Indiana Football: 3 early signees who will have instant impacts
By Alec Lasley
3. Damarjhe Lewis (DT, Georgia)
One of the biggest signees of the class, Damarjhe Lewis was a former Auburn commit who eventually reopened his recruitment in the summer and fell into the hands of Tom Allen.
What was one thing that the Hoosiers struggled with last year? Getting to the quarterback.
Yes, the current defensive line will have another offseason under their belts, but let’s be real, they haven’t proved too much outside of one or two players, that they can consistently play at a high level.
Lewis, however, has all of the tools to step in and be a huge addition to the line. At 6-foot-3 and 300 pounds, he has great agility for a big lineman and that helps him get in the backfield at ease. With 13 tackles for loss last season, Lewis spent the majority of his time either chasing around the QB or breaking up plays before they even got to the line of scrimmage.
While Indiana has a few guys like Michael Ziemba and Alfred Bryant on the outside of the line, having Lewis to go side-by-side with the likes of Jerome Johnson, who led the team in sacks with four, gives the Hoosiers added depth and quickness on the interior of the line.
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Lewis will not start this season outside of if there are any injuries, but his presence in the rotation will not go unnoticed and providing that added depth in the middle of the line will help tremendously down the stretch of games and the season.