2021 Countdown to Kickoff: 42 Days (D.K. Bonhomme)

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

The 2021 Countdown to Kickoff is more than 50% complete! There are only 42 days remaining until the Indiana Hoosiers travel to Iowa City and invade Kinnick Stadium for a highly anticipated matchup between IU and the Iowa Hawkeyes. Today’s profile countdown feature is a look at one of the breakout players from the 2020 campaign: D.K. Bonhomme.

Name: D.K. Bonhomme

Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario (Clearwater Academy International in Florida)

Position: Outside Linebacker/Bull

Year: Junior

Height/Weight: 6’3”/231 pounds

 Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack and head coach Tom Allen were both looking to utilize the Bull position a bit differently to matchup with the new spread schemes prevalent in college football. The defensive end and linebacker hybrid position needed a player that could play as an end that drops back to help with pass coverage or rush the passer when called upon while also supporting the run defense. In short, the guys playing the Bull position needed to be versatile. As the season wore on, D.K. Bonhomme began to stand out and by the end of the year, he had emerged as a starter at the position and one of the breakout players of the 2020 season.

Bonhomme was born in Haiti, moving to Montreal at five and eventually to Ottawa at age 15. In order to further his football development, he moved to Clearwater Academy International in Florida. There, he teamed up with future IU teammate Sio Nofoagatoto’a and helped lead Clearwater to an unbeaten 11-0 season. He played middle and outside linebacker and racked up 100 tackles with eight sacks. Bonhomme migrated north to Bloomington and played in 11 games as a true freshman in 2019, mostly on special teams. It was a bit unclear where he was going to fit in on defense but he found his groove in the second half of 2020, making three starts at Bull, posting 15 tackles with one sack and a safety.

His play during those few games elevated him into a likely starter in 2021 and Allen mentioned him during the spring as a member of the Bull group. “D.K. Bonhomme, Alfred Bryant, Michael Ziemba, those three guys listed as bulls, which is our weak-side hybrid/outside linebacker type person.”

The Bull is going to be lined up like a standing defensive end, something that should allow an easier time getting into pass coverage or beating the offensive tackle to pressure the quarterback. In traditional terms, Bonhomme may get lost as a “tweener”. He’s kind of big for a linebacker and kind of small for a defensive end. With IU’s 4-2-5 defense featuring the Bull position, he could turn into a star.

The countdown continues with a new profile each and every day so come back to hoosierhuddle.com daily!