Indiana’s defensive tackle room enters 2026 with the kind of stability most programs would love to have anywhere on the roster, let alone in the middle of the defense. The Hoosiers were already elite up front last season, helping power a run defense that ranked third nationally in opponent rushing yards per game at 79.7 and a pass rush that finished second in sacks with 46.0. Now the expectation is that this group can run it back - and maybe raise the bar.
The biggest reason for that confidence is simple: the top of the room is back.
Tyrique Tucker and Mario Landino return as the headliners, and both are carrying All-American expectations into 2026. Tucker, the final James Madison transfer on Indiana’s roster, is set for his sixth season under Curt Cignetti and looks like the unquestioned leader of the group.
The redshirt senior, listed at 6-feet and 307 pounds, started all 16 games in 2025 and finished with 40 tackles, 12.0 tackles for loss and six sacks. That production more than doubled what he did in 2024, and it was enough to earn first-team All-Big Ten and AP third-team All-American honors.
Landino’s rise has been just as important. The junior from 6-foot-4, 288 pounds was a former James Madison commit who followed Cignetti to Indiana, and that move has clearly paid off.
He played in 12 of 13 games as a freshman in 2024, then took a major step forward in 2025 by appearing in all 16 games with 11 starts. He started the final 11 games of the season and posted 32 tackles, six tackles for loss, five sacks, three pass deflections and two fumble recoveries.
His versatility stands out, too. Indiana can line him up inside, kick him outside as an edge rusher or move him around in disguise looks.
Behind those two, the room changes more than it did at the top. The biggest departures are Hosea Wheeler and Dominique Ratcliff, both of whom were major rotational pieces in 2025.
Wheeler played in all 16 games with five starts after arriving from Western Kentucky, finishing with 30 tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss and two quarterback hits. His role shrank as Landino climbed.
Wheeler is now at Baylor for his final season. Ratcliff, who transferred from Texas State, also appeared in all 16 games with three starts and logged 13 tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
He was a key special-teams contributor as well, and his eligibility is exhausted.
That leaves Indiana looking for depth more than it is looking for answers at the top. The Hoosiers did add one experienced transfer in Joe Hjelle, and he could matter quickly.
The redshirt senior from 6-foot-3 and 318 pounds played in all 12 games at Tulsa last season and recorded 46 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and one sack. He also played all 12 games in 2024 and previously spent two years at Iowa Western Community College, where he won two NJCAA National Championships.
Rated the No. 1348 overall prospect and No. 150 defensive line prospect in the transfer portal, Hjelle looks like a strong candidate for rotational snaps.
Indiana also returns Kyler Garcia and Jhrevious Hall. Garcia, a redshirt freshman at 6-foot-4 and 291 pounds, redshirted in 2025 and appeared in one game, seeing action in the fourth quarter of Indiana’s week 3 blowout of Indiana State.
Hall, listed at 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, also redshirted last season and did not play. Both were consensus three-star recruits in the 2025 class, with Garcia coming out of Pearl-Cohn High School in Nashville and Hall from Columbia Central High School in Columbia, Tennessee.
Then there’s the incoming freshman class, which gives the room some long-term intrigue. Cam McHaney is a four-star recruit per On3 and comes in at 6-foot-1 and 288 pounds from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
He’s also an Indianapolis native who spent his first two high school seasons at Indianapolis Lutheran, where he helped win back-to-back IHSAA Class A state titles. Gabe Hill, another four-star, top-200 recruit per On3, is listed at 6-foot-1 and 289 pounds and arrives from Naperville North High School in Naperville, Illinois.
Rodney White, a consensus three-star at 6-foot-1 and 296 pounds, comes from Concordia Preparatory School in Baltimore. Blake Smythe, a consensus three-star at 6-foot-2 and 283 pounds, is from Franklin Community High School in Franklin, Indiana, and was named to the Indianapolis Star Central Indiana Super Team as a senior.
For now, though, the projected pecking order is clear. Indiana’s starters are expected to be Mario Landino at defensive tackle and Tyrique Tucker at nose tackle, with Hjelle, Hall and Garcia next in line. McHaney, Hill, White and Smythe are the freshmen most likely to be in the special teams, redshirt or unlikely-to-play bucket.
Indiana doesn’t need to reinvent this position group. It just needs Tucker and Landino to keep doing what they’ve already been doing, while the depth pieces settle in behind them. That’s a pretty good place to start.
In Other News...
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Indianas exhibition offered a better glimpse of the identity this roster has been chasing, with Samet Yigitoglu and Aiden Sherrell giving the frontcourt a more physical edge and the backcourt doing enough to keep the offense moving. Even with the perimeter shot not falling, the ball was finding open looks, and the overall effort level suggested a team that is starting to look more connected on both ends.
Aiden Sherrell was the most encouraging sign, pairing scoring with rim protection and rebounding in a way Indiana has been hoping to see from its interior pieces. Freshman Prince-Alexander Moody also stood out for his energy and defensive activity, giving the Hoosiers another jolt of toughness, and the coaching staff came away sounding upbeat about where those young players can go from here. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Fans Keep Reliving The Programs Most Painful In-State Recruiting Misses
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Braylon Mullins has now been added to that familiar conversation, which only deepens the frustration for a fan base that treats in-state recruiting as a core part of Indiana basketballs identity. Each miss came with its own backstory and its own sting, but together they point to the same recurring issue for the Hoosiers: keeping the best local talent home has been far harder than it should be, and every new name only revives the old debate. [Read more 🡒]
Two Unexpected Hoosiers Just Changed The Rotation Conversation
Indianas exhibition tune-up at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall offered a first real look at how this summer roster might sort itself out before the trip to Lima. Representing the United States, IU handled Collge Jean-de-Brbeuf of Canada 98-64, and the game gave the staff a chance to see which pieces looked comfortable in a faster, looser setting ahead of the FISU America Games.
Aiden Sherrell led the way with 16 points, six rebounds and three blocks, while Markus Burton filled the box score with 11 points, six assists, six rebounds, three steals and a block in 22 minutes. The more interesting part for Indiana, though, is how the rotation conversation is starting to shift around the edges as the Hoosiers prepare to depart Saturday for Peru, where some of these early impressions could matter a lot more once the games begin. [Read more 🡒]