Indiana is no different than any other team throughout college football ahead of week one.
The Hoosiers are deeper at some position groups than others. No news there.
But it’s always interesting to hear the head coach acknowledge what we think we’re seeing throughout the depth chart.
While he didn’t get into specifics, IU’s Curt Cignetti did state on his radio show Thursday evening there are some players who would be particularly difficult to replace if they suffered an injury.
“We’ve got a lot of nice pieces out there, but we’re deeper in some spots than others,” Cignetti told Don Fischer on Inside IU Football. “There’s spots where we’re going to have to stay healthy, because we don’t have the depth at every single unit that you would like. I mean as a coach you never have enough depth, but we do have some areas where we’re really thin.”
Cignetti didn’t name names, but we can take a shot at it.
What are the position groups, and who are the players where a serious injury would be especially troubling?
Let’s take a look.
QUARTERBACK
This one is true for most teams, but some have more comfort in their backup situation than others.
Indiana had Tayven Jackson last year, a player who had multiple college starts under his belt and ended up winning a game as a starter for the Hoosiers in 2024 when Kurtis Rourke missed a game with a broken thumb. In years prior to that, the Indiana quarterback competition was a close call down to the final weeks of fall camp. IU recently had a luxury when Michael Penix, Jr. and Peyton Ramsey were competing for the job, and both ended up playing well in an 8-4 2019 season.
None of that is true at Indiana this year. Fernando Mendoza is the unquestioned starter for IU, and a player who many project will be a first round NFL Draft choice next spring. So not only is he really good, but the drop off appears to be significant.
Mendoza’s brother Alberto is the backup, and he’s only thrown one career pass. Old Dominion transfer Grant Wilson is in the mix too, but the gap from Fernando to the backups is wide.
LINEBACKER
In subsequent comments on his radio show appearance, Cignetti named linebacker Aiden Fisher as somebody who IU has to keep healthy. With Jailin Walker out of eligibility, IU is very inexperienced next to and behind Fisher, who was an All-American in 2024.
Sophomore Rolijah Hardy is expected to step into Walker’s spot and start alongside Fisher. He played a fair amount as a true freshman, seeing the field for all 13 games, and he had 22 tackles with two interceptions and two forced fumbles. But Hardy’s playing time was situational last season. He is still unproven when it comes to starting for an entire season for a team with College Football Playoff aspirations.
Behind Fisher and Hardy are a couples guys who have played, but are similarly unproven. Isaiah Jones is trending favorably. He played in all 13 games as a redshirt sophomore in 2024, seeing the field in certain personnel groupings and excelling on specials teams. Kaiden Turner is a redshirt junior, but he only played in two games last year after playing a bit more earlier in his career.
Beyond those guys are true freshmen and walk-ons, so IU is clearly thin overall at linebacker. Even one of the promising up-and-comers at the position, Quentin Clark, switched to an edge rusher during the offseason.
So Cignetti is right of course — IU can’t afford to lose Fisher.
SAFETY
This wasn’t a position of concern until recently, when assumed starting free safety Louis Moore’s eligibility became a question. Moore has sued the NCAA to play this season, but thus far is only cleared for the first two games.
Indiana has veterans Amare Ferrell at strong safety and Devan Boykin who will likely play the rover spot. But if Moore can’t play the full season, IU will have to turn to relatively unproven players such as Bryson Bonds, Byron Baldwin and Jah Jah Boyd.
Ferrell and Boykin could probably both move around to different spots, but losing Moore would mean IU would have to go the inexperienced route somewhere on the back end.
CORNERBACK
Indiana has experience at cornerback, with Jamari Sharpe, Ryland Gandy and Amariyun Knighten all with double-digit starts under their belts.
But the outlook for the position would change dramatically if anything were to happen to All-American D’Angelo Ponds, whose elite talent allows IU to be more aggressive at the line of scrimmage, and helps keep a side of the field relatively locked down.
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