Top 10 Returning Hoosiers Who Must Take Steps Forward in 2024

Which of the returning Hoosiers will need to take the biggest steps forward in 2024 (as the roster stands in Spring)?

When Curt Cignetti was hired and after he constructed his staff, the program immediately got to work in the portal, adding 22 guys to the roster, and at the high school ranks, signing 16 freshmen to the roster. By my count, the scholarship total sits at 86 during Spring Camp, meaning 48 of the remaining scholarship players are returners from the 2023 season. 

[RELATED: Indiana 2024 Scholarship Chart]

Most of those returners are younger, comprising a majority of the junior, sophomore, and redshirt freshman classes (30 of 32 players in these areas are returners). But there are several key anticipated contributors in the true senior, redshirt senior, and COVID senior classes (18 to be exact) who represent the pre-Cignetti era as well, and for 2024, most of those players will need to take the next step to either raise the ceiling of their positions or to maintain a significant role on the team post-spring.

Let’s take a close look at some key returners who need to take a leap forward in 2024, for one reason or another. 

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Disclaimer: Obviously, any staff and any player would like to see improvement from season to season, but it’s important to remember that improvement is not linear. Sometimes ceilings have been hit, and sometimes players improve more than others. Sometimes, there’s even regression. It’s complex in part because player improvement requires coordination between numerous parties – a program’s strength and conditioning, a system transplant and its learning curve, new staff, new standards, more time with familiar faces, players’ personal lives and tendencies, etc. These all make up the difficulties of identifying talent in recruiting and why some recruits/transfers just don’t pan out. There are a lot of variables to assess, and the best coaches learn how to manage those variables and put their players in the best positions for success. Since Indiana’s last game, many variables have been jostled with the changes brought to the program, and on the macro level, Cignetti has shown, in his past, a proficiency to make these changes break in his programs’ favors, as soon as Year 1. That’s incredibly encouraging for Indiana fans. On a micro level, this might mean players fans are already familiar with performing at different levels than anticipated. It’s just the way transition goes. These are all good things to keep in mind when thinking about player improvement (and in comparing PFF grades between players of different programs). And who knows? Maybe every returning player will show marked improvement in 2024, and you will have read this long paragraph for nothing!

10. LT Carter Smith

As a redshirt freshman last year, Carter Smith graded 17th among Big Ten tackles. That’s not exactly where a team wants its leading tackle to be graded, but within the context that, with limited time in an FBS program, he recorded the most snaps (797) in his Big Ten draft class and was graded 10th in his FBS draft class, there is optimism for the heights Smith can reach during his career. That potential is what made his retention so sweet for IU fans. A carbon copy of Smith’s first year would be surprising after a full offseason with Bob Bostad, and any progression and added consistency would mean a good piece on the exterior OL for Indiana. 

9. WR Donaven McCulley

Donaven McCulley graded as the 7th-best WR in the Big Ten in 2024, and given the role he played at Indiana in 2023, there is an expectation that he will begin 2024 as WR1. But with the additions of outside WRs like Elijah Sarratt and Miles Cross, McCulley still has plenty to prove, after shifting from QB to WR roughly two calendar years ago. In terms of experience alone, McCulley (984 snaps, 64 catches) has fewer reps at the position than both Cross (1,493 snaps, 105 catches) and Sarratt (1,358 snaps, 123 catches), and that’s not counting experience at slot from Myles Price (1,748 snaps, 161 catches) and Ke’Shawn Williams (1,176 snaps, 107 catches). EJ Williams (1,203 snaps, 63 catches) is also still there. That’s why when Cignetti said in a recent spring press conference that McCulley “needs to pick it up a little bit,” it’s not entirely surprising, in relation to who was brought into that room, but also isn’t fatalistic towards his potential at the position. The competition should breed new heights for the in-state former QB who flashed a ton of talent at the position last year. That depth should also relieve any sort of positional pressure on McCulley though, too.