Big Ten Football Top 150 Players: No. 149, Bobby Richardson, Indiana DL

No. 149: Bobby Richardson, #95, DL, Indiana
2011 Stats: 27 tackles, 3 sacks, 4 TFL, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovered

Strengths

Richardson burst onto the scene in 2011 as a true freshman, working his way from scout team defensive tackle to the starting defensive end for the last six games of Big Ten play. As you can imagine, his versatility is a major asset, as he can play basically anywhere at 6'3", 274.

Weaknesses

Richardson isn't going to be 20 years old until late in the 2012 season, so he's still catching up physically to the upperclassmen in the trenches — no easy task in the Big Ten. He also needs to increase both his own personal production as well as start leading the defensive line. The Hoosiers had the third-worst rush defense in the nation last season. Richardson has his starting spot. Now he has to do more with it.

2012 Prediction

Indiana's got a lot of improving to do on the defensive side of the ball, and a big portion of that is going to have to come from pure personnel upgrades. Richardson should be growing into a leader on the line at this point, and as he improves the overall quality of the line, Indiana's going to depend on him in new and different ways — moving inside on passing downs, reading running backs out of the backfield, and other tasks that become more natural with experience. Richardson's production should rise, Indiana's defensive prowess should improve, and we should be looking at a future All-Big Ten defensive lineman (either at DT or DE) by 2014.