Will anybody from Indiana football be picked in the 2024 NFL Draft?

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football could go a second straight year without having a player taken in the NFL Draft.

Former coach Tom Allen had seven players drafted during his tenure (2017-23), the most recent of which was linebacker Micah McFadden. The New York Giants drafted the defender in the fifth round (No. 146 overall pick) in 2022.

The Hoosiers player with the best chance to follow in McFadden’s footsteps this year is his replacement Aaron Casey.

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Casey had a productive season in 2023 with 109 tackles (78 solo), a conference-leading 20 tackles for a loss, 6.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. He earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors twice during the season and second-team All-Big Ten from the conference coaches at the end of the year.

According to Pro Football Focus, he played a career-high 793 snaps and had 20 quarterback pressures.

While he had solid production in 24 career starts, his testing numbers during the pre-draft process were lacking as IU’s lone player invited to this year’s NFL combine.

Casey, who measured at 6-foot-1 and 231 pounds, ran a 4.75 40-yard dash (with 1.59 10-yard split) at the NFL Combine with a 30 inch vertical jump, 9’9” broad jump and 16 bench press reps. He had hoped to run a sub 4.6 at the combine.

He put up a similar 40-yard dash time for scouts at Indiana’s pro day.

Those results have put him on the bubble of most notable draft projections/rankings. The Athletic has Casey ranked No. 290, ESPN.com had him ranked No. 242 and CBS Sports has him ranked No. 377.

Both the Athletic and CBS Sports have Casey outside the top 20 linebacker prospects.

Casey received a 5.88 draft grade from NFL.com that tied him for 18th among the 36 linebackers they listed and gave him a seventh-round projection. Players with a grade of 5.80-5.99 are projected to be an average backup or special teamer.

It doesn’t help that the inside linebacker position has been devalued in recent years. There’s been an average of 32.5 linebackers taken from 2013 to 2022 and only 28 linebackers were drafted last year.

The last time Indiana went two or more years without having anyone drafted was from 2011-14.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: 2024 NFL Draft: Indiana football lacking clear-cut prospects