While left tackles don’t often score touchdowns or gain yardage in football games, they do provide crucial protection for their quarterback. There was no better left tackle in the Big Ten during the 2025 season than Indiana football’s Carter Smith.
And although Smith could’ve entered the upcoming NFL Draft, he announced via an X post Friday night that he will remain in Bloomington and play his fifth season for the Hoosiers in 2026.
Indiana already lost quarterback Fernando Mendoza and cornerback D’Angelo Ponds to the NFL Draft. Redshirt junior receiver Omar Cooper Jr. has yet to announce his plan for the upcoming season.
Standing on the field inside Hard Rock Stadium on Monday night donning Indiana’s national championship hat and T-shirt, Smith said staying at Indiana was “the plan” at that point — and he stuck with it.
Smith joined the Hoosiers in 2022 and redshirted his true freshman season. He’s since started each of Indiana’s last 41 games at left tackle and appears likely to continue in 2026.
Smith won the Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year — awarded to the Big Ten’s best offensive lineman — this season. The Powell, Ohio, native didn’t allow a sack or a quarterback hit in 2025 while surrendering just 11 quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.
Now, Smith will return for one more season in the Cream and Crimson, where he’ll be tasked with protecting presumptive starting quarterback Josh Hoover.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football offseason.
