Indiana Football: Takeaways from week one depth chart

Indiana football is back and there is a lot to takeaway from the initial depth chart that was released on Monday afternoon.

Indiana football released its depth chart for the week one matchup against Ball State as many questions were answered and with much to take away.

The full depth chart is as follows:

The biggest news was Tom Allen naming Michael Penix the starting quarterback over returning starter Peyton Ramsey, but that wasn’t the only major depth chart movement to take away.

Because of the extremely deep and talented backfield, headlined by Stevie Scott, freshman back Ivory Winters entered his name in the transfer portal after not making it in the top three of the depth chart.

Besides the Winters and Penix news, most of the offense is as expected. One last initial impression of the depth chart was how big the offensive line is compared to other years. All five starting lineman are above 310 pounds, and just one backup lineman is below 300 – at 292.

Now with Penix, a lefty, under center, the right side of the line becomes even more important. With 31 starts on the right side, guard Simon Stepaniak (6-foot-4, 321 pounds) and tackle Caleb Jones (6-foot-8, 358 pounds) will play crucial roles in protecting Penix.

On the defensive side of the ball, depth has been a major point of emphasis and you can see that paying off. Alfred Bryant, who has yet to make a start in his career, is slotted as the No. 1 defensive end, with a bit of a surprise as James Head seems to get the slight edge over Gavin Everett, an 11 game starter, as one of the second stringers. Allen Stallings IV and Michael Ziemba headline the first two stringers on the other end of the line with 40 appearances between the both of them.

In the secondary which is loaded with depth and talent, sophomore Devon Matthews won the starting nod as one of the starting safeties alongside Bryant Fitzgerald, winning the spot over two veterans Khalil Bryant and Juwan Burgess, who have combined for 33 appearances and nine starts in their careers.

This is just for week one and obviously injuries and improved play make for movement on the depth chart, but those were just a few of Hoosier State of Mind’s initial impressions heading into the week one matchup.