A Brief Look Ahead at Indiana Football 2016
By Edward Koton
It has been less than a week since the catastrophe in the Bronx and the deprecating hangover still lingers for most Indiana Football fans. But there are so few ways to properly mourn a loss, so we must as a fan base do whatever is possible to move forward. So, let’s take a brief look at the future of IU football and the direction this football program is headed in 2016.
“This upcoming season can’t be one step forward and two steps back. With the departure of various key seniors such as Nate Sudfeld, Nick Mangeri, and Jason Spriggs, now is the time for Indiana University to prove its depth as a program.”
This year was an obvious success in a multitude of undeniable ways. Legitimacy has been brought to this program, no matter how difficult the journey to get there has been to swallow.
No matter how annoying and frustrating the concept of a moral victory is, this season genuinely had a few. Coming close against Ohio State and Michigan on national television means something. It means IU are closer to where it wants to be as a program and this next season is crucial in displaying that continued progress as a program.
This upcoming season can’t be one step forward and two steps back. With the departure of various key seniors such as Nate Sudfeld, Nick Mangeri, and Jason Spriggs, now is the time for Indiana University to prove its depth as a program. Talented schools can reload year after year and Indiana has to not only prove it can reload, but it needs to improve.
The Hoosiers need to improve and they legitimately have the potential to do so. If you look at the key departures for this team, most of them will be coming from the offensive side of the ball. If there is any coach that can find a way to do a lot with a little on offense, that would be Kevin Wilson. That “a little”, means a new quarterback, new running back, and a revamped offensive line.
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Defensively, other than Nick Mangeri, Adarious Rayner, Zach Shaw, and Darius Latham, everyone is returning. Coming into this season, everyone was well aware of the youth on the defensive side of the ball. This youth played a pivotal role throughout the year but became less of an issue towards the end of the season. This can easily be attributed to the development of some key players such as Johnathon Crawford and Jameel Cook Jr. Given the time to adjust to big-time college football, these guys proved they can play. It’s only fair to expect to see more development from them at the start of next season.
And the final aspect to looking at how this team will line up next season is recruiting. At the moment, 247Sports has IU ranked as the 86th best class in the country. Not great, but not bad. The reason for this ranking is mostly the lack in depth in the class. With only 11 commitments, there is plenty of room to grow. Luckily that growth looks to be coming quite soon after the momentum of IU’s bowl game appearance rolls over to potential recruits such as Colin Miller, Jovan Swann, and Desmond Fitzpatrick. No matter what, although the current class lacks depth, it certainly makes up for it in high-impact guys. The additions of top JUCO quarterback Richard Lagow, JUCO safety Jayme Thompson, and JUCO tight end Ian Thomas will all be crucial as they will all be competing for starting jobs. In addition to that, Coy Cronk, A’shon Riggins, and Khalil Bryant all look like players that could make an impact.
Overall, there is reason to be optimistic with this upcoming recruiting class and its potential impact.
With all this said, it is important to take a look at how each position on the field will be affected this upcoming season.
Quarterback
First and most importantly on almost every team comes the quarterback position. A team’s success seems to be limited to the abilities of its quarterback. A great team without a quarterback can rarely go far. A horrible team with a great quarterback still has a chance. A viable chance.
As concerning as it is, this upcoming season has no definite starting quarterback. There will be a few players on the roster whom can play the role, but the obvious options will be Zander Diamont and newly arriving JUCO transfer Richard Lagow.
We have all seen Zander play previously and there is a reason to be concerned with him at the helm. The arm strength and size are just not there. But what he does bring to the table is his running ability.
Lagow is a different kind of monster. The man is 6’6” 240lbs, so he will definitely draw comparisons to Nate Sudfeld for purely size reasons. Lagow’s road through college football began at UConn after he originally committed to play for former coach Paul Pasqualoni. When Pasqualoni left, Lagow headed to Oklahoma State and, unfortunately, didn’t receive the playing time he expected so he went to Cisco JC in Texas. At Cisco he put up remarkable numbers, throwing for 2,200 yards and 21 touchdowns last season.
Lagow brings a more of a “gun-slinging” mentality which should bode in his favor with Coach Wilson’s style of play.
Although both have an opportunity to start, I would expect Lagow to get the job as he better suits what Coach Wilson is trying to do. Either quarterback would have a major effect on the identity of this offense, so a move to a more read option based offense may be too much for Coach Wilson. With that said, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a “Zander Package.” I’d love that actually. Give the man five or six plays a game. Treat it like some weird wildcat formation.
Running Back
With the recent departure of Jordan Howard for the NFL draft, there is a 1,213-yard hole that needs to be filled. As daunting as that concept might be, I’m genuinely not concerned by any means. Not to take anything away from Jordan Howard as he is an incredible talent, but with the offensive line that Indiana had this year, I could break a few 10-yards runs.
I’m especially not concerned knowing that Indiana has another proven 1,000-yard rusher in Devine Redding. Redding lacks the speed of Jordan Howard, but he certainly has the ability to carry the load in the backfield as displayed the last few weeks of this season as Howard dealt with injury.
Alongside Redding, expect to see the continued development of Mike Majette and Alex Rodriguez. Both backs offer more of the speed and versatility that Redding lacks which could lead to a continually strong one-two punch from Indiana.
The most interesting factor of this backfield will be the addition of Camion Patrick, who is expected to be eligible after transferring from East Mississippi C.C. Patrick was ineligible for the 2015 season due to academic issues. Patrick played wide receiver as East Mississippi, catching a touchdown in every game he played, but is expected to make the switch to running back as an opportunity to have more of an impact on the offense. His potential is a huge question mark, but it shouldn’t be surprising if he plays a big role.
Ultimately, the ability of this running game to be prolific will rely once again on IU’s offensive line.
Offensive Line
Speaking of offensive line, this team will be losing one of the top tackles in the country in Jason Spriggs and potentially one of the best guards in the country in Dan Feeney. Fortunately, I’m once again not very concerned. The reason we have such talented offensive lineman in the first place is the work of offensive line coach Greg Frey.
Both Spriggs and Feeney weren’t highly touted recruits. In fact, Spriggs came to the program as a tight end originally. Greg Frey’s ability to develop offensive line talent has been imperative to this team and expect to see the simple “next man up” approach from this team. The recruitment of Coy Cronk could factor in, but most likely Delroy Baker and Brandon Knight will be those next men up.
Wide Receiver
Everyone that matters is back. It’s as simple as that. Nothing should change. Mitchell Paige, Simmie Cobbs, and Ricky Jones will be the starting unit once again and one can only expect improvement. Throw in the continued development of Nick Westbrook and Leon Thornton, and this receiving corps be prolific this upcoming year.
Tight End
The tight end position will be a real concern with Michael Cooper and Anthony Corsaro both graduating. The hope is for JUCO Ian Thomas to come in and adjust quickly to IU’s offense. Pair him with Jordan Fuchs and things could be more than okay.
Defensive Line
Now that we have moved to the defensive side of the ball, expect to see very little change.
With Nick Mangeri and Darius Latham gone, look for more usage of Micheal Barwick and Shawn Heffen. Both were pretty big recruits with a lot of size.
Linebackers
Marcus Oliver, Tegray Scales, T.J Simmons and Greg Gooch are all back. Simple as that. This linebacking corps could actually be elite. Their continued development will be entertaining.
Secondary
The final phase of the team to worry about the secondary. Coming into this year, IU had one of the youngest coverage teams in football. The biggest cause for this was the dismissal of Antonio Allen. Allen, a former 4-star safety, was dismissed due to criminal charges.
The dismissal of Allen threw freshman Jonathon Crawford into a big time starting role that took time to adjust to. Given his continued development alongside Jameel Cook Jr and Tyler Green, this team’s secondary should only improve.
Big time tackler Chase Dutra and the deflection kind Rashard Fant will be returning and bringing veteran leadership. Add JUCO safety Jayme Thompson, Khalil Bryant, and A’shon Riggins, and this Indiana Football team could actually have something.
Overall, this team has the potential to continue their progress with a revamped offense and growing defense. They evidently have to.