Hoosiers 2025 Offensive Portal Haul and Projected Impact

Written by: TJ Inman

The 2024 season was a memorable and historic campaign for the Indiana Hoosiers. IU went 11-1 in the regular season with the lone loss coming at Ohio State. In Curt Cignetti’s first season in Bloomington, he led the program to the College Football Playoff and the season ended in South Bend with a first round exit to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

The attention and fanfare surrounding the program is unprecedented for Indiana University football and Cignetti is now faced with the difficult task of building on what was put in place by his first Indiana team. The coaching staff has been very busy since the regular season ended, putting together an impressive portal class in hopes of assembling another strong roster and ensuring the Hoosiers are not a “one-hit wonder”. 

Quarterback

Adds: Fernando Mendoza – California, Grant Wilson – Old Dominion

Projected Depth Chart

QB1: Fernando Mendoza (Redshirt Junior), QB2: Grant Wilson (Redshirt Senior+), Alberto Mendoza (Redshirt Freshman), Tyler Cherry (RS FR), Jacob Bell (FR), Maverick Geske (FR)

Kurtis Rourke will go down in IU history as a legend for his play, accomplishments and toughness. His eligibility has been exhausted and IU’s coaches clearly did not trust Tayven Jackson to enter the 2025 as the starter, making it clear they were pursuing a quarterback in the portal. As soon as Cal’s Fernando Mendoza, the older brother of Alberto Mendoza, entered the portal from Cal, he became the top target for Curt Cignetti and Mike Shanahan. Indiana hosted Mendoza for a visit but was unable to land him until finalizing the addition of quarterbacks coach Chandler Whitmer. Mendoza is primarily a pocket passer but he does a bit more mobility than Kurtis Rourke (particularly while Rourke is playing with a torn ACL). That ability to move the pocket and potentially use his legs as a weapon adds a new wrinkle to IU’s offense. The Hoosiers beat out Georgia, Missouri and UCLA for the talented quarterback and quite frankly, this was as good of a get as Indiana fans could have possibly hoped for.

Tayven Jackson departed for Central Florida and Tyler Cherry suffered a non-contact knee injury during preparation for the Notre Dame game so bringing in a second quarterback became a priority. Curt Cignetti dipped into his Sun Belt bag and added super senior Grant Wilson from Old Dominion. Wilson wants to get into coaching and he reportedly views this as an opportunity to compete, learn and provide depth (while also cashing a decent NIL check). 

Running Back

Adds: Roman Hemby – Maryland, Lee Beebe – UAB

Projected Depth Chart

Roman Hemby (RS SR), Lee Beebe (RS JR), Kaelon Black (RS SR+), Khobie Martin (RS FR), Sean Cuono (FR)

Indiana completely redid the running back room after the 2023 season. The staff added Justice Ellison, Ty Son Lawton, Kaelon Black and Elijah Green and it was a joy watching the quartet throughout the 2024 season. Ellison and Lawton took the bulk of the carries and the dynamic duo has exhausted eligibility. Elijah Green hit the transfer portal after being used sparingly and the Hoosiers were left with only the physical Kaelon Black, redshirt freshman Khobie Martin and incoming freshman Sean Cuono.

Curt Cignetti quickly added Lee Beebe, a hard-running former walk-on from UAB. There was some drama following his commitment but Beebe signed and he will immediately remind fans of Ty Son Lawton. Indiana was not done, securing the services of Maryland transfer Roman Hemby. The former Terp is expected to be the starter and he brings top-level speed the IU backfield has not had recently.

The rotation figures to be Hemby, Beebe and Black with returning redshirt freshman Khobie Martin getting the spare carries. One thing to keep an eye on, Hemby and Beebe are both very capable pass-catchers. I would expect to see the running backs to be more involved in the passing game in 2025. 

