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IU football may have jumped from 81st to 45th nationally in scoring defense from 2018 to 2019, but that was never the goal for head coach Tom Allen. He’s always wanted to coach a Top-25 defense, and this year might be his best chance to do just that.

Like most of the team’s position groups this season, IU’s defensive line is the deepest and most experienced it’s been in a very long time. With three returning starters, an impact graduate transfer and an abundance of underclassmen vying for play time, the Hoosier ends and tackles are bound to take a step forward in 2020 under first-year position group coach Kevin Peoples.

Here’s an outlook on what the starting four and rotational core should like for IU’s defensive line this season.

One of IU’s three returning starters on the defensive line is junior James Head. The Florida-native played in 11 games as a freshman in 2018 but started all 13 at defensive end in 2019.

The Hoosiers struggled to bring down opposing quarterbacks last season with just 27 sacks total, but Head was one of IU’s more consistent pass-rushers. The 6-foot-5, 259-pound junior finished second on the team with five QB hurries and even tallied a strip-sack against Penn State for the first forced fumble of his career.

With some more fire power lined up alongside him, Head should be able to take advantage of mismatches on the outside when his teammates are double-teamed in the trenches.

IU’s twice-reigning Chris Dal Sasso Award recipient for the team’s most outstanding lineman, redshirt senior Jerome Johnson leads all active Hoosiers in sacks (9.5) and tackles for loss (16.5).

Johnson has made 22 consecutive starts at defensive tackle dating back to his sophomore season, but it was the last few games of 2019 when he shined the most. In IU’s final five contests last season, Johnson racked up 24 total tackles, 3 sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss.

At 6-foot-3 and 304 pounds, Johnson has been one of the conference’s more consistent defensive tackles these last two seasons but hasn’t earned a Big Ten honor since his 2017 All-Freshman honorable mention. Should Johnson continue his success up front, he may finally get the recognition he deserves in his last collegiate campaign.

Junior Demarcus Elliott rounds out the team’s three returning starters on the defensive line in his second season with the Hoosiers since transferring into the program from the JUCO ranks.

Elliott started all but one game at tackle in his first season at IU, and he made for a great interior compliment to Johnson. A two-time defensive player of the week for the Hoosiers, Elliott notched at least four stops on six occasions and led the entire defensive line with 27 solo tackles.

Unless injuries get in their way, expect Elliott and Johnson to be IU’s go-to starting tackles again in 2020.

Jovan Swann was classified as a defensive tackle coming out of Greenwood’s Center Grove High School, but the graduate transfer proved he can play all over the defensive line in his four seasons at Stanford.

After starting in 19 of his final 25 games with the Cardinal, the 6-foot-2, 270-pound grad student is a huge addition for the Hoosiers in terms of depth. With a quick burst off the line of scrimmage and a handful of moves to get around opposing offensive linemen, Swann will be a big help for IU’s pass-rushing efforts.

It won’t be an easy transition from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten, but Swann is poised to make an impact in his final collegiate season.

With 23 appearances and three starts since 2018, redshirt junior Alfred Bryant will be one of the first defensive ends off the bench this season. Bryant is yet to notch a sack with the Hoosiers, but he has six career tackles for loss with a pair of forced fumbles and recoveries.

Senior Michael Ziemba was arguably the defense’s most improved player last season, and his nine starts in 2019 could make for a compelling case to surpass Swann on the depth chart. The 6-foot-3, 258-pound defensive end was constantly making plays behind the line of scrimmage last year, and Ziemba’s senior campaign could be even more special.

After notching just one tackle in his first six appearances, Sio Nofoagatoto’a had eight tackles in the last four games of his freshman season – including a career-high three in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl against Tennessee. Nofoagatoto’a can expect at least a little more consistent playing time in year two with the Hoosiers.

Redshirt freshman C.J. Person is another young tackle that should see the field more in 2020. Person earned the team’s end-of-season Defensive Scout Team MVP award, and IU’s staff had a lot to like about him in his four games of action prior to his redshirt.

There are eleven other Hoosier defensive linemen, and a lot of them will have the opportunity to break into the rotation at some point or another this season.

Tramar Reece, Jonathan King and Shamar Jones all saw the field in 2019 and could see an uptick in playing time this season. Beau Robbins has the best chance of a talented group of redshirt freshmen, and incoming recruits Damarjhe Lewis and Caleb Murphy could make an impact after enrolling early in the spring.

As much talent as this position group boasts, it might be the toughest for IU’s staff to manage and sort through in 2020.

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