Indiana football took another hit on Wednesday when cornerback Tiawan Mullen declared for the NFL Draft.
Mullen's decision to forgo his fifth-year of eligibility doesn't come as a surprise – he considered leaving for the NFL last offseason – but that doesn't lessen the the impact of his loss.
Mullen was a mainstay at cornerback for four seasons, making an immediate impact as a freshman out of Coconut Creek High School near Fort Lauderdale, Fla. During Mullen's freshman season in 2019, he tied for the Big Ten lead with 13 pass breakups and earned first-team freshman All-American.
In 2020, Mullen was named Indiana's Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year with 38 tackles, 3.5 sacks and three interceptions. As a sophomore, he became the first Indiana cornerback to receive first-team All-American honors.
Mullen's junior season at Indiana was marred by injury, limiting him to four starts and seven total appearances. He suffered an ankle injury in Week 4 at Western Kentucky and was never able to return to his top form in 2021. Mullen pondered leaving Indiana for the NFL Draft following his junior season, but he didn't want to leave after a 2-10 campaign.
The chance to play alongside his brother, Trevell, was a compelling factor, too. Trevell was a freshman in 2022 and used a redshirt season to maintain four years of eligibility. As a senior, Tiawan made 58 total tackles, eight pass breakups, two interceptions and one fumble recovery. By the end of his 12th start in 2022, Mullen led all active Indiana defenders with 11 career takeaways.
The Indiana defense will look vastly different in 2023, especially in the defensive backfield. Mullen, Jaylin Williams, Devon Matthews, Bryant Fitzgerald and Jonathan Haynes are all done with college football, while Chris Keys and Lem Watley-Neely entered the transfer portal.
As it currently stands, Noah Pierre and Josh Sanguinetti are the only defensive backs that have started games for Indiana and have not declared for the draft or entered the transfer portal. Bryson Bonds, Phillip Dunnam, Jordan Grier, Louis Moore, Jamari Sharpe made appearances in backup roles for Indiana in 2022.
More must-reads: