shortest of Indiana’s outside linebackers, at 6-foot 1, but that’s simply a more compact frame for his 240 pounds to fit in. That could help him in pass rushing — which is something he may get to do more at IU than at West Virginia.
Carr played a more traditional outside linebacker spot with the Mountaineers, which forced him into more coverage and playing in space at times. He said earlier this week that the Bull position suits his skill set much better, and it allows him to rush the passer more frequently.
If Carr can back that feeling up with strong play, Indiana’s pass rush would be much better off for it.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- Find us on Facebook: thedailyhoosier
- You can follow us on Twitter: @daily_hoosier
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
