Indiana Football underwent a massive makeover after a 2-10 season, through the transfer portal and by bringing in the best recruiting class in school history. After scholarship numbers were increased to deal with COVID-related challenges, NCAA rules will require all schools to be back at 85 scholarship players for the 2022 season. IU is expected to still be active in the transfer portal and with a few remaining high school targets heading towards the next signing period in February, as the total class can be up to 35 players large. Let’s take a look at where the scholarships are currently allocated on the roster and just how Tom Allen may use scholarships moving towards offseason workouts.

Quarterback - 3 Scholarships

On Wednesday, Tom Allen said he expects both Jack Tuttle and Donaven McCulley to be back in 2022. With Dexter Williams also on scholarship, that makes three returning QB’s. Allen also said on Wednesday that IU will still look to sign a freshman QB and a transfer QB by February after Mike Penix transferred to Washington and Josh Hoover flipped to TCU. There are some good transfer options remaining with more likely to hit the portal.

Jack Tuttle
Donaven McCulley
Dexter Williams

82 Scholarships Remaining

Running Back - 6 Scholarships

Quite the day for Deland McCullough on Wednesday. He signed four star Gi’Bran Payne, flipped one of the most underrated prospects in the country in Jaylin Lucas and signed Shaun Shivers from Auburn and Josh Henderson from North Carolina. Add those four newcomers to returning backs Trent Howland and David Holloman (both RS Fr. in 2022), and you have a deep, dynamic room.

Shaun Shivers
Gi’Bran Payne
Josh Henderson
Jaylin Lucas
Trent Howland
David Holloman

76 Scholarships Remaining

Tight Ends - 5 Scholarships

Peyton Hendershot is off to the NFL after breaking IU’s receptions record for a tight end, so there is an obvious hole of production and experience left by his departure. A.J. Barner figures to be the next man up, as he has flashed All-B1G potential as a young player so far in Bloomington. While no final decision has been made, it is Hoosier Huddle’s expectation that Matt Bjorson will use his final year of eligibility and return in 2022 as well. With Bloomington native Aaron Steinfeldt also on the roster and redshirting last season, he will return in 2022 with four years left to play. Signing day was busy for Kevin Wright and Walt Bell at the tight end position as well, as they grabbed two highly rated 6’6” freshmen out of Ohio in Ryan Miller and Brody Foley (former Tennessee commit). This is a room oozing with potential, and they might all play in 2022 in Walt Bell’s new-look Indiana offense.

A.J. Barner
Matt Bjorson
Aidan Steinfeldt
Ryan Miller
Brody Foley

71 Scholarships Remaining

Wide Receivers - 10 Scholarships

IU’s WR group also underwent massive change this offseason, as Ty Fryfogle, Jacolby Hewitt, Miles Marshall, Jordyn Williams, Cam Buckley and Da’Shaun Brown left the program via graduation or the transfer portal. IU will return some experience to the roster in 2022, but the room right now is very young or new to Bloomington. This is a group that may see another addition by February, even after the additions of Kamryn Perry and Omar Cooper on Friday.

Emery Simmons
Cam Camper
David Ellis
Malachi Holt-Bennett
Javon Swinton
David Baker
D.J. Matthews Jr.
Jaquez Smith
Omar Cooper
Kamryn Perry

61 Scholarships Remaining

Offensive Line - 18 Scholarships

This is the group that most IU fans realize has to improve if Indiana wants to be successful again in 2022, as the group overall was really subpar in 2021. So far, there hasn’t been much movement with the personnel besides Caleb Jones exhausting his eligibility to go after a spot in the NFL. There are a few other decisions to monitor, including Luke Haggard and Dylan Powell. It is not expected that Dylan Powell will return for a sixth year of college football, so that scholarship will not be counted below. IU will bring in three freshmen as part of the 2022 class in DJ Moore, Carter Smith, and Bray Lynch. Josh Sales and Kahlil Benson are guys to watch as breakout pieces in 2022.

Matthew Bedford
Luke Haggard
Mike Katic
Zach Carpenter
Tim Weaver
Josh Sales
Vinny Fiacable
Brady Feeney
Chris Bradberry
Cameron Knight
Kahlil Benson
Luke Wiginton
Nick Marozas
Aidan Rafferty
Randy Holtz
DJ Moore
Carter Smith
Bray Lynch

43 Scholarships Remaining

Defensive Ends/ Edge - 10 Scholarships

Upgrading the defensive line was maybe the top priority of Tom Allen’s 2022 incoming class. He wanted bigger bodies and some transfers, and accomplished most of that at DT. Let’s first look at where the DE room stands, which will have to replace Ryder Anderson, among other depth pieces. An additional transfer pass rusher will be another point of emphasis before the next signing period in February.

Jaren “Stone” Handy
Cooper Jones
Beau Robbins
James Head Jr.
Jonathan King
Alfred Bryant
Dasan McCullough
Richard Thomas
JH Tevis
Venson Sneed

33 Scholarships Remaining

Defensive Tackles - 8 Scholarships

Tom Allen discussed multiple times on Wednesday his desire to bring in larger and stronger bodies on the defensive line, and he certainly accomplished that at defensive tackle. IU lost a few players to the portal, and Weston Kramer used his final year of eligibility in 2021. With some portal additions and a heavy flavor of 2022 DT freshmen in the signing class, this will be a very different group in 2022. The major decision to watch heading into next season is that of Demarcus Elliott, who we expect will return for a final season in 2022. This may be a position that IU looks to add a player or two to. NOTE - Previously listed for DE are JH Tevis and Cooper Jones, who could also play DT for stretches if needed as well.

Demarcus Elliott
Sio Nofoagatoto’a
Gavin McCabe
Antoine Whitner Jr.
Caleb Murphy
LeDarrius Cox
Patrick Lucas Jr.
Dominick “Nick” James

25 Scholarships Remaining

Linebackers - 6 Scholarships

Micah McFadden is gone, and a few decisions loom large for the position group heading into 2022, including Cam Jones and Aaron Casey after James Miller entered the portal. For the sake of this breakdown, we will include those two returnees, which should be a nice retention of quality experience. While there hasn't been a final decision made, Thomas Allen may not return to football due to wear and tear his body has taken after two major, season-ending injuries at IU. An additional transfer would make sense here as well.

Cam Jones
Aaron Casey
Bradley Jennings
Maurice Freeman
Kaiden Turner
Isaiah Jones

19 Scholarships Remaining

Cornerbacks - 10 Scholarships

Tiawan Mullen and Jaylin Williams both announced they will return in 2022, which is a massive boost for the Indiana defense. Reese Taylor made a surprising decision on Thursday to enter his name into the transfer portal after being an impact player over four seasons at Indiana, which does impact the depth of the room. However, there should still be great experience and decent depth in the corner room, as Tom Allen and Charlton Warren brought in multiple high-impact freshmen in the HS class.

Tiawan Mullen
Jaylin Williams
Noah Pierre
Chris Keys
Lem Watley-Neely
Larry Smith III
Deland McCullough II
Trevell Mullen
James Monds
Jamari Sharpe

9 Scholarships Remaining

Safeties - 8 Scholarships

Raheem Layne filled in nicely in 2021, but he is out of eligibility. Devon “Monster” Matthews announced he will return, which was a massive boost to the back end of IU’s defense. There are some interesting names in this group now, and finding the right partner next to Matthews will be a key to Indiana’s success on defense in 2022. Juwan Burgess and Bryant Fitzgerald could return as well.

Devon Matthews
Josh Sanguinetti
Juwan Burgess
Jordan Grier
Bryson Bonds
Bryant Fitzgerald
Jordan Jusevitch
Phillip Dunnam

1 Scholarship Remaining

Specialists - 3 Scholarships

Charles Campbell and Sean Wracher are two of the best kickers and long snappers in the conference, respectively, and will anchor a full special teams unit that hopes to improve in 2022. James Evans is slated to return as the starting punter as well in 2022. Don’t expect much movement here.

Charles Campbell
Sean Wracher
James Evans

2 Scholarships Needed

What’s next for Indiana?

With all 85 possible scholarships currently in use (and being over the limit by two), there is technically no room to add for 2022. However, Tom Allen on Wednesday emphasized that his roster is not set, and that they will look to add to the QB, WR, and DE/ Edge rooms specifically. With that being taken into consideration, who might be departing the program, and what positions may be getting some new faces added into the mix?

Quarterback - Tom Allen said that his current plan is to add a freshman QB as well as an experienced transfer to the room. This would make IUFB a 5 scholarship team at quarterback, which means they would sit at 89 scholarships (4 over the limit).

Wide Receiver - With the need for a few additional experienced bodies at receiver, IU will likely look to add an additional player to have 11 scholarship players at WR. This would move the Hoosiers up to 90 scholarships (5 over the limit).

Linebacker - Indiana is very young at linebacker, and could be in really dire circumstances if Aaron Casey and Cam Jones do not return to IU. Transfer Bradley Jennings from Miami FL helps, but with young players expected to be on the depth chart right away, it may make sense to bring in another LB with some college experience, which would put IU at 91 scholarships (6 over the limit).

Departures - If the above scenarios were to take place, Indiana is looking at a roster crunch of at least seven players. With some pending decisions regarding returning for another season, heading to the NFL, transferring, or just graduating/ moving on from football, it’s very probable that we will see a few players leave via the transfer portal in the coming weeks. Likely candidates would be younger players on the offensive line, especially at guard, who have yet to crack the depth chart. Indiana cannot head into the season with 18 scholarship offensive linemen if they want to continue adding to the roster, so this is definitely a position where there should be some roster turnover. The OL brought in during the 2021 and 2022 classes are highly regarded, so those other guys could see themselves towards the bottom of the depth chart and opt to transfer out.

Indiana brought in four running backs to add to Trent Howland and David Holloman. After neither one played in more than four games in 2021, is it possible that one of those players decides to search for more playing time elsewhere?

Finally, IU is still fairly deep (and talented + experienced) at corner despite Reese Taylor’s transfer. With Larry Tracy hitting the portal during the season, could a few other corners that have yet to crack the rotation follow suit and look for other schools?

Tom Allen had a wildly successful signing day on Wednesday, bringing both talented transfers and the best high school recruiting class in school history to Bloomington. With more additions to be made to capitalize on the momentum and to ensure last year’s disastrous season was just a fluke during his time in Bloomington, Tom Allen will now have to navigate tough personnel decisions as he looks to finalize his roster and start preparations for the season opener in Memorial Stadium against Northwestern in 2022. Just how he does that will be critical to the team’s success next season and beyond.

The Huddle

Indiana Football Scholarship Breakdown after the Early Signing Period

Hoosier Huddle