Indiana's 2024 Incoming Transfers, Ranked

It's back! Ranking the top-15 incoming transfers in Indiana's 2024 class by impact on the 2024 season.

If you read last season’s ranking of Indiana’s transfers, you know how hilariously incorrect some of my rankings were. Reading back through it, the logic was fairly sound, but it goes to show the variability of living in the portal the way Indiana has the past few seasons. 

Behind Colorado's 41, Indiana had the second-most outgoing transfers this offseason (38), for obvious reasons. But in the four previous offseasons (2020-23), Indiana ranked 2nd, 3rd, 2nd, and 3rd – respectively in descending order – with an average of 24 outgoing transfers. The Hoosiers have lost as much as anyone to the portal, which is an issue Curt Cignetti is tasked with resolving – through changes in culture, investment, system construction, and…winning – in his time at Indiana. 

Part of those ideas just listed is system construction, and in order to construct his system in Bloomington, he has to tool the roster with players that fit the system, which is why Indiana is tied for second, with 31 incoming transfers this offseason. 

• Indiana 2024 Scholarship Chart

• Indiana 2024 Projected Depth Chart

So let’s see who Bite-Sized Bison believes will make the greatest impact during his first season in Bloomington. 

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15. Derek McCormick • K • from Louisiana Monroe

Kicker first! McCormick was tied for 27th nationally in field goal percentage, hitting 10-of-12, including two from 50+ yards. He graded 50th in the nation and was one of just 36 kickers nationally to hit at least two 50+-yard field goals. He also handled kickoffs at ULM. He will almost surely be doing the placekicking at IU, and that’s a huge role to play on any team. 15th on this list might be too low!

14. Kaelon Black • RB • from James Madison

Kaelon Black received the most praise of any RB during the spring, typically for his leadership in team settings, as the transplanted JMU staff works to install its system and culture in Bloomington. Black runs downhill with serious speed, as we saw in the Spring Game when he broke open a 24-yard run around the corner. He worked behind a pretty rough JMU OL in 2023 and graded 26th in the Sun Belt among RBs, but his 21 carries of 10+ yards ranked 75th in the country (no one at IU was ranked higher than 197th in 2023). He also ranked 3rd in the Sun Belt in RB targets and 42nd nationally in RB YAC (Jaylin Lucas was 39th). He was also one of four RBs in the Sun Belt to rush 100+ times and never fumble. There’s a lot to like in Kaelon Black, but he is one of four RBs who could earn carries in 2024, so his workload might be tempered.

13. Terry Jones/Cedarius Doss • ROVER • from Old Dominion/Austin Peay

Based on what we saw in the Spring Game and what I wrote about Cedarius Doss when he committed to transfer to Indiana, there seems to be a three-man competition for the Rover (Nickel) position – Terry Jones, Cedarius Doss, and Amare Ferrell. This position is huge because IU has struggled to find a good fit – or even field more than one on the roster – since Marcelino McCrary-Ball initialized the position in Bloomington. Ferrell played first-unit reps during the Spring Game with Jones playing second, and Doss hadn’t quite joined the team at that point. Jones brings 1,740 snaps worth of experience, and Doss has 1,029 FCS snaps. Both graded fairly well in 2023, as Jones ranked 127th among 403 FBS safeties, and Doss finished as the No. 1 FCS CB (No. 7 DB). Doss is a more-than-effective coverage DB, as he has played 94% of his snaps from wide corner and finished his last two seasons with 18 PBUs and 4 INTs, but he also had 17 individual stops, which would’ve finished 25th among Power 5 CBs last season. Jones is extremely effective in run defense and has always struggled in coverage, though we saw him pick off Tayven Jackson in April. He also has a ton more experience at a higher level, which shouldn’t be understated. The competition here means there should be quality play and some depth that IU fans haven’t seen from the similar Husky position in the past. 

12. Myles Price/Ke’Shawn Williams • Slot WR • from Texas Tech/Wake Forest

Indiana hasn’t had a true slot WR since the oft-inured DJ Matthews, and it hasn’t had a sustainably effective slot WR since Whop Philyor, who last wore the uniform in 2020. Ke’Shawn Williams and Myles Price will compete to fill that hole and will both see the field surely. In 2023, there were 143 pass-catchers that played 170+ snaps at slot, and Williams graded 38th with Price at 66th. Indiana landing both of these guys is major, and the fact that they will coexist at slot is what drags them down the list. The pair itself will likely be much more valuable than 12th, as we already noticed in the Spring Game with Price.

11. Nick Kidwell • RG • from James Madison

During his most recent full season at JMU (2022), Nick Kidwell, who played tackle, graded as the 5th-best OL in the Sun Belt. Kidwell has played 89% of his snaps at the tackle position, which is a bit concerning, though far better than going from interior to exterior. Kidwell has always graded as an above-average pass-blocker, though, which will be significant in this specific offensive line. 

10. Jailin Walker • LB • from James Madison

We haven’t heard much about Jailin Walker, which I’m assuming is because of recovery from some sort of postseason surgery after 2023, as Cignetti has mentioned generally since January. We also didn’t see Walker in the Spring Game, when his JMU LB partner Aiden Fisher shined. But Walker was actually graded by PFF as JMU’s best defender in 2023, above Fisher, Jalen Green, D’Angelo Ponds, and James Carpenter. Among LBs with 400+ snaps, PFF graded Walker 2nd overall, 9th in pass rush, 8th in coverage, and 37th in run defense. So if he’s healthy in 2024, Indiana fans will become familiar with Walker.