State of the Room- IUFB Safeties and Huskies

Written by: Zach Greene (@zachegreene)

Coming off an extremely disappointing 2021 season the IU Football Program will try and gain some “confidence” and “swagger” after going 2-10. During the 2020 season the Hoosiers made it all the way to the Outback bowl against Ole Miss led by their defensive unit. That season, the Hoosiers were towards the top of the nation in interceptions and caused a lot of havoc for opposing quarterbacks. On the contrary, this past season was completely different. There are many reasons for why things took such a drastic change but now it is important for the unit to move on. That said, the defensive unit will now be led by Chad Wilt who comes from Minnesota after Charton Warren’s departure. Wilt will try and bring experience and aggressiveness to the unit which they desperately need. Now let’s dive into the State of the Room of the safeties and husky position.

Departures

·      Safety Raheem Layne will be walking away from the program after running out of eligibility

·      Marcelino Ball also exhausted his eligibility

·      Jordan Jusevitch entered the transfer portal after playing 10 games for the Hoosiers this past season. His experience will be missed.  

Returnees

The safeties unit will be led by sixth-year senior Devon “Monster” Matthews. Matthews will be a leader and backbone of the unit. Standing next to Matthews on the depth chart is Josh Sanguinetti who filled in nicely this past season considering his experience playing at the power five-level. Juwan Burgess is the next guy in line coming back for his redshirt senior season. He appeared in nine games this past season getting very little playing time. Following Burgess are Jordan Grier, Bryson Bonds, and Bryant Fitzgerald. The guy that stands out is Bryant Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald often lined up in the husky position as well as on the outside. For the rest of the guys, it looks wide open as to who will be getting playing time. We will get a better sense of who will play since Grier, Bonds and Dunnam have little to no experience playing at the Power Five level. Deland McCullough II joined the program last season after playing at Miami (OH).

Newcomers

Phillip Dunnam the No.40 ranked safety in the nation, comes out of Miami Dade County where he attended North Miami Beach and caught 42 passes 10 of which for touchdowns.

https://247sports.com/player/phillip-dunnam-46113843/

Jamari Sharpe is a freshman from Northwestern H.S. in Miami who brings good size and speed to the defensive unit. He runs a 4.45 according to https://247sports.com/player/jamari-sharpe-46117141/ and is a track star. Sharpe offers good experience. Expect him to get a lot of playing time this upcoming season.

Final Group Projections/Thoughts

The unit will be back and revamped after miserable 2021 season. The offense will be more productive which will in turn make the defense better. The Husky position will be decided and filled in with guys who perform well in spring and fall camp while the players with experience will led the way on the roster and depth chart.

Safeties/Huskies - 7 Scholarships (Safteries)

Deland McCullough II

Devon Matthews

Josh Sanguinetti

Jordan Grier

Bryson Bonds

Bryant Fitzgerald

Phillip Dunnam