Earlier this week, it was announced that Indiana football's presumed starting right guard entering the 2024 season, Nick Kidwell, would miss the entirety of the season after sustaining a knee injury.
"On a personal level it's really hard," Cignetti admitted on Monday. "He put a lot of time into coming back and was rounding back into form. He was part of our initial plans. I feel bad for him because I know what his goals were coming into this season."
Kidwell was expected to start at right guard for Indiana this upcoming season in what would've been the James Madison transfer's seventh season of college football.
“He started a lot of games,” Cignetti added. “Played a lot of football, good player.”
However, with Kidwell now out for the entire 2024 campaign, Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers must now look for his replacement.
SEE ALSO:
- Offensive lineman Nick Kidwell to miss entire 2024 season with injury
Of the three potential options to shift a starting role at the right guard position, the first player that comes to mind is Tyler Stephens.
After Kidwell went down with a season-ending injury in week three of the 2023 season, Stephens shifted from left guard to right guard for Cignetti at James Madison.
Stephens, who was expected to start at left guard in his first season in Bloomington, could once again slide over to the right guard spot to replace an injured Kidwell.
Throughout the fall, Stephens has taken some reps at the center spot as well, but it's at guard where the Virginia Beach, Virginia native has played most of his career -- he's made 36 appearances and 31 starts between left and right guard.
Stephens garnered second team All-Sun Belt honors a season ago with the Dukes, while getting snaps at three different spots along the offensive line.
The Hoosiers' other two options to replace Kidwell are a pair of redshirt sophomores in Bray Lynch and Drew Evans.
Lynch, a former three-star recruit, appeared in four games during his true freshman campaign in 2022, before making five appearances between the offensive line and special teams in 2023.
The other option for the Hoosiers is Evans, a former preferred walk-on at Wisconsin.
Evans hasn't played in a game throughout his collegiate career, but spent time under Indiana's current offensive line coach Bob Bostad during his time at Wisconsin.
"Right now you have Bray Lynch, Drew Evans and Tyler Stephens," Curt Cignetti said, as sort of a triangle in there, three for two. They are capable."
The situation Cignetti and the Hoosiers find themselves in entering the 2024 season isn't new for the Indiana head coach.
“As I look back since 2019, we've lost an All-Conference or All-American, one or two every where in camp or early in the season and usually on the d-line or o-line and had to overcome those,” Cignetti said. "And we have."
Whomever ends up filling in at guard this season has some big shoes to fill to replace a former All-Conference guard in Kidwell.
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