By Colin Lavery, Athlon Sports
Indiana grabbed a pair of TEs from the portal, Holden Staes & Riley Nowakowski. Like Staes, who joined Indiana from Tenn., Nowakowski is coming from a high major program in Wisc. Nowakowski is also the 2nd player that Indiana has recruited whose time at Wisc. overlapped with OL coach Bob Bostad.
Bostad had success getting the best of Trey Wedig, the other Wisc. transfer, turning him into an NFL prospect in just one year in Blmgtn. He will have another project on his hands with Nowakowski. In 5 seasons at Wisc. he started just 10 of the 40 games he appeared in & has played a variety of positions at TE, LB, & FB. Being used primarily as a run blocker should prepare him well for his role at Indiana. While Zach Horton was used in the passing game last year more than Nowakowski was, he still saw the majority of his snaps as a run blocker. Depending on how OC Mike Shanahan approaches this season with Fernando Mendoza, Nowakowski might find himself behind Staes on the depth chart. Mendoza simply doesn't have the experience that Kurtis Rourke had, so the passing game may be more conservative & feature a TE more prominently. If that's the case, Staes has a better record as a receiver. If Cignetti & Shanahan continue to use TEs as run blockers primarily, Nowakowski might have the edge because of his familiarity with Bostad & his better run blocking grade.
Either way, Nowakowski will be in the top two TE depth chart, & more of a platoon position than last year for the Indiana offense.
Indiana grabbed a pair of TEs from the portal, Holden Staes & Riley Nowakowski. Like Staes, who joined Indiana from Tenn., Nowakowski is coming from a high major program in Wisc. Nowakowski is also the 2nd player that Indiana has recruited whose time at Wisc. overlapped with OL coach Bob Bostad.
Bostad had success getting the best of Trey Wedig, the other Wisc. transfer, turning him into an NFL prospect in just one year in Blmgtn. He will have another project on his hands with Nowakowski. In 5 seasons at Wisc. he started just 10 of the 40 games he appeared in & has played a variety of positions at TE, LB, & FB. Being used primarily as a run blocker should prepare him well for his role at Indiana. While Zach Horton was used in the passing game last year more than Nowakowski was, he still saw the majority of his snaps as a run blocker. Depending on how OC Mike Shanahan approaches this season with Fernando Mendoza, Nowakowski might find himself behind Staes on the depth chart. Mendoza simply doesn't have the experience that Kurtis Rourke had, so the passing game may be more conservative & feature a TE more prominently. If that's the case, Staes has a better record as a receiver. If Cignetti & Shanahan continue to use TEs as run blockers primarily, Nowakowski might have the edge because of his familiarity with Bostad & his better run blocking grade.
Either way, Nowakowski will be in the top two TE depth chart, & more of a platoon position than last year for the Indiana offense.
