Where Hoosiers Land on Phil Steele's Top Draft Eligible Players

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Phil Steele’s annual college football preview magazine came out earlier this month. It’s a magazine regularly referred to as ‘the Bible’ of college football and has a section ranking the top draft eligible players at each position. Here are where some of the draft eligible football players rank in their position groups:

Quarterback

37th- Connor Bazelak, RS JR,- Bazelak is coming over to IU from Missouri after being named the SEC Freshman of the Year. In 20 starts for the Tigers from 2019-21 Bazelak threw for 5,084 yards and 23 touchdowns.

Running Back

45th- Shaun Shivers. Senior- Shivers is expected to be the feature back for IU and a big season could shoot him up this list. Shivers averaged 5.1 yards per carry while amassing 1,020 yards on the ground at Auburn.

Guard

21st- Matthew Bedford, Senior- Bedford will probably be back at tackle this season, but projects as a guard at the next level. He has played in 28 games with 27 starts for IU.

Defensive End

82nd- JH Tevis, RS Senior- Tevis is another graduate transfer. He was All-Pac 12 and has 8.5 career tackles for loss. IU coaches gushed about Tevis in the spring.

Outside Linebackers

30th- Cam Jones, 6th yr Senior- Jones will be the lead er of the IU defense this year and should he produce like McFadden, he could be the next IU LB to go pro.

Cornerback

22nd Jaylin Williams, Senior- Williams is the active leader for IU with six interceptions and became IU’s top corner after Mullen went down with an injury in 2021.

35th, Tiawan Mullen, Senior- Entering 2021 Mullen was an All-American, but an injury limited his time on the field for most of the 2021 season. He should be higher on this list, but will have to earn some of that respect back due to last season

Strong Safety

33rd- Devon Matthews, RS Senior- ‘Monster’ has made 152 tackles so far in his time at IU and plays well at the line of scrimmage. He can also defend the pass as he has three picks.

Long Snapper

2nd- Sean Wracher, Senior- Wracher is one of the best at his position in the country. However, breaking into the NFL as a long snapper is tough since those jobs don’t open often.

Place Kicker

7th- Charles Campbell, RS Senior- Campbell needs a bounce back from the second half of last season, but he has the leg strength and ability to be clutch. Can he be good enough to get drafted? We’ll see, but he should at least get a try out.

Punt Returner

15th- DJ Matthews, Sixth Yr Senior- When healthy, Matthews is electric in the return game. Can he bounce back from an ACL injury that ended his season four games in last year?