Wide Receiver

Adds: Makai Jackson (SR), Tyler Morris (SR), E.J. Williams (RS SR+)

Projected Depth Chart

Starters: Elijah Sarratt, Omar Cooper, Tyler Morris

Twos: Makai Jackson, E.J. Williams, LeBron Bond, Charlie Becker

Depth: Davion Chandler, Myles Kendrick

The Hoosiers lost Ke’Shawn Williams, Myles Price and Miles Cross from the 2024 receiver room and the coaching staff knew adding a few dynamic players was necessary. E.J. Williams surprised everyone by announcing he was withdrawing from the transfer portal and returning to IU for his final season. Williams has a whole lot of physical ability and a terrific frame that makes him a unique target in the red zone but he has to find a way to stay healthy, something that has not happened yet in his career. Tyler Morris is a speedy playmaker transferring to Indiana from Michigan. It is impossible to try and translate what Morris’ statistics from Michigan mean. The quarterback play this past year for the Wolverines was dreadful and there was minimal effort to get wide receivers involved. There are flashes of Tyler Morris’ speed, particularly an electric play in the Rose Bowl win and he has a lot of experience playing in the slot, something IU really needed.

Makai Jackson, a transfer from Appalachian State and a former teammate of Elijah Sarratt’s at St. Francis (PA), completes the trio of additions at this position. Jackson is a big-play threat that has a similar frame as Miles Cross but probably offers more speed than the former Ohio and IU player.

The staff is expecting Charlie Becker to begin to contribute and incoming freshman LeBron Bond has speed that could get him on the field early in his career. As a bonus, Tyler Morris is a veteran punt returner and could fill the role vacated by Myles Price.

Tight End

Adds: Riley Nowakowski (RS SR+), Holden Staes (SR)

Projected Depth Chart

Holden Staes, Riley Nowakowski, Sam West, James Bomba, Brody Foley, Blake Thiry, Andrew Barker

Zach Horton had a gigantic impact on the Indiana offense despite rarely being involved as a pass-catcher or a player that touched the ball. Horton’s blocking and toughness set the tone for the attack and defenses always had to pay attention to him because he was a proven threat in the passing game. Indiana replaced his blocking prowess with a tight end/H-Back transfer from Wisconsin named Riley Nowakowski. Nowakowski rarely got a chance to catch the ball and the Hoosiers are certainly doing a lot of projecting and hoping there is untapped potential for him as a pass-catcher.

The Hoosiers grabbed former Tennessee tight end Holden Staes out of the portal (after publishing of course). Staes is 6’4” and 248 pounds with 35 games of experience. He gives IU a receiving threat at the position as well as a really physical blocker.

James Bomba is a returning player that is another plus-blocker and rare pass-catcher. Now entering his third year in the program, Sam West is someone the Hoosiers need to emerge as a receiving weapon. West was a quarterback in high school and he has a lot of athletic ability but learning the new position and adding enough size and strength is a challenge. Indiana is reportedly still engaged in the transfer portal at this position as they try and find a proven pass-catching tight end. 

Offensive Line

Adds: Zen Michalski (RS SR), Khalil Benson (RS SR+)

Projected Depth Chart

LT – Carter Smith, LG – Drew Evans, C – Bray Lynch, RG – Khalil Benson, RT – Zen Michalski

Tackles – Austin Barrett (RS SO), Cooper Jones (RS SR), Evan Lawrence (RS FR)

Interior – Austin Leibfried (RS FR), Vinny Fiacable (RS SR), Adedamola Ajani (RS FR), Mitch Verstegen (RS FR), Matt Marek (FR), Evan Parker (FR), Baylor Wilkin (FR)

Indiana is still on the lookout for an additional player that would fit on the offensive line but linemen that can help are not cheap and for now, this is the group for the Hoosiers. Zen Michalski comes to IU after a very uneven career at Ohio State. Michalski is an Indiana native and he has a good set of physical tools that Bob Bostad will need to get more out of than OSU did. He slots in at right tackle but don’t discount the very real possibility that Austin Barrett beats him out for a starting spot.

The projected starting right guard is former and now current Hoosier Khalil Benson. Benson was at Indiana from 2020 to 2023, spent one year in Boulder playing for Colorado and is now back in Bloomington. He has experience playing at left guard, right tackle and right guard and I think his best position is right guard, a spot he can be really solid. Bray Lynch has the unenviable but very important task of filling the spot vacated by Mike Katic but he has some experience at center and showed himself to be very capable. Drew Evans is rehabbing a serious injury and it will be a race against the clock to see if he can be ready for the beginning of the 2025 season. If not, Austin Leibfried or Adedamola Ajani figure to plug in at left guard. Carter Smith will be the anchor and leader of this line as one of the best left tackles in the Big Ten. 

Hoosier Huddle will have ongoing coverage of portal recruiting and more as IU continues to prepare for spring practice and the 2025 season.