Elliott taking next step this spring
Hoosiers’ hoping former JUCO transfer can become a versatile presence along the interior of their defensive line in 2021
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Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
When Demarcus Elliott committed to Indiana as a junior college transfer in 2019, IU’s spring practice period had already been over for a couple of weeks. Then, last year, Indiana got through only a few spring workouts before the world shut down. So it took a couple years before the 21-year-old Kansan could participate in a full offseason training regimen inside a Big Ten football program.
But by all accounts, he made the most of his long-awaited spring experience over the past couple months.
Former 3-star DT Damarjhe Lewis enters transfer portal
Hoosiers’ depth takes a hit with the departure of a highly-regarded underclassman
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Courtesy Damarjhe Lewis’ Twitter
Former three-star defensive tackle Damarjhe Lewis announced Tuesday that he is entering the NCAA Transfer Portal, dealing a hit to IU’s depth along its defensive front. A true freshman this past fall, Lewis did not see any game action but did earn scout team player of the week honors during the second week of the season.
After enrolling for spring ball last year, Lewis appeared poised to compete for snaps in the defensive line rotation come the fall. IU position coach Kevin Peoples raved about Lewis’ explosiveness during the abbreviated spring period of 2020, calling him a dynamic prospect.
Let s hope Tom Allen never does get his hands on a roster full of Big Ten average talent, because he knows what to do with it, at least on defense. Fortunately he hasn t been able to recruit like his predecessors, and that leaves some major gaps he s constantly plugging. From a film analyst perspective a good and desperately undermanned coach like Allen is awesome. It takes me back to watching the defenses Mattison was calling at Michigan in 2011, except Allen s talent is mostly in the secondary. Oh what he wouldn t give for a Mike Martin or Ryan Van Bergen.
Instead he s rolling out the 3-stars people wanted Michigan to go after when they whiffed on the twitchier giants, and the generic 300-pound three-stars are getting deposited into the second level. Allen makes up for it by leaving no linebackers in the way. It s a gamble he has to take, and works well enough to keep them in games when his opposition is trying to just do their thing and getting frustrated that nobody seems to be