Best Indiana Football Players Of The 2020s So Far: No. 4 Mikail Kamara

There were times during Indiana’s 2024 football season that it seemed the Hoosiers were speaking their success into existence.

Coach Curt Cignetti and the players rarely wavered from the belief that they were going to win and win big.

No Hoosier spoke more confidently than defensive end Mikail Kamara. And no Hoosier backed up his words quite like he did.

Kamara was a pass rushing menace for the Hoosiers. He had 10 sacks, the first Indiana player to reach double-digits in sacks since Jammie Kirlew had 10.5 in 2008.

The sacks were part of 15 tackles for loss overall. Kamara proved to be a fierce ball hawk after his arrival from James Madison.

This was partly born out in his three fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. Kamara had 47 tackles overall and was a dominant force in disrupting opposing offenses.

That Kamara could pressure quarterbacks was not a surprise. In his two previous seasons at James Madison, Kamara had 11.5 sacks. However, the ability to raise his game commensurate with the level of competition in the Big Ten screamed volumes about the fire Kamara had to be better.

Kamara recorded at least a half-sack in six of the nine Big Ten games Indiana played, but he was at his most impressive at Michigan State on Nov. 2. Kamara had 2.5 sacks and five tackles for loss as Indiana overcame an early 10-0 deficit on the way to a 47-10 triumph.

That game was also a prime example of Kamara’s confidence. He was the first Hoosier to talk out loud on trying to win a “chip.’’ Not just a Big Ten championship, but a national championship.

Kamara’s self-confidence was contagious. He wasn’t the only confident Hoosier, but he spoke most often about it and backed it up with his play.

Kamara was asked before Indiana’s College Football Playoff game where his confidence came from.

“I think it was kind of like, the way we started like interacting with each other in the locker room, I think our team chemistry like got to a point where everyone was able to talk to everyone about different things,” Kamara said.

“I think noticing that from the beginning of the year to where it's the middle of the season, I started seeing things like that. And most importantly, was seeing the way we were all able to lock in during practice, lock in during games and be very communicative with each other. Especially seeing that from the JMU perspective my freshman year and seeing different levels of chemistry, different levels of team camaraderie, seeing the way that we started to come together in the middle of the season, I think that was the biggest turning point,” Kamara said.

Kamara was a Pro Football Focus star. He had a full-season grade of 86.4. That’s the second-best grade any Indiana player had in the 2020s. He was also Indiana’s first defensive lineman to be a first team All-American since Greg Middleton in 2007.

The fact that Kamara only has one season under his belt is why he’s at No. 4 on this list. If he has a repeat performance for the Hoosiers in 2025? The sky is the limit on how high Kamara might rank among the best of the 2020s.

Previous football top 16 players of the 2020s

No. 5 - Peyton Hendershot
No. 6 - D'Angelo Ponds
No. 7 - Tiawan Mullen
No. 8 - Aaron Casey
No. 9 - Carter Smith
No. 10 - Donaven McCulley
No. 11 - Aiden Fisher
No. 12 - Jaylin Williams
No. 13 - Jailin Walker
No. 14 - CJ West.
No. 15 - Ty Fryfogle.
No. 16 - Mike Katic.