Indiana Football Incoming Transfer Profile: Riley Nowakowski

Indiana grabbed a pair of tight ends from the portal, Holden Staes, and Riley Nowakowski. 

Like Staes, who joined Indiana from Tennessee, Nowakowski is coming from a high major program in Wisconsin. Nowakowski is also the second player that Indiana has recruited whose time at Wisconsin overlapped with Bob Bostad, the Hoosier offensive line coach. 

Bostad had success getting the best of Trey Wedig, the other Wisconsin transfer, turning him into an NFL Prospect in just one year in Bloomington. He will have another project on his hands with Nowakowski. 

In his five seasons at Wisconsin, Nowakowki started just ten of the 40 games he appeared in, and has played a variety of positions. He saw snaps as a linebacker, fullback, and tight end with the Badgers. 

Last year was his most productive season as a pass-catcher, hauling in a career-high 11 passes for 74 yards. In 2023, he caught seven passes for 57 yards, a touchdown, and a two-point conversion. 

Nowakowski played 401 total snaps at tight end last year, more than half of which were run blocking. His PFF Grade in that area was okay, but will presumably improve under Bostad. 

One concerning note is that his receiving grade declined steadily over the course of the year. He didn't have many drops, he simply wasn't one of the Badgers' top targets despite seeing more snaps in the passing game as the year went on. 

Being used primarily as a run blocker should prepare him well for his role at Indiana. While Zach Horton was used in the passing game last year more than Nowakowski was, he still saw the majority of his snaps in run blocking. 

Depending on how Mike Shanahan wants to approach this season with Fernando Mendoza, Nowakowski might find himself behind Staes on the depth chart. 

Mendoza simply doesn't have the college experience or track record that Kurtis Rourke had, so the passing game may be more conservative and feature a tight end more prominently. If that's the case, Staes has a better record as a receiver than the two tight ends transferring in. 

If Cignetti and Shanahan continue to use tight ends as run blockers primarily, Nowakowski might have the edge because of his familiarity with Bostad and his better run blocking grade. 

Either way, Nowakowski will be in the top two spots on the depth chart at a position that maybe more of a platoon role than it was last year for Indiana.