Indiana football will begin fall camp next week and with that comes a positive report with the health of the roster. After some injuries to key players throughout spring practice and parts of the summer, Indiana will be at full health as practice begins.
IU head coach Curt Cignetti provided a few updates at Big Ten Media Day on Thursday.
“Everybody’s back and in the summer conditioning program with Derek (Owings),” Cignetti said. “We’re talking Lanell Carr, James Carpenter, Jailin Walker, Venson Sneed … (Offensive lineman Nick) Kidwell on offense, I think that’s it.”
Indiana went throughout most of spring practice with limited bodies at critical positions.
Carpenter and Walker are key pieces to the Indiana football defense following very strong careers with James Madison.
Carpenter was an All-Sun Belt selection this season with 53 tackles, nine tackles for loss and four sacks. The 6-foot-2 and 285-pounder played in 40 games during his JMU career.
As for Walker, he was All-Sun Belt honorable mention after totaling 61 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
Both players have just one year of eligibility remaining.
As for Kidwell, he has played in 52 games and had 34 starts in his career — playing both right tackle and right guard. The 6-foot-5 and 315-pounder was a Second-Team All-Sun Belt selection in 2022. He had a season-ending injury in 2023 after starting the first four games.
Linebacker Lanell Carr was a terrific addition last year from the transfer portal for Indiana, finishing with 33 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and five sacks. He looks to be one of the most productive defenders for Indiana again this season.
Venson Sneed played a reserve role — appearing in 11 games and finishing with five tackles on the defensive line.
One major name that Cignetti singled out was that of wide receiver EJ Williams. Williams, who transferred to Indiana from Clemson last offseason, has had a career derailed by injuries — but when he’s on the field, he’s very productive.
The 6-foot-4 receiver was able to put it all together late in the season where he played arguably the best stretch of football of his collegiate career over the last month of the year. Over the final four games, he caught 20 passes for 247 yards.
But he was limited to just seven games in 2023.
“Well, gotta get him on the field and keep him on the field. That’s the biggest thing. The best ability is availability. You got to stay on the field, and that’s been his biggest nemesis,” Cignetti said. “I think he practiced three times this spring — but I sure liked those three practices. Now, let’s keep him on the field so we can utilize him.”
Williams finished last season with 23 receptions for 281 yards.
“I like our team,” Cignetti added. “I have confidence in our team. But we’re not where we need to be today, no. The fortunate thing about that is nobody’s where they need to be today because you have so many new players and so many things on the table in terms of August practice that you got to improve on in terms of consistency and performance, intangibles, player development, scheme development, so on and so forth.”
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