Indiana’s Riley Nowakowski Has Blossomed Into One of the Nation’s Top Tight Ends

The Indiana Hoosiers are in the midst of a truly historic season fueled by elite play and coaching in every phase of football. Even more so, to win a lot of games and do so consistently, you need to perfect the little things. Blocking assignments away from the play, hustling hard on a decoy route, tackling hard on special teams, and playing every snap like it’s the most important snap of your life. That is the 2025 Indiana Hoosiers, and that is Riley Nowakowski.

Nowakowski arrived in Bloomington after spending five years in Madison, Wisconsin with the University of Wisconsin Badgers. He did not appear much in the passing game and largely factored into blocking schemes with his elite blocking prowess. However, Nowakowski knew he had another level to his game. When asked about his game evolving in 2025, he said:

“I think, personally, that’s something I’ve always felt like I can do. I always felt like I was athletically gifted enough to have an effect in the pass game. Obviously, I haven’t always had the opportunity to show it, but I think I’ve built a great relationship with Fernando.”

His great relationship with Fernando would not have been born had it not been for a great relationship first with Indiana’s elite offensive line and run game coordinator Bob Bostad, who originally coached Nowakowski at Wisconsin. No doubt, Bostad was a key contributor in bringing Nowakowski over to Bloomington, and the timing could not have been better. When expanding on being a transfer in the same class as Fernando, Nowakowski mentioned:

“Both being transfers, I think we just became friends. We did a lot of work during summer together and a lot of work during winter. I think we ended up building a relationship where he had a lot of trust in me. Opportunities arose, and I tried to take advantage of every opportunity that came to me. I think that helped build some trust with the coaches and I think I’ve been rewarded for the work I’ve been willing to do.”

Nowakowski has certainly put in the work and the results have been incredibly fruitful. Nowakowski is one of the key engines that the offense runs through, similar to Zach Horton’s role on the 2024 squad. Nowakowski brings elite blocking on every snap combined with the athleticism to run crisp routes, make strong catches, and run past defenders after the catch. One great example of this is his touchdown against his former team where Nowakowski first chips the opposing rusher and sneaks out for a short yardage catch. He then turns (and burns, as the kids say), runs up field, runs through two defenders, and scores a pivotal touchdown to stretch Indiana’s lead. Check it out below:

Nowakowski on the year has career highs across the board. He currently has 25 catches for 316 yards and 2 TD’s along with one rushing attempt for 1 TD at the goal line. Along with being the starting tight end, he has logged 155 snaps on special teams (per Pro Football Focus) and has one tackle to his credit as well. To cap it all off, Nowakowski’s success has earned him a very strong grade on Pro Football Focus (PFF), where he ranks 10th overall in the country with an overall grade of 76.4.

Indiana knows Nowakowski’s value, and now the analytics sites are catching up too. As the Hoosiers battle their way through the postseason, the engine that is Riley Nowakowski will continue to be a key cog in the Hoosier machine that hopefully leads to a National Championship.