Updated scholarship and depth charts after wave of transfers
Indiana needs to do lots of work in the portal this offseason.
Everything in this newsletter is dated as of Dec. 5, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. If anything is out of date by the time you read this, I apologize. This time of year is extremely fluid in the college football calendar.
This is an emergency newsletter for an (expected?) emergency in Bloomington, as five Hoosiers entered the transfer portal over the weekend, bringing the total to 11, including some who I was personally invested in (Malachi Holt-Bennett, Chris Keys, Chuck Campbell). Obviously, the biggest loss is Dasan McCullough, the highest rated signing in IU history.
With a day like this on the horizon and noting that the 2023 class has only hit 9 commitments, I began compiling a scholarship chart for the 2022 season a couple months ago to see how things shook out. You can see that scholarship chart here (it’s just a Google Sheet). The Google Sheet is a document I update live, so if you’d like to revisit it later, make sure you use the link and not the image below.
All scholarship numbers are calculated based on the assumption that those with a COVID year will return.
Correction: Jordan Grier should be listed as a safety on this chart, not a cornerback. That is reflected in the Google Sheet.
What jumps out immediately is that there are now fewer sophomores (11) rostered than juniors (12). Typically the younger classes will have more, as players are taking redshirts and waiting to find their spots within the program before transferring or staying. Talent at this level is what kept Indiana competitive against Big Ten East powers because of increased depth. Pointing to a freshman class with 28 players is walking on thin ice, as (generously) only five or so sophomores made a notably positive impact on the field in 2022. It would be misguided to expect more from next season’s sophomore class.
In addition to depth, that freshman-sophomore level is where most development occurs as well. However, as I’ve discussed with the CrimsonCast folks this season, it’s clear that the development is not happening as it should be, which yields the following projected depth chart for the 2023 season.
This projected depth chart is for the 2023 season and was created in the vacuum of the 2022 season, based on snaps taken at which positions and my own personal knowledge on how this roster was built in recruiting. Some players might change positions or rise and fall within the program by next season. The offseason is a long 10 months.
To anyone, including me, who believed during the season that IU needed to hit offensive line hard in recruiting or in the portal, it’s more than that now.
Things will obviously change, and (hopefully) Indiana’s staff saw these roster changes coming before the public did, but here on some quick notes on the projected depth chart:
Starters at many positions are concerning, but a lack of depth is what becomes glaring when isolating each position.
IU desperately needs to hit these positions in the portal:
QB, DT, LB, CB, K (not even mentioning OL yet)
These positions could work as is (but dangerously without depth):
RB, LT, RG, RT, DT, LB, S, P
I can’t wait for the Josh Henderson year, if he returns. But without depth in that room, he might not make it through the entire year.
Safety will feature a lot of new faces but as much young talent as you’ll see on the roster.
Defensive tackle could be saved (a bit) by two returning starters using their COVID seasons of eligibility, but it’s unclear if that will happen yet.
Cam Jones has a redshirt to use, but it appears he’s moving on, as he will play in the East-West Shrine Bowl. Aaron Casey still has his COVID year, though, and Matt Holht could hold up, but IU needs depth there because of the position’s importance and physicality within the Tom Allen defense.
Players IU desperately needs to return (before incoming transfers):
Josh Henderson, Emory Simmons, Matt Bedford, JH Tevis, Sio Nofoagatoto'a, Aaron Casey, Tiawan Mullen, Dexter Williams, Cam Camper
If you need some optimism, here are some young names I’m timidly excited about on that depth chart:
Omar Cooper, Jaquez Smith, DJ Moore, Cooper Jones, Bryson Bonds, James Monds
Why is Indiana in this position? Well, for many reasons, which include a lack of development within the program, but also because recruiting classes after the famed 2018 class haven’t produced on the field.
In 2022, the 2019 class (a class of 23 signings) featured just 9 players playing important snaps, and three of them negatively affected games or hardly saw the field because of injury (Bedford).
In 2023, a year when the 2020 class should be hitting (or nearly hitting) its collegiate prime, there will be 3 players on the roster, out of 20 signings, who made an impact on the 2022 season. Luke Haggard, who is a fourth player in this class to see the field, has reached the end of his eligibility.
This offseason, the Hoosiers will, and must, be back in the portal to find depth (and even starters) at key positions, but, as demonstrated in recent seasons, there’s little reason to believe that method is sustainable. The best programs in the country have their recruiting strategies mapped out years in advance, while Indiana is scrambling for transfers to step in and be difference-makers where homegrown prospects should be playing. This leaves many wondering: if Tom Allen’s shine is on the recruiting trail, where are those recruits now to lead the program forward?
The staff has quite the task ahead of itself, as it attempts to salvage a competitive roster in a conference consisting of programs that continue to make encouraging moves in their respective situations.
As stated earlier, this was an emergency newsletter. There will be another one in the future that discusses what Indiana lost to the transfer portal, with more in-depth stats, grades, etc.