IU football 2026 preseason position previews: Defensive Tackles
- Ian Plaskoff
- 57m ago
Welcome to “IU football 2026 preseason position previews,” a series that will break down the depth chart and production potential of Indiana’s roster ahead of the 2026 season.
Next up: Defensive Tackles
Previously: Specialists, Cornerbacks, Safeties, Linebackers
Indiana’s defensive tackle group was among the best in the nation in 2025.
Headlining a run defense that allowed the third-fewest opponent rushing yards per game nationally (79.7) and boosting a pass defense that was second in sacks (46.0), the defensive tackles delivered all season long.
The expectation is for the group to do it again and maybe even improve those numbers.
Why? Because at the top, it looks the same.
Personnel
Returners: Tyrique Tucker, Mario Landino, Jhrevious Hall, Kyler Garcia
Departures via transfer portal: J’mari Monette (Memphis), Hosea Wheeler (Baylor)
Departures via graduation/NFL Draft/Out of eligibility: Dominique Ratcliff
Arrivals via transfer portal: Joe Hjelle (Tulsa)
Incoming freshmen: Cam McHaney, Gabe Hill, Rodney White, Blake Smythe
What is different in 2026?
Before identifying what is different, it is important to identify what is the same. Tyrique Tucker and Mario Landino both return with All-American expectations in 2026.
The two were the anchors of the room in 2025, making the 2026 position turnover much less worrisome.
The depth is where the 2026 squad will look different. Hosea Wheeler and Dominique Ratcliff were the two biggest rotational pieces for Indiana a season ago.
Wheeler appeared in all 16 games in 2025 with five starts after transferring in from Western Kentucky. He recorded 30 tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss and two quarterback hits. His playing time faded as the season went on, as Landino ascended the depth chart.
Wheeler will spend his final season at Baylor.
Ratcliff appeared in all 16 games, including three starts, after transferring from Texas State. He posted 13 tackles with 5.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Both he and Wheeler were key special-teams players as well.
He exhausted his eligibility.
The key difference in 2026 is about finding depth behind Tucker and Landino. The Hoosiers approached it slightly differently in 2026 than in 2025.
The likely starters
Tyrique Tucker (Redshirt senior, 6-feet, 307 pounds)
Tucker stands alone as the final James Madison transfer on Indiana’s roster. In his sixth season under Curt Cignetti, he will have the reins as the bona fide leader of his position group.
In 2025, Tucker started all 16 games for Indiana and made 40 tackles with 12.0 tackles for loss and six sacks. He more than doubled his production from 2024.
Tucker’s 2025 performance was enough to earn first-team All-Big Ten and AP third-team All-American honors.
As both a player and a leader, Indiana should be thrilled to have Tucker back for one more season. He will undoubtedly expect to be one of the best players in the conference.
Mario Landino (Junior, 6-foot-4, 288 pounds)
Landino may not be a James Madison transfer, but he was a former James Madison commit under Cignetti.
His commitment to follow Cignetti to Indiana three years ago has paid off big time.
As a freshman in 2024, Landino appeared in 12 of Indiana’s 13 games. His only missed game was due to injury. He recorded nine tackles, two tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks.
Just seeing the field as a true freshman was enough of a sign to know what this staff thinks of him. Playing in 12 games takes that to another level. The staff was right.
As a sophomore in 2025, Landino appeared in all 16 games with 11 starts. He started the last 11 games of the season.
He recorded 32 tackles with six tackles for loss and five sacks. He also tallied three pass deflections and recovered two fumbles.
Landino’s improvement has been steady over his two years. Once he is on the field, he is hard to take off. He can play inside as a tackle, outside as an edge rusher and has the athleticism to be moved around in disguise coverages.
There is no doubt that Landino is in for a big season in 2026.
The experienced depth
Joe Hjelle (Redshirt senior, 6-foot-3, 318 pounds)
Hjelle is Indiana’s lone incoming transfer in the defensive tackle room. Last season at Tulsa, he appeared in all 12 games, recording 46 tackles, with 4.5 tackles for loss and one sack.
He also appeared in all 12 of Tulsa’s games in 2024. Before 2024, Hjelle played for two years at Iowa Western Community College, where he won two NJCAA National Championships.
Hjelle was rated the No. 1348 overall prospect and the No. 150 defensive line prospect in the transfer portal.
It would not be a surprise at all to see Hjelle earn significant snaps as a rotational defensive tackle. He is the most experienced of Indiana’s depth pieces behind Landino and Tucker.
Kyler Garcia (Redshirt freshman, 6-foot-4, 291 pounds)
Garcia redshirted the 2025 season and appeared in one game. He saw time in the fourth quarter of Indiana’s week 3 blowout of Indiana State.
Garcia was a consensus three-star recruit in 2025 from Pearl-Cohn High School in Nashville, Tennessee.
Jhrevious Hall (Redshirt freshman, 6-foot-2, 205 pounds)
Hall redshirted the 2025 season and did not see game action. He was a consensus three-star recruit in 2025 out of Columbia Central High School in Columbia, Tennessee.
A strong freshman class
Cam McHaney (6-foot-1, 288 pounds)
McHaney is a four-star recruit, per On3, from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
An Indianapolis native, McHaney spent his first two high school seasons at Indianapolis Lutheran, where he won back-to-back IHSAA Class A State Championships.
Gabe Hill (6-foot-1, 289 pounds)
Hill is a four-star, top-200 recruit, per On3, from Naperville North High School in Naperville, Illinois.
Rodney White (6-foot-1, 296 pounds)
White is a consensus three-star recruit from Concordia Preparatory School in Baltimore, Maryland.
Blake Smythe (6-foot-2, 283 pounds)
Smythe is a consensus three-star recruit from Franklin Community High School in Franklin, Indiana.
He was selected to the Indianapolis Star Central Indiana Super Team as a senior.
Predicted depth chart
Starters:
Defensive Tackle: Mario Landino
Nose Tackle: Tyrique Tucker
Next-in-line:
Joe Hjelle
Jhrevious Hall
Kyler Garcia
Special teams/Redshirt/Unlikely to play:
Cameron McHaney
Gabe Hill
Rodney White
Blake Smythe
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
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