Indiana Football Incoming Transfer Profile: Amariyun Knighten

One of Indiana's biggest signings in the 2025 transfer class is Amariyun Knighten, graded as a four-star transfer prospect and Indiana's third best incoming transfer, per 247 Sports. 

Knighten joins the Hoosiers after three seasons with the Northern Illinois Huskies, but has two years of eligibility remaining after redshirting his freshman season. He still appeared in the maximum of four games as a freshman to retain redshirt eligibility, and was immediately productive. 

In those four games alone, he racked up 15 tackles, including 10 in his first career start against Ball State. He also broke up two passes that year. 

As a redshirt freshman, he appeared in all 13 games for the Huskies logging 11 tackles and breaking up another pass in his first season as a regular player in Northern Illinois' defense. 

He did suffer some apparent growing pains that year, posting a career-high 19.2% missed tackle rate, but followed it up with his best season to date in 2024, when he did not miss a tackle. 

Knighten's development in pass coverage has been more linear. He posted a better PFF coverage grade each season at Northern Illinois, and intercepted the first pass of his career last season in their upset win over Notre Dame. 

It's probably not a coincidence that Curt Cignetti, following a loss to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff, went out and signed the cornerback who put his team's upset win in South Bend on ice with a late-game pick. Cignetti wants winning players to sustain his culture of winning in Bloomington, and Knighten has proven himself to be one. 

Alongside D'Angelo Ponds, one of the top graded outside corners in all of college football last season, Knighten is going to force quarterbacks into some tough decisions. 

As he progressed in pass coverage, opposing teams took note and threw his way less. After being targeted 29 times in 2023, quarterbacks only went his way 14 times in the eight games he started before going down with an injury. 

Those quarterbacks were largely unsuccessful when they tried to go his way, posting a passer rating of 69.6 against him last season. 

Assuming he's healthy, and all signs indicate that he is, Knighten should contribute right away for Indiana. Cignetti has had success bringing players from the MAC to the Big Ten, as we saw last season with Kurtis Rourke, who played himself into the NFL Draft on a torn ACL.