Indiana football: Defensive tackle CJ West could be team's most impactful spring addition

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football filled a 300-plus pound hole on the defense during the spring portal window.

Coach Curt Cignetti told reporters before an NIL-related event at Huber's Orchard and Winery on May 29 that the Hoosiers were looking for “help” on the interior coming out of spring practice and expressed plenty of excitement over landing one of the best defensive tackles available by signing Kent State lineman CJ West. 

"A really big person that had good initial quickness, violent,” Cignetti said. “He made a lot of plays at the nose guard position.”

Last year, Indiana had a four-man rotation at defensive tackle with Philip Blidi (444 snaps), Marcus Burris Jr. (437 snaps), Patrick Lucas Jr. (248 snaps) and LeDarrius Cox (248 snaps). Burris is the only one of those tackles left on the roster. 

Blidi’s late entry in the portal ahead of spring camp highlighted how competitive the transfer market was for interior defenders. He signed with Auburn after receiving interest from a bevy of top Power Four schools including LSU, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Washington, Missouri, and Colorado.

Indiana faced similar competition for West that included plenty of blue bloods like Wisconsin, Michigan and Florida State. 

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West, who is listed as 6-foot-2 and 315-pounds, was third team All-MAC in 2023. He has 110 career tackles (54 solo) with 19.5 for a loss and 7.0 sacks. He’s played in 36 games as a three-year starter. 

According to Pro Football Focus, he tied for eighth among defensive tackles with 24 stops against the run. The site defines stops as tackles that constitute a "failure" for the offense. 

He’s been disruptive against Power Four competition as well with sacks in games against UCF, Georgia and Texas A&M. 

“We gotta get him in shape and get him a little stronger,” Cignetti said. “He has potential to really help us." 

More:Projected 2024 Indiana football defensive depth chart after spring practice

Indiana hasn’t had a ton of success at defensive tackle in recent years. Jerome Johnson is the program’s only defensive tackle to earn All-Big Ten honors in more than a decade. He earned first team All-Big Ten honors from the media in 2020 and was a second team All-Big Ten selection by the conference’s coaches. 

According to Pro Football Focus, the last Hoosiers interior defender with more than 20 quarterback pressures in a single season was Jacob Robinson in 2017 (22 pressures). 

The Hoosiers could have a formidable pairing this fall with West likely pairing up with JMU transfer James Carpenter in the starting lineup. Carpenter put up 65 quarterback pressures over the last two seasons with 42 stops against the run. He also played more than 1,300 snaps during that stretch. 

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.