Indiana Football Hopes to Land Veteran Quarterback in Transfer Portal
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Questions surround the Indiana quarterback room a month into the offseason.
Quarterback Dexter Williams II showed potential when he led Indiana to a 39-31 win at Michigan State in his first-career start. His ability to run, coupled with true freshman running back Jaylin Lucas' game-breaking speed kept the Spartans' defense off balance.
With steady improvement by Williams as a passer in the offseason, he and Lucas looked like a young and exciting offensive duo to build around. But midway through the first quarter against Purdue on No. 26 – with Indiana driving and leading 7-3 on a 71-yard Lucas read-option touchdown – Williams went down with a non-contact knee injury.
He suffered "a knee dislocation with significant structural damage to his knee" and underwent surgery with an indefinite timetable to return. Indiana ended the 2022 season with a 4-8 record, and quarterbacks Connor Bazelak, Jack Tuttle and Grant Gremel entered transfer portal. This left an injured Williams, true freshman Brendan Sorsby and incoming freshman Broc Lowry as Indiana's only scholarship quarterbacks heading into the spring semester.
But coach Tom Allen is looking to change that.
"The goal is to add an additional [quarterback], an older one would be ideal," Allen said on Dec. 21.
"So that's the plan in terms of being able to have four guys on scholarship in that room and especially with Dexter's status. We're just working through that process every single day. It's neverending. It will continue these next several weeks, and the goal is to have the guy in place here for second semester."
Indiana has time and options to add a veteran signal-caller, but it has to happen relatively soon. The first transfer portal window spans from Dec. 5 to Jan. 18, and the 2023 Indiana University spring semester begins on Jan. 9. There's a second transfer window from May 1 to May 15, but Allen wants to bring in a new quarterback well before then.
Following Indiana's season-finale loss to Purdue, Allen was asked if the flashes of success with Williams showed him that Indiana needs to revise the offense around a mobile quarterback.
"Yes, absolutely without question. That's what I know we need to do," Allen said. "That allows us the chance to be able to do the things we need to do to be able to blend and different things, yes, but with the idea of the tempo that we used and the quarterback run game and throw game combination to me is really what I want us to be able to do, and want to build off that, absolutely, without question."
Here are some of the top remaining quarterbacks in the transfer portal.
Long shots, but worth a call
- Spencer Sanders, Oklahoma State
- 61.0 completion percentage, 9,553 yards, 67 TD, 40 INT in 43 games
- 493 rush, 1,956 yards, 18 TD
- Brennan Armstrong, Virginia
- 60.6 comp. %, 9,034 yards, 58 TD, 35 INT in 38 games
- 363 rush, 1,267 yards, 20 TD
- Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina
- 70.4 comp. %, 8,019 yards, 78 TD, eight INT in 34 games
- 293 rush, 1,053 yards, 16 touchdowns
- Sam Hartman, Wake Forest
- 59.1 comp. %, 12,967 yards, 110 TD, 41 INT in 48 games
- 416 rush, 856 yards, 17 TD
Dual-threat quarterbacks
- Mike Wright, Vanderbilt
- 55.3 comp. %, 2,067 yards, 21 TD, 11 INT in 24 games
- 176 rush, 908 yards, seven TD
- Chance Nolan, Oregon State
- 60.8 comp. % 4,153 yards, 32 TD, 20 INT in 22 games
- 116 rush, 508 yards, five TD
- Chandler Rogers, Louisiana-Monroe
- 65.7 comp. %, 3,714 yards, 24 TD, 10 INT in 24 games
- 284 rush, 720 yards, six TD
Non-Power 5 options
- Hank Bachmeier, Boise State
- 61.5 comp. %, 6,605 yards, 41 TD, 19 INT in 29 games
- Davis Brin, Tulsa
- 59.6 comp. %, 5,675 yards, 37 TD, 24 INT in 25 games
- Austin Aune, North Texas
- 54.4 comp. %, 7,324 yards, 56 TD, 28 INT in 37 games
- 151 rush, 406 yards, six TD
- Marquez McCray, Sacred Heart
- 62.8 comp. %, 4,993 yards, 24 TD, 15 INT in 28 games
Quarterbacks with limited Power 5 experience
- Zach Calzada, Texas A&M and Auburn
- 55.8 comp. %, 2,318 yards, 19 TD, 10 INT in 15 games
- Jason Brown, South Carolina and Virginia Tech
- 55.4 comp. %, 786 yards, eight TD, six INT in 10 games
Young quarterbacks
- Brady Allen, Purdue
- Four-star recruit, No. 10 QB in class of 2022 out of Fort Branch, Ind.
- Malik Hornsby, Arkansas
- Four-star recruit, No. 8 dual-threat QB in class of 2020 out of Missouri City, Tex.
- 46.2 comp. %, 314 yards, one TD, two INT
- Jay Butterfield, Oregon
- Four-star recruit, No. 5 pro-style QB in class of 2022 out of Brentwood, Calif.
Related stories on Indiana football
- SANGUINETTI WITHDRAWS FROM PORTAL: Indiana safety Josh Sanguinetti announced on Friday that he will no longer transfer and instead return to Bloomington for his fifth season as a Hoosier. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA HIRES O-LINE COACH BOSTAD: Indiana coach Tom Allen had an important decision to make this offseason, and he believes he hired one of the best offensive line coaches in the country in Bob Bostad. CLICK HERE
- 2023 RECRUITING CLASS: Indiana signed 16 players during the early signing period on Dec. 21, including 11 high school players and 5 collegiate transfers. Here's a full breakdown of each player, complete with quotes from coach Tom Allen. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA FOOTBALL TRANSFER PORTAL TRACKER: In our Indiana football transfer portal tracker, you can find a complete list of Hoosiers that have entered the transfer portal, declared for the NFL Draft, exhausted their collegiate eligibility and players that are transferring to Indiana for the 2023 season. We will frequently update this list throughout the offseason. CLICK HERE
- BIG TEN TRANSFER PORTAL BREAKDOWN: The college football transfer portal is more prominent than ever this offseason, already surpassing 1,000 entries. Here's a full breakdown of where each Big Ten team stands. CLICK HERE
