How Indiana Plans to Replace CJ West, James Carpenter on 'Very Good' Defensive Line

Indiana has 605 pounds, 992 snaps and 11 years of experience to replace on its interior defensive line with CJ West and James Carpenter off to the NFL.

"We have a huge void," Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines said during fall camp. "There's a hole at that defensive tackle position."

The Hoosiers have tabbed Hosea Wheeler and Dominique Ratcliff to fill it — and after a spring spent learning the playbook and acclimating to Power Four-level speed and physicality, they've shown promising flashes in fall camp.

"They've made vast improvements from spring ball," Haines said, "and I have big expectations for them. We need them to perform."

Perhaps those expectations include limiting the drop-off from West, a fourth-round NFL draft pick, and Carpenter, an All-Big Ten honorable mention who spent the summer with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Wheeler and Ratcliff arrived at Indiana in the winter, Wheeler from Western Kentucky and Ratcliff from Texas State. They committed one day apart. Their skill sets differ drastically, forming a thunder-and-lightning complement similar to West and Carpenter.

Haines described the 6-foot-3, 298-pound Wheeler as the Hoosiers' biggest and most powerful defensive lineman. All-American edge rusher Mikail Kamara echoed similar sentiments during fall camp.

"He's been great," Kamara said. "He's been a great energy piece. He's a guy that goes out there and flies around, makes noise, does what he needs to do. As far as technique and skill standpoint, he's playing well. He's good against the run, good against the pass.

"Real power guy, real strong, powerful guy. He's making plays all over the field. I feel like what he does on the inside, really setting that anchor, is great."

Wheeler earned first-team All-Conference USA honors last season at Western Kentucky, starting 14 games and totaling 75 tackles, five tackles for loss, two sacks and a pair of blocked kicks. He finished tied for second in the FBS with 36 tackles on rushing plays, according to Pro Football Focus, and his 24 run stops tied for ninth most.

Senior center Pat Coogan, who faces Wheeler each day in practice, called him "super strong," adding he knows his rushes well and is in line for a productive season.

Coogan also touted Ratcliff, a Sun Belt honorable mention in 2024 who collected 22 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and five quarterback hits, as a fall camp standout. Ratcliff had 17 quarterback pressures and 19 run stops last season while earning a 90.2 run defense grade from PFF.

While Wheeler wins with power, Ratcliff defeats blockers with athleticism — which the 6-foot-3, 296-pounder showed immediately upon arrival in Bloomington.

"He's probably the twitchiest D-tackle I've ever seen," Wheeler said about Ratcliff. "He's a heavy body, but he's like an end playing D-tackle. Like, he's really smooth. (I noticed in the) first practice, really first conditioning, he was moving. We always compete. The whole D-line competes in winter conditioning, all that stuff.

"So, when I saw him moving in box drills and stuff like that, I'm like, 'Oh, he can really move. This guy's like 300 pounds, but he doesn't look it.' So, he's extremely twitchy. I'm just like, 'Yeah, we need him.'"

Wheeler is uniquely qualified to judge growth from spring to fall camp because he's experiencing it. He's seen Ratcliff take a similar leap. Consistency, Wheeler said, is Ratcliff's biggest area of improvement — and he's been consistently disruptive in practice.

"He's a great D-tackle," Wheeler said. "From the fall, he's just been balling out, he's been hooping. He's been in the backfield every play, just destroying blocks. He got way better at double teams and just him being a leader as well.

"He's bringing other guys along, like the young guys we got in the room, and he's just been helping all of us."

Drew Evans started nine games at right guard for Indiana last season before suffering a torn Achilles in practice, and he's played both right and left guard during fall camp. He faced the Hoosiers' defensive line — with West and Carpenter — in practice in 2024, to go along with several potent Big Ten fronts.

And Evans, who's quickly earning a master's degree in quality defensive line play, believes the Hoosiers will have a strong unit this fall.

"Our D-line's very good," Evans said in fall camp. "Ratcliff, very good guy, very quick. Hosea, big and strong. We have a very good D-line. It's good to be going against them every day."

Months before Indiana put on pads, Kamara saw the "dawg" in Wheeler and Ratcliff. Figuring out the playbook, Kamara said, was their biggest challenge. Now, as they near their Indiana debut Saturday against Old Dominion, questions about the playbook and their fit have subsided.

And with wind in their sails from a strong fall camp, Wheeler and Ratcliff appear armed and ready to step into West and Carpenter's shoes.

"They've taken the necessary steps they needed to take from spring to fall," senior linebacker Aiden Fisher said. "They're completely different players from spring to now. Their confidence level is really high. They're playing fast. They're playing physical now.

"It's not so much about learning the defense now, it's just about executing at a higher level than they were in the spring. And I think they've done that at a really high level."

So, how does Indiana replace a pair of experienced, productive college players-turned-NFL players? Wheeler and Ratcliff — with 594 pounds, 936 snaps played last season and nine combined years of college football — is a starting point.