Hoosiers Spring Football Preview: “No Bull” - IU has Pass Rush Questions to Answer

Image: Indiana University Athletics

Written by: Alex Compton (@alexncompton) 

No Bull - IU needs to improve its pass rush. While Indiana has had good, and even great, defenses since Tom Allen has been at Indiana, the consistent knock on his defenses has been pass rush - especially without blitzing. Last season, Indiana was 102nd in the country with 20.0 total sacks, ranking just behind UAB and just ahead of Akron.

Alfred Bryant was your starter last year and led IU with 4.0 sacks and threw in a total of 8.0 TFL. With Dasan McCullough off to Oklahoma, your top two pass rush options from last year are now gone. IU got creative with some blitzes again last year as DB’s had 5.5 total sacks (Noah Pierre with 3.0) but it puts way too much pressure on the backend of your defense if you cannot generate pressure without bringing additional bodies. 

The challenge for new co-DC and defensive play caller Matt Guerreri is to figure out ways to generate pressure with the front seven to not have to rely on bringing more bodies down into the box to get to the quarterback. While it’s always important at any level of football to do this, it becomes that much more critical in 2023, as IU will be replacing tons of experience at corner and safety. With the way the defense played for much of the season last year, new faces may not be the worst thing, but it will be critical for the players at Bull to take a step forward and produce more consistently this coming season. Behind the projected starter, there are tons of question marks at the position. Let’s take a look. 

The Starter – Myles Jackson

After transferring in from UCLA prior to the 2022 season, Jackson actually showed some real signs of things to be excited about heading into the 2023 season. Backing up Bryant for most of the season, Myles Jackson played in all 12 games, totalling 18 tackles, 2 TFLs and half a sack. It’s hard to quantify as a tangible skill, but Jackson always seemed to be around the ball last year. Remember that interception in the endzone against Western Kentucky that essentially saved the game? Jackson also had two fumble recoveries and just seemed to find ways to make plays when on the field. They play different positions, but he reminds me a lot of former LB Marcus Oliver for his ability to just track the ball and follow it. It takes extra effort and focus, but the ball can literally find you if you do that - as he showed last year with his three takeaways.

Jackson spoke repeatedly last season about how having to battle Alfred Bryant made him a better player overall as he had to consistently push himself to get better to see the field. While Jackson is largely unproven himself, the room now belongs to him and one of his major responsibilities this offseason besides establishing himself as a starter will be to bring the rest of the room along with him - as there are major question marks behind him.

Returning Depth – Venson Sneed Jr.

Technically he is returning, and technically he is depth, but we don’t know what to expect from Sneed. A former four-star Tennessee commit, Sneed enrolled early last year and redshirt in 2022. Playing in two games for IU last year, he became one of 15 true freshmen to play for the Hoosiers in ‘22. He worked more at defensive end last year but with a pure lack of bodies at the position behind Jackson, I’d expect Sneed to move sides of the D-Line and enter the mix at Bull for the Hoosiers. With extremely long arms and a quick first step, he has many of the traits that you’d look for in a Bull, but it will be up to Wilt, Guerreri and Allen to rework this depth chart to add players that can contribute right away behind Myles Jackson. The snaps will be there for the taking, so it’s up to players like Sneed Jr. to take a step and seize the opportunity. 

Newcomers – Lanell Carr | TaDerius Collins

Lanell Carr entered the portal, visit IU first, and essentially committed on the spot. He spent three years at West Virginia and was a former recruiting target of Tom Allen coming out of high school. Last year for WVU, he appeared in 12 games with two starts and totalled 21 tackles with 4.5 tackles for loss and a sack. The expectation is that he comes in immediately to play quality snaps, push Myles Jackson and bring along the two younger guys in Sneed Jr. and Collins (more on him in a second). At 6’1” 245, he’s got a body ready to play in the Big Ten right now, and while he may have been more of an under the radar add, will be a critical piece for Indiana if the Hoosiers look to regain their former form on the defensive side of the ball. 

Last but certainly not least is TaDerius “Tootie” Collins. A top 500 player nationally, IU beat out Baylor, Auburn, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Texas, TCU and others for him at the eleventh hour before signing day. It’s tough for true freshmen to play in the Big Ten, but Collins is a guy that will be tough to keep off the field. He’s a legit 6’4” 230+ right now and is going to be a guy that pushes the other three in the room to play well - because he’ll be on the field sooner than later. You never really know how recruits will shake out, but the staff was absolutely thrilled to land and sign the Louisiana native and have high hopes for what he can bring to Bloomington. Rushing the passer is his best skill right now, which is what IU desperately needs more of. While the Bull is a slightly different position than what he played in High School, he should be able to adjust to a standing pass rush position but will have to work on knowing when and where to drop into coverage. IU added a bunch of new faces on the DL, but Collins is a guy that you could look back on and be thrilled that he ended up playing ball at Indiana.

Final Analysis

For the most part, these four guys are unproven and have their work cut out for them to be a positive factor to IU playing better on defense overall. While Myles Jackson probably has the inside track to start at this point, he will have to continue improving and emerging as a leader in order to really stake his claim to that spot before the season opener in September as there are three guys that should be pretty hungry to prove themselves right on his heels. It’s tough to make predictions about this group, but there’s no doubt that you should expect to see plenty of new faces playing snaps at Bull for IU in 2023.