Former Indiana Football Player Micah McFadden Listed as Week 1 Starting LB for New York Giants

Indiana football player Micah McFadden has been listed by the New York Giants as the team's starting WILL linebacker on its unofficial depth chart for Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Former Indiana football player Micah McFadden has been listed as the starting WILL linebacker on the New York Giants' unofficial depth chart entering Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season. 

McFadden played for coach Tom Allen and the Indiana Hoosiers from 2018-21 and was wildly successful during his time in Bloomington. 

He arrived as one of many defensive talents that Allen had recruited out of Florida, and immediately saw snaps as a true freshman. But it was in his sophomore season in 2019 that McFadden truly broke out as a star for the Indiana defense. He finished that season with 61 total tackles, two interceptions and 1.5 sacks, and helped IU reach an 8-5 record, one of the best in the history of the program. 

The 2020 and 2021 seasons for McFadden were more of the same. He was named a team captain in both years, and played well enough in the Covid-shortened 2020 campaign that he was named a second team All-American by the college football expert Phil Steele, and a third team All-American by the Associated Press at the season's end. He was also honored as Indiana's Anthony Thompson Most Valuable Player for the 2020 season. 

Though 2021 as a whole was brutal for the Hoosiers on the football field, McFadden still excelled. Though he fell short of All-American recognition, the senior linebacker was named first team All-Big Ten by Steele, and second team All-Big Ten by coaches and media. For the second season in a row, McFadden won Indiana's Anthony Thompson MVP award.

McFadden left Bloomington with 216 career tackles, four interceptions and 37 tackles for loss — the sixth-highest TFL total in Indiana history. He was then selected with 146th overall pick in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. 

Immediately, McFadden turned heads in the Big Apple as a mere rookie, playing in