I’m working under the assumption that IUFB is probably done in the portal and we’re nearly set with the current roster. I use this space to talk about the depth chart as I see it at this moment in time. Depth charts are extremely fluid, especially when practice starts so these are subject to change but the points I’m making, typically, are still what I believe even if I make a switch because until we get reports from live practices, I’m just guessing.
You can find the working Google Sheet here as well as checking the Hoosier Huddle message board where it is a pinned topic.
It’s updated with current class, weight, height, total scholarship, walk on’s and more. I recommend viewing on a desktop and not on Twitter or any “preview” type browser. It looks much better in almost any browser than the one Twitter has. Also, you can click on the players IU profile which I update as soon as players are given a page on the IU website.
Today I’m going to hit the Quarterback position. IU currently has 37 scholarships on offense and 11% of those scholarships are going to QB’s (4).
This is a pretty simple list…It’s Josh Hoover and then everyone else.
The redshirt senior Hoover was rated by 247 as the #11 QB and #43 overall in the ’26 transfer class and it’s pretty easy to see why. The 6’2, 194 signal caller is the active passing leader in FBS with over 9600 career and has 71 TD passes to his name during his career under TCU HC Sonny Dykes and (now former) OC Kendal Briles.
Again, this isn’t a battle. Hoover is the starter but I wanted to start out with three areas where Hoover must get better if Indiana wants a chance to go back to the CFP and win a second consecutive national title.
First, the obvious. He cannot keep turning the ball over like he did at TCU. In three years at TCU, Hoover threw 33 INT’s. In ’25, Pro Football Focus had Hoover with tied for 9th in the nation with 21 “turnover worth plays” and a turnover worthy play (TWP) rate of 4.4%, which was the 125th in FBS and in just the 24th percentile in that stat.
In 24′ and ’25, Kurtis Rourke and Fernando Mendoza *combined* for 22 total TWP’s on 801 drop backs (2.7% TWP rate) and combined for just 11 INT’s in those two seasons.
I have a lot of faith that returning QB Coach Tino Sunseri, OC Mike Shanahan and HC Curt Cignetti can correct what needs to be corrected in terms of risk taking but Hoover, himself, has to realize that he has to take much better care of the ball if IU’s going to get back to the level they were the past two seasons at the QB position.
The other one isn’t really quantifiable…Hoover doesn’t have the best arm. He has a good arm. From watching highlights and some live games last year, he seems to understand his limitations but he also must learn something that both Rourke and Mendoza came to IU much more polished in: touch.
Hoover loves ripping it on slant routes off of RPO, much like Rourke and Mendoza. He’s very smart and a good processor. That’s typically his bread and butter. He has a pretty good deep ball. He’s not Matthew Stafford but he can hit the deep routes. What I didn’t like is that he tends to throw the ball hard and without a ton of touch a lot. He’s shown touch on sideline throws but he typically just rears back and fires most of his passes.
Finally, he’s not really a great athlete. He’s not bad but he’s not been very good. IU was so hard to stop because even though Fernando Mendoza wasn’t a dual threat type player, he made up for that with decent straight line speed and ability to climb in the pocket. Hoover can climb the pocket but he’s much more indecisive for when he takes off and that gets him caught and sacked. He’s got to just commit to running instead of continuing to look downfield. I saw multiple plays where he is chased down as he’s looking for someone downfield. Take the easy 3-4 yards. That’s how you end up with 155 career carries and -10 yards…To be fair, he’s much better when it’s sack adjusted (98 carries for 267 yards, 2.7 ypc) but the point still stands because averaging just 2.7 ypc sack adjusted isn’t going to cut it when Kurtis Rourke ran 33 times for 100 sack adjusted yards (3.0 ypc) on a torn ACL in ’24.
Still, I think the staff will be working on these three things during the spring and fall.
Ok, now to the good stuff. Hoover is a really good QB. As I mentioned above, he’s the career passing leader in FBS right now. The kid can spin it.
I’ve been irrationally high on Hoover since he was committed to IU all the way back in ’22. Really liked his HUDL videos and make up.
Hoover threw for 56 TD’s in his two full seasons at TCU, including over 7400 passing yards at a really good 8.4 yards per attempt. TCU graded out as the 30th overall OL by PFF in ’25 but I watched wasn’t nearly as good. Add to that that IU’s OL allowed 92 pressures in 16 games in ’25 and Hoover’s TCU OL allowed 93 in 12 games. Again, it wasn’t an awful OL but I felt like it wasn’t as good as the PFF grade had it.
Add to that that while Hoover did have a problem with TWP’s, he also finished 17th in the nation with 24 “big time throws” (BTT). He had 24 in just 12 games. For context, Fernando Mendoza had 23 in 16 games. I know it’s not an apples to apples comparison because of how differently each teams offense was set up, but Hoover has a good arm and can make all the throws to be elite in this IU offense.
He’s elite in the RPO game and was behind just Fernando Mendoza in FBS last year for QB’s who use RPO. IU runs a ton of RPO style option plays and if you put Hoover back there with the OL and running game IU had in ’25, he probably puts up much better stats overall.
He also showed a really good knack for back shoulder throws, something IU’s offense utilized a ton of as well. The back shoulders to Sarratt and Becker are probably a big reason they went on the run they did and Hoover seems like a guy who recognizes that right away and throws a catchable back shoulder ball.
The last component is really a team component. Hoover’s going to have a really good (on paper) OL at IU in ’26 (that’s for a different article) that has four guys returning and an elite transfer coming in. Add to that that Hoover will have more talent to throw to on the outside than he has before (even though TCU’s had some dudes) and he looks like an exciting add who looks to follow in the footsteps of all the former Curt Cignetti QB’s.
IU Quarterback 2 Battle
Hoover is in the starter tier by himself.
The only real “battle” in camp at QB is going to be for who is the back up.
With Alberto Mendoza gone to Georgia Tech, IU was able to bring back Grant Wilson for another season (his 7th) which is big for depth. I currently have him at #2 on the depth chart but he hasn’t played meaningful snaps since ’23 at Old Dominion.
Cherry is a kid with all the talent in the world. He’s 6’5 and has a big arm. He got passed on the depth chart two springs ago by Alberto Mendoza and then tore his ACL in ’25. Rather than take up a roster spot, IU had him as a “coach” where he wasn’t with the team. I had heard it was a pretty significant injury and took a long time to heal. But he’s back on the roster this spring and will be competing for the back up job.
If I had to guess, IU really hopes Cherry is healthy and takes the next step in his development with the “between the ears” part of the game after getting to be in on meetings with the Heisman winner and soon to be #1 overall pick in the NFL Draft.
Bell is a strong kid from the Chicago suburbs. He didn’t have a ton of huge offers out of high school but IU got him late in the process. It’s hard to know much about him other than what we’ve seen in his HUDL videos. Being at IU for his second spring and fall camp will be big for his development.
My take here is that IU must feel good about the development of Tyler Cherry and/or Jacob Bell because they didn’t even bring in a ’26 commit at QB. They had Cash Herrera committed but he decommitted and ended up at Boise State.
But if Josh Hoover goes down, my guess is that we’d see Cherry over Wilson even though I have Wilson above, but I don’t really know. Wilson seems like a “break in case of emergency”. I have him at #2 on the depth chart only because he’s played college football before and is 24 years old.
Hopefully we won’t have to find out.