Indiana Hoosiers Spring Practice: Three Things We Learned


With Indiana’s spring practice in the books, here’s what we know and what we learned about the Hoosiers.


Kevin Wilson got Indiana rolling, leading the perennial Big Ten doormat to back-to-back bowl games. New head coach Tom Allen plans to keep the Hoosiers rolling, preferably to their first winning season in a decade. He inherits a roster with enough veteran talent to remain on course in Bloomington in 2017.

Indiana Spring Practice Redux

1. Star WR Simmie Cobbs All the Way Back

Indiana will have one of the premier one-two receiving punches in the country now that Cobbs is fully healed from last September’s season-ending knee injury.

The only silver lining to Cobbs’ absence was that it opened the door for Nick Westbrook to blossom into a budding playmaker. Now that both are back, senior quarterback Richard Lagow has a pair of big and proven targets he can employ to beat opposing DBs downfield. Cobbs didn’t skip a beat in his return to action this spring, quickly shedding any rust that had formed. In fact, he’s confident he’ll be better than ever in 2017 after using his season of inactivity to become physically and mentally stronger as a student-athlete.

2. Quarterback In Much Better Shape Than Last Spring

The Hoosiers like the direction of their quarterbacks, both Lagow and beyond.

Lagow had an up-and-down season at IU, his first since transferring from Cisco (Tex.) Community College. He threw for 3,362 yards and 19 scores, but was also picked off 17 times. This offseason, Lagow has committed to becoming more consistent and in better command of the offense, even spending spring break in San Diego with QB coach George Whitfield. Meanwhile, redshirt freshman Peyton Ramsey was one of the spring game stars. He’s a coach’s kid, with a lot of the intangibles of a winner. And since the staff wants more mobility from the position, his ability to make plays with his feet has been noticed since last fall on the scout team.

3. Middle Linebacker Search Continues

Losing Marcus Oliver to the NFL Draft was a stiff body blow. Now, Indiana needs to find a complement to all-leaguer Tegray Scales on the second level.

The Hoosiers use just a pair of linebackers, but they and the safeties are expected to make a ton of plays, especially since the line isn’t littered with standouts. Allen and his assistants are not short on options, though a starter won’t be named until August. Junior Dameon Willis supplanted an injured Oliver in the Foster Farms Bowl. Senior Chris Covington is a three-time letterwinner. Mike McGinnis is a junior college transfer who began his career at Miami. And then there’s T.J. Simmons, the three-year starter in Bloomington who redshirted last year and was back in the spring.

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