So who are your top candidates for younger lesser known or talked about players to break out and become household names for our Hoosiers in '26?
Put another way, who's at the front of the line to win the '26 Charlie Becker Breakout Award?
Great Topic!
My votes are (in no particular order):
- Lebron Bond
- Khobie Martin (if he counts as being under the radar at this point)
- Defense is going to be pretty veteran. So maybe Byron Baldwin? He's one of the few underclassmen I expect to get a lot of PT.
My bold predictions:
Defense: This will be the 3rd year in a row where our front 7 has improved and the combo of Jones/Hardy/Turner will be the best linebacking corps in the country.
Great Topic!
My votes are (in no particular order):
- Lebron Bond
- Khobie Martin (if he counts as being under the radar at this point)
- Defense is going to be pretty veteran. So maybe Byron Baldwin? He's one of the few underclassmen I expect to get a lot of PT.
My bold predictions:
Defense: This will be the 3rd year in a row where our front 7 has improved and the combo of Jones/Hardy/Turner will be the best linebacking corps in the country.
I predict Turner doesn't play a ton and we go back to a lot of 5-man fronts with 2 LBs. But I think we'll see some younguns on that DL (DT, specifically) play a role.
Davion Chandler could be in the mix. Jaylen Bell on defense. Way too early prediction.
Ask me after the Spring game.
Chandler is a good call. Turner is too. I was surprised to notice him in late in big, big games when rewatching on tv.
Baldwin is the obvious choice IMO, since he’s likely to have a dedicated starting role.
We are once again deep and veteran at WR, Marsh / Becker / Prezz / Morris will eat the lion share of snaps
At RB Martin looks next up, but Turbo and Beebe are going to have big roles too
LB wouldn’t be surprised if one of the true freshmen broke out. Maybe Williams. Staff has to be feeling good there since we didn’t make LB a priority in the portal. I could also see Ndukwe breaking out if he has a strong camp, he has a lot of competition for snaps
Khobe is on that border of "coming out of nowhere". Dude ripped off 500 yards in really what was essentially 9 games (had 6 yards total against Kenn St and PSU). Yes, some of that was garbage time, but he reads the field and his blocks and hits the extra gear like a seasoned vet. It will be a three-headed monster in the backfield this fall.
Chandler is gonna be hard to keep out. He's got wheels, but so does Bond and Charlie B.
Okay, I gotta stop. This offense has stupid potential.
Latest Post: Hoosiers Prepare for Sunday Trip to No. 8 Illinois Our newest member: Kittie Bradley Recent Posts Unread Posts
