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Hickey: The top 5 impact Big Ten defensive transfers in 2023
By Alex Hickey
Published:
To this point in the transfer portal era, the biggest additions to Big Ten rosters have all been on the offensive side of the line of scrimmage.
A year ago, 3 offensive transfers were named all-conference in their lone season with their new team: Purdue receiver Charlie Jones, Michigan center Olu Oluwaitimi and Nebraska receiver Trey Palmer.
In a way, it makes sense that this is the case. Big Ten defenses tend to be more complete, while the offenses tend to have some holes that a veteran player can fill.
But that doesn’t mean finding impact transfers on defense is an impossible task.
Michigan State edge rusher Jacoby Windmon was on an all-conference track until his involvement in the Michigan Stadium tunnel beatdown ended his season in suspension.
And although he wasn’t an all-B1G player, Penn State defensive end Chop Robinson had 10 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks in his first season as a Nittany Lion. Robinson will almost surely play his way to all-conference status this year — much to the chagrin of Maryland fans.
Terps fans won’t be alone in their sadness seeing a former player make an impact on a Big Ten rival. Our list of this year’s top 5 impact defensive transfers begins with another such player.
1. Ernest Hausmann, OLB, Michigan
Look away, Nebraska fans.
Hausmann tops our list because he’s following the same path as Robinson — transferring after his freshman season and providing his new team with potentially 2 (or 3) impact seasons.
The similarities to Robinson are somewhat uncanny. Much like Robinson, Hausmann played a year for his home-state school — Nebraska in his case — before departing for a more successful program.
Hausmann was only the 5th true freshman to start at linebacker for the Huskers in 30 years, making the pain over his departure all the more acute. Ironically, he recorded his first career sack as part of a 10-tackle performance against Michigan.
But Hausmann’s ultimate sign-of-things-to-come game was his 12-tackle performance against Wisconsin. His ceiling is higher than the Sistine Chapel’s.
2. Davison Igbinosun, DB, Ohio State
The Wolverines aren’t the only Big Ten contender adding talented freshmen from the portal.
Igbinosun was a freshman all-American cornerback at Ole Miss, where he had 37 tackles and 5 pass breakups last season.
Ohio State is listing the 6-foot-2, 187-pound sophomore as a safety on its roster, so he evidently has the versatility to go wherever Jim Knowles needs him.
That could be a major turn of events for a pass defense that hasn’t exactly torn it up the past 3 years. The Buckeyes were last in the B1G in passing yards allowed in 2020 and 12th in 2021 before improving to sixth last year.
3. Nick Jackson, OLB, Iowa
Jackson projects to plug the hole left behind by 3-year starter Seth Benson, which makes this a significant role for Iowa’s defense. And the Hawks could have done a heck of a lot worse than Jackson, who might even provide an upgrade.
Jackson was an all-ACC linebacker all 3 years of his career at Virginia, making the third team as a freshman and the second team the past 2 seasons. His average of 10.4 tackles per game ranked second in the ACC last season.
Jackson can also get after it behind the line of scrimmage with 20 career TFL and 10.5 sacks. One gets the sense that Phil Parker is highly excited about adding a veteran of this caliber to his defense.
4. Josaiah Stewart, Edge, Michigan
By the end of the season, this may feel like a foolishly low assessment of Stewart’s potential. But the degree of difficulty in facing Big Ten offensive lines is significantly higher compared to those in the Sun Belt, so it would be unfair to Stewart to expect his level of production to match what it was at Coastal Carolina.
Even that much proved true at Coastal, where opposing offenses figured out they needed to game plan for Stewart after his breakout freshman season. Stewart was fifth in the country with 12.5 sacks in 2021 before falling to 3.5 sacks last year.
If he can land somewhere between those extremes, that’s a pretty good pickup for the Wolverines. And if Stewart gets back to double digits, it’s a steal.
5. Ja’Had Carter, S, Ohio State
As you can see, bolstering the secondary was a point of emphasis for Ohio State this offseason. Mission accomplished — on paper, anyhow.
Like fellow transfer Igbinosun, Carter was a freshman all-American, though he did it at Syracuse in 2020. In his 3 seasons with the Orange, Carter recorded 138 tackles with 7 pass breakups, 5 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries with a fumble returned for a touchdown.
Also like Igbinosun? He’s versatile. Carter could end up playing nickel or a true safety role for the Buckeyes.
Alex Hickey is an award-winning writer who has watched Big Ten sports since it was a numerically accurate description of league membership. Alex has covered college football and basketball since 2008, with stops on the McNeese State, LSU and West Virginia beats before being hired as Saturday Tradition's Big Ten columnist in 2021. He is an Illinois native and 2004 Indiana University graduate.