Indiana has a solid core returning to a defense that seemed to improve as 2024 rolled on and ended up as one of the nation’s best.
But the Hoosiers lost a lot of key contributors, and they have some critical holes as we turn the page to 2025.
Here’s a position-by-position look at where IU still has openings to fill on the defense, ranked by areas of greatest need to the least.
For a similar look at the offense, GO HERE.
1. (tie) SAFETY: The return of Louis Moore from Ole Miss was good news for IU. He can potentially come in and start alongside his former teammate Amare Ferrell. But IU still only has six safeties for three spots (free safety, strong safety, rover), meaning they’ve only got a two-deep depth chart at this point. And they don’t have a proven starter for one of those roles. They’ll still likely add multiple players from the portal and/or move a cornerback over if it makes sense.
1. (tie) LINEBACKER: While All-American Aiden Fisher is returning, his partner-in-crime Jailin Walker is out of eligibility. Walker’s speed and playmaking ability will be missed. Reserves Isaiah Jones and Rolijah Hardy played a lot of snaps in certain personnel groups, but it isn’t clear either has a skillset like Walker. Quentin Clark is someone the staff likes, but he’s unproven to this point, as are several others. Indiana is likely going to try to find someone with significant experience from the portal to fill Walker’s role, and it should be an attractive opportunity.
1. (tie) EDGE RUSHER/OLB: While All-American Mikail Kamara is returning on one end of the defensive line, the opportunity is wide open on the other side in the outside linebacker role. Lanell Carr, Jacob Mangum-Farrar and Venson Sneed have all moved on. Kamara will get so much attention from offenses in 2025, creating an opportunity for someone else to shine opposite him. There are in-house up-and-comers like Ta’Derius Collins, Mario Landino, and Daniel Ndukwe, but the Hoosiers will bring in a proven veteran if they can to really enhance their pass rush.
4. INTERIOR DEFENSIVE LINE: Indiana lost two key starters in James Carpenter and C.J. West, but they’ve made two noteworthy additions in Hosea Wheeler (Western Kentucky), Dominique Ratcliff (Texas State). Tyrique Tucker and Marcus Burris return after playing a lot of snaps, and will both be factors in the rotation at the very least. The Hoosiers might be done here, at least until we get into the spring and get a better sense for how much playable depth they really have.
5. CORNERBACK: Indiana has their top three corners returning from 2024 in D’Angelo Ponds, Jamier Johnson and Jamari Sharpe. They also added Amariyun Knighten (Northern Illinois) from the transfer portal, return two redshirt freshmen and bring in three true freshmen. It seems unlikely IU will add anyone further at this point unless they have a chance to make an upgrade.
Here is some essential information for the IU football offseason:
- Position-by-position roster turnover
- Scholarship players by position for 2025
- IU football transfer portal activity tracker
For complete coverage of IU football, GO HERE.
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