Indiana Football's Transfer Portal Class Ranked Top 15 in Nation
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Following a 4-8 campaign in 2022, Tom Allen, like every college football coach in the country nowadays, focused on retaining and retooling Indiana's roster.
It's been nearly seven months since Allen and the Hoosiers last took the field, and the group that opens the 2023 season against Ohio State will look far different from the one that ended 2022 with a home loss to Purdue.
Such is the nature of the transfer portal, where Allen was active as any coach, save for Deion Sanders in his first year at Colorado, a program that has seen over 70 players enter the portal since last August.
So far, Allen has pieced together a 26-man incoming transfer class, which ranks among the best in college football, addresses recent areas of struggle and fills positional needs.
Bowl eligibility will still be an uphill battle for the Hoosiers – they face the 10th most difficult schedule in the country, with a projected record of 3.9-8.1, per ESPN – but early signs show Allen has done well rebuilding Indiana's roster through the transfer portal this offseason.
Indiana's transfer portal class is ranked No. 13 in the nation, according to On3. This recruiting site measures a class based on its Team Transfer Portal Index, which "utilizes the On3 (P)erformance score to measure a team’s production during the transfer process, compared relative against its roster and not a comparison against other schools. This proprietary algorithm determines if a school has improved its overall team talent, stayed the same, or declined in talent during the transfer window."
According to On3's metric, Indiana has an average incoming transfer player rating of 73.77, while outgoing transfers average out to 64.43. Basically, On3 is saying Indiana's incoming talent is better than its outgoing talent. Among Big Ten teams, Indiana is second behind Wisconsin in On3's Team Transfer Portal Index Score.
Similarly, 247Sports ranks Indiana's transfer portal class No. 15 in the nation and No. 1 in the Big Ten. It's important to recognize that Indiana's standing atop the Big Ten, according to 247Sports, is partially because it has more incoming transfers than any other school, thus boosting its score. But the talent is still there.
Michigan leads the Big Ten with six four-star transfers, followed by Maryland with five and Indiana with four four-star transfers. Zero five-stars are transferring into the Big Ten this offseason, and Indiana leads the conference with 15 three-star transfers.
Indiana's biggest loss this offseason was freshman Dasan McCullough transferring to Oklahoma. As an All-Big Ten honorable mention and Indiana's defensive Swiss Army Knife, McCullough tied for the team lead with four sacks and finished third among Hoosiers with 6.5 tackles for loss. He would have been a definite building block for future seasons, but Indiana seemingly did well to replace him.
Defensive end Andre Carter transferred from Western Michigan to Indiana for his final year of eligibility. He played 46 total games at Western Michigan and started all 12 games in 2022. With 68 tackles, a team-high 13.5 tackles for loss and 7.0 sacks, Carter was named second-team All-MAC as a senior.
At 6-foot-5, 273 pounds, Carter boosts Indiana's pass rush with the versatility to play anywhere along the defensive line. He and returning defensive back Noah Pierre were Indiana's MVPs of spring practice.
From a rankings perspective, On3 put Carter on its 13-player All-Transfer Portal Team. 247Sports ranked him No. 21 overall and No. 4 among defensive linemen. Along with Carter, Indiana added defensive linemen Philip Blidi (Texas Tech), Lanell Carr (West Virginia), Marcus Burris (Texas A&M) and Robby Harrison (Arizona State) to bolster the pass rush and stop the run.
To help replace starting cornerbacks Tiawan Mullen and Jaylin Williams, Indiana brings in Jamier Johnson (Texas) and Kobee Minor (Texas Tech). Johnson is ranked No. 433 out of 1,447 transfers, according to Rivals, and Minor is No. 993.
On offense, Indiana's struggles in 2021 and 2022 were largely defined to inconsistent quarterback and offensive line play. Injuries amplified the problem, as seven different quarterbacks took snaps during the 2021 and 2022 seasons and the offensive line rotating throughout the 2022 campaign.
Allen addressed this by jumping at the opportunity to rekindle his relationship with Tennessee quarterback transfer Tayven Jackson, a former four-star, top-200 recruit from Center Grove High School in Greenwood, Ind.
Jackson is Indiana's highest-rated incoming transfer on offense. He's ranked No. 120 overall, No. 9 among quarterbacks and above a slew of expected Power 5 starters. He's a bit lower on Rivals – No. 137 overall and No. 12 among quarterbacks – as well as 247Sports, where he's No. 185 overall and the No. 15 quarterback.
Jackson and fellow redshirt freshman Brendan Sorsby are battling for the starting job, a competition that Allen said will stretch into fall camp. The duo's inexperience – 10 combined pass attempt in college – plus up-and-down performances throughout spring practice means they might not be surefire solutions at quarterback in 2023, but the potential is there for future seasons.
Indiana explored adding a veteran quarterback in the transfer portal, but that is now unlikely, based on comments from Allen in late May. Allen also said quarterback Dexter Williams II is ahead of schedule in his recovery from knee surgery. A midseason return is the optimistic goal for Williams, but Indiana won't rush him back.
Whether it's Jackson or Sorsby under center in Week 1, Indiana added a pair of receivers that Allen expects to impact the offense immediately. Clemson transfer E.J. Williams joined Indiana for spring practice and provides another big target opposite of 6-foot-5 Donaven McCulley on the outside. At 6-foot-3, Williams caught 40 passes for 442 yards and two touchdowns in three years at Clemson. He's ranked No. 90 among transfer wide receivers, according to 247Sports.
Wide receiver DeQuece Carter joined Indiana this summer after racking up 3,035 receiving yards and 31 touchdowns in his four-year career. 247Sports ranks the 6-foot Carter No. 134 among all transfers and the No. 28 wide receiver.
Indiana added three offensive line transfers this offseason, including Noah Bolticoff from TCU, Max Longman from UMass and Josh Witt from Division II Northern State in Aberdeen, S.D. Bolticoff arrives in Bloomington with three years of eligibility after playing in TCU's final five games last season, including the College Football Playoff semifinals against Michigan and championship game against Georgia. Longman played under current Indiana offensive coordinator Walt Bell when he was the UMass head coach.
The trio joins an offensive line room that has largely the same personnel from 2022, aside from the loss of starting left tackle Luke Haggard, who signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent. Perhaps the biggest addition to this group is new offensive line coach Bob Bostad, who has NFL experience and coached All-Americans at Wisconsin.
After recruiting a top-15 transfer class in the nation, it's up to Allen and the Indiana coaching staff to put it to good use. The Hoosiers have won just six games in the last two seasons, making 2023 a crucial year for the program's trajectory.
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