Indiana’s defensive end room looks nothing like it did a year ago, and that’s the whole story heading into 2026. The Hoosiers have turned over the top of the depth chart in a big way, losing their three most productive edge players from the undefeated 2025 season and trying to rebuild the position with a blend of portal experience and younger holdovers.
Mikail Kamara, Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt are gone, and their numbers tell you why this matters: 99 tackles, 34 tackles for loss, 10 sacks and 11 quarterback hits in 2025. That’s a lot to replace, especially at a spot that can change games on its own. Indiana’s answer is to lean on veterans from the transfer portal and hope a few returners are ready for bigger jobs.
The portal haul starts with Tobi Osunsami, Indiana’s highest-rated defensive addition from the portal, according to 247Sports. The redshirt senior from Kansas State was rated the No. 28 player and No. 5 edge in the class, and the production was there when he was healthy.
In 2025, he played in six games and started five, finishing with 19 tackles, five tackles for loss and four sacks before an injury ended his season after the first six games. When he was on the field, he looked like one of the best edge rushers in the country, and Indiana is banking on that version showing up again.
If he stays healthy, he has a real shot to be the top guy off the edge for the Hoosiers.
Chiddi Obiazor gives Indiana another proven piece. The redshirt junior from Kansas State has appeared in 28 games over three seasons and made eight starts.
In 2025, he earned honorable mention All-Big 12 recognition after posting 17 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and two sacks, along with a pass deflection and a fumble recovery. He came in as the No. 344 overall prospect and No. 32 edge rusher in the 2026 portal class, and while he may not be the first name off the edge, he looks like a strong candidate to play a major rotational role.
Josh Burnham brings the most experience of the newcomers. The redshirt senior from Notre Dame has played in 40 career games and was on the field in all 12 games last season, starting four.
He finished 2025 with 16 tackles, six tackles for loss and three sacks. Burnham was rated the No. 245 overall recruit and the No. 26 defensive end in the 2026 portal class, and he also arrived with former top-100 high school recruit status.
For a staff that values winning-program transfers, he checks a lot of boxes and should be in the mix for a major role.
The returners are younger, but not all of them are untested. Daniel Ndukwe has already carved out a real place for himself, even if much of it came on special teams.
The junior played in 12 games as a true freshman in 2024, logging 117 special teams snaps and 17 defensive snaps while making one tackle and blocking two kicks. His role grew in 2025, when he played nearly every special teams snap, blocked a punt against Oregon in the regular season and made his presence felt defensively with 16 tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks and a fumble recovery.
He got his first-career tackle for loss in the Rose Bowl against Alabama, and both of his sacks came in the Peach Bowl. The question now is whether that two-game burst can become something bigger over a full season.
Quentin Clark also returns after a busier 2025. The redshirt sophomore played in 14 games, mostly on special teams, and made five tackles after appearing in just one game as a freshman in 2024.
Tyrone Burrus Jr. and Keishaun Calhoun are still early in their college careers. Burrus Jr., a redshirt freshman from Warren Central High School in Indianapolis, redshirted in 2025 but played in two games and made one tackle. Calhoun, another redshirt freshman, did not play last season after arriving as a consensus three-star recruit in the 2025 class.
Indiana also added two freshmen to the room. Kevontay Hugan is the headliner.
The 6-foot-1, 227-pound prospect from Booker High School in Sarasota, Florida is Indiana’s top-rated recruit in the 2027 class, ranked No. 180 overall and No. 20 among defensive linemen by 247Sports. All three major recruiting services - ESPN, 247Sports and Rivals/On3 - list him as a top-50 defensive line prospect, and Indiana flipped him from Louisville earlier in the spring.
Ronelle Johnson, a 6-foot-3, 266-pound three-star from Blue Springs High School in Missouri, is a consensus top-10 recruit from the state in the 2026 class.
For now, the depth chart feels open and fluid. Osunsami, Ndukwe, Obiazor and Burnham look like the leading candidates, but the order is far from settled. The starting spots are there to be won, and the competition at defensive end is wide open.
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