Indiana’s offensive line was a finalist for the Joe Moore Award in 2025, but came up short, as the Iowa Hawkeyes claimed the award. This season, Indiana’s offensive line is poised to win the award. They return several key starters from their championship season and are poised to be the best offensive line in the country.
A good offensive line provides great pass protection for the quarterback while creating holes for the running backs. Indiana’s RPO game is a major part of their offense, and so the offensive linemen really need to be sound in both aspects.
The Tackles
Tackles need to be large enough to block, but also mobile enough to block a speedy edge rusher. Indiana might have the best tackle in the entire nation, but they also have strong depth with him.
Carter Smith – Fifth year/ Powell, Ohio
Carter Smith is the leader of this Indiana offensive line. He has had 41 consecutive starts for the team and 43 total games for the Cream and Crimson. For four years now, he has been Indiana’s blindside blocker, and for the past two years, he has been part of a Joe Moore semi-finalist team. Last year, they were a finalist for the award.
He was Indiana’s first offensive lineman to be all-conference since 1987 and the first tackle since 1977. He was also named AP preseason All-American for the upcoming season. Carter Smith represented Indiana as one of their three captains at Big Ten Media Day. He will undoubtedly be Indiana’s starting left tackle as the season starts next Saturday against North Texas. He will also likely be a first-round pick in the next NFL draft.
Joe Brunner – Fifth year/ Wisconsin
Joe Brunner will likely start at right tackle this season. The grad transfer from Wisconsin has played in 39 collegiate games, with 24 total starts, so he brings a boatload of college experience. He is also extremely disciplined, having 1541 career snaps and only five penalties. If you know anything about a Curt Cignetti team, you will know that Cignetti loves this.
Brunner is a 6’7″, 320-pound beast of a man. Has all the athletic capabilities to play on Sundays someday. Brunner was a four-star prospect out of high school, initially recruited to play guard. Due to his size and Indiana’s need at tackle, he will likely be making the move over to tackle.
Austin Leibfried – Third year/ Mount Horeb, Wisconsin
The Wisconsin offensive line pipeline continues with Austin Leibfried. Leibfried is a third-year player who has gathered 13 games of experience without a start yet. He will likely be the top backup tackle this season, but if an injury occurs, Leibfried is ready to play.
At 6’6″ 303-punds Leibfried has the size to compete as a college offensive lineman. He was a three-star offensive tackle or interior offensive lineman prospect out of Wisconsin. The number 12 prospect in the state.
His best performance last season was in the second half of the Indiana State game when he helped pave the way for Khobie Martin’s first career 100-yard performance, which all came in the second half. This season, he will be the number one backup tackle.
Baylor Wilkin – Second year/ Van Buren, Ohio
Baylor Wilkin appeared in four games in his first year of college, redshirting in the process. The second-year tackle out of Ohio was a three-star athlete. He was the number 48 recruit from the state.
He saw his most playing time in the Purdue game during the fourth quarter when the offense went on a 93-yard touchdown drive. Wilkin will likely not see the field much this season, but he can improve and be part of the plan next year, especially as Indiana needs to rebuild their offensive line next season. Wilkin is 6’5″, 295 pounds, so he will likely need to increase his weight a bit to play tackle at the highest level.
Guards
Drew Evans – Fifth year/ Fort Atkins, Wisconsin
Drew Evans was also a Wisconsin player earlier in his career, but was a significant part of Indiana’s offensive line the last two seasons. He was part of the offensive line that finished as a semifinalist in 2024 and a finalist in 2025 for the Joe Moore Award.
Evans will likely be the left guard for Indiana this season, as he played that role well last year. He will line up next to Carter Smith. Last season, he missed weeks 10-12 and week 14 with an injury, but was healthy for the playoff run. The returning grad student will attempt to prove why he should play on Sundays while Indiana seeks a back-to-back national title run.
Adedamola Ajani – Third Year/ Indianapolis, Indiana
Adedamola Ajani has appeared in 15 games with four starts. He has three starts at left guard and one start at tackle. He will likely be Indiana’s starting right guard moving forward this season. He will also likely be Indiana’s youngest starter.
The Speedway High School grad was a three-star recruit out of Indiana. 6’4″, 305 pounds, and poised to take a large leap this year. Indiana will need this line as they hunt down the Joe Moore Award this season.
In High School, Ajani played both sides, doubling as a defensive tackle, where he finished second in tackles and had six sacks in his senior season. He is a truly versatile athlete, and Indiana will be glad to play this year.
Evan Parker – Second year/ Carmel, Indiana
Evan Parker joined Indiana as a walk-on in the fall of 2024. He played in one game, the Indiana State game, last season. Parker played both kicker and offensive in high school and has continued to do so at IU. He kicked off in the Indiana State game, averaging 57.8 yards per kick.
Being a 300-pound kicker and offensive lineman, Parker should be a fan favorite. He also has a cool story because he is a walk-on. He was a perfect kicker in high school with 17-for-17 on all PAT attempts and six-for-six on all field goals.
Centers
Bray Lynch – Fifth year/ Austin, Texas
Bray Lynch has been Indiana’s starting right guard all of last season, but will likely take the starting center position this season. He started all 16 games last year, while winning a national title. He, like Evans, Brunner and Smith, brings a ton of playing experience with 29 starts in 38 games played.
Lynch was also on the Joe Moore finalist and semifinalist teams for IU.
Lynch will slide into a different role as the center because he will have to actually deal with snapping the ball, but it is doubtful that this will be a problem this year.
Lynch is another example of how Cignetti has taken players and developed them into better players than they ever thought they could be. This year, he will have a slightly larger role, but will likely have another chance at being an All-Big Ten player.
Matt Marek – Second year/ Orland Park, Illinois
Matt Marek appeared in three games last season and was one of 12 freshmen to make their debut against UCLA. He is a strong center prospect, but he will likely only play in blowouts this year. He had his largest playing time against Purdue, when he helped IU gain 102 yards of offense and a touchdown drive.
He was a three-star prospect and a top-30 prospect out of Illinois. At 6’3″ and 305 pounds, he is already large enough to play collegiate football, but really just needs to continue to develop and be patient. The IU offensive line will have many openings next season, and he will have a chance at them.
Final Assessment
Indiana’s offensive line is super experienced and talented. They will have their best chance at winning the Joe Moore Award this year. They come in with so many snaps of experience, and four starters are fifth-year players.
The only flaw with this room is that the depth might be shaky. The depth is simply unknown, but with one injury, Indiana will need some backups to step up. Indiana will also have to do a lot this offseason to replace the four starters that they will be losing to graduation and the NFL draft.
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