Expectations are relatively high for Indiana football's defensive line entering the upcoming 2024 season.
The Hoosiers have a number of guys along the defensive front with plenty of college experience, including Kent State transfer CJ West.
West spent the first four seasons of his collegiate career with the Golden Flashes.
Now ahead of his first season in Bloomington with the Hoosiers, recap West's all-conference campaign in 2023 and preview what's next for the interior defensive lineman.
2023 SEASON RECAP
During the 2023 season, West started all 12 games for Kent State, he was a mainstay along the Golden Flashes defensive line.
In those 12 contests, West totaled 40 total tackles and 7.0 tackles for loss. He also added 2.0 sacks and one forced fumble during his 2023 campaign.
Perhaps West's best performance of the 2023 season came in Kent State's first game of the year against UCF.
In that contest, West collected his first tackle for loss of the season, his first sack of the year and his lone forced fumble of the 2023 season.
For his efforts throughout last year with the Golden Flashes, West earned a third team All-MAC selection
The intriguing part about West's 2023 season is that he posted even better number a few years prior in 2021.
In 14 games played across the 2021 season, LaGrange Park, Illinois native recorded 8.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks, recovering a fumble as well.
West was one of the biggest additions via the transfer portal this offseason for Curt Cignetti, and the Hoosiers know that West still has another level he can get to in 2024.
2024 SEASON OUTLOOK
Expectations are high for the Kent State transfer, West, entering the year with the Hoosiers.
One of the more highly sought after transfers this summer, West chose to play at Indiana over the likes of Michigan, Rutgers, Wisconsin, LSU and a number of other power conference programs.
Standing at 6-foot-2 and 317 pounds, West is a force on the interior of the defensive line.
Throughout his career, West has been more adept as a run stopper, using his big and physical frame to clog holes in the trenches. That skillset will be key for an Indiana team that allowed the second-most rushing yards in the Big Ten a year ago.
What sets West apart from most other interior defensive lineman is that he's not just a run stopper. Throughout his career, he's showcased an ability to get to the pass as well.
For a Hoosier squad that expects to be able to get consistent pressure off the edge this season with the likes of Mikail Kamara, Lanell Carr and Jacob Mangum-Farrar rushing the passer, any pressure West can provide from up the middle will be a big bonus for Indiana in 2024.
FROM CIGNETTI
Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti has already provided a number of comments on CJ West.
"(West's) a really big person that has good initial quickness," Cignetti said earlier in the offseason. "He made a lot of play at the nose guard position (at Kent State). We have to get him in shape and get him a little stronger. He has potential to really help us."
"He was a good player at Kent State," Cignetti added at the beginning of fall camp. "We're excited to have him. If he's having a good year, that means he's doing what he's coached to do, with great effort and tenacity, and we're freeing him up to make play."
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