2023 Countdown to IUFB Kickoff: 77 Days (Joshua Sales)

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

The 2023 edition of the Hoosier Huddle Countdown is officially underway! We are counting down from 100 to the beginning of the 2023 Indiana University football season. Each day, we will take a look at one (or two) players on the current Indiana football roster and highlight the player’s role in the upcoming season. We are now in the offensive line portion of our countdown and today’s focus is on a player with loads of potential: Indiana native Joshua Sales Jr.

Name: Joshua Sales Jr.

Hometown: Brownsburg, Indiana (Brownsburg High School)

Position: Offensive Line

Year: Redshirt Sophomore

Height/Weight: 6’6”/316 pounds

Indiana football fans know how articles about the offensive line begin. The unit has been disappointing and if the line does not get better in the coming season, IU’s record won’t be getting better either. It’s a familiar refrain and one that was repeated over and over in both 2021 and 2022. The old song has a new verse though as Indiana’s offensive line is now led by position coach Bob Bostad after Allen hired him away from Wisconsin. With a full offseason to evaluate his options and for the players to progress under new coaching, how the line shakes out is one of the biggest subplots of the upcoming season.

One of the major players for this group in the coming season is redshirt sophomore Joshua Sales Jr. The Brownsburg native came to Indiana University as a highly-touted recruit and he was a major recruiting victory for the Hoosiers. Sales redshirted the 2021 season and played in just one game. Many expected him to begin making an impact in 2022 but Darren Hiller, his position coach at the time, did not seem to value Sales all that much. He was firmly on the bench. Even after the early-season injury to Matthew Bedford, Sales remained rooted to the sideline. IU made a change during the season as Tom Allen let Hiller go. Interim offensive line coach Rod Carey finally gave Sales a shot and the line play did improve in his four starts at the end of the campaign.

Sales is a good-size for an offensive tackle and he showed a solid ability to block in the run game. He will be battling with a number of candidates to earn a spot as one of the starting tackles. Matthew Bedford, if he is healthy, figures to start at right tackle. That leaves one starting spot for guys like Max Longman, Vinny Fiacable, Bray Lynch, Cameron Knight, William Larkins and Carter Smith plus Josh Sales. Sales is likely the odds-on favorite to win that race for a starting spot at tackle and he does have the physical tools to blossom into an above-average starting tackle in the Big Ten.

The countdown continues with a new profile each and every day so come back to hoosierhuddle.com daily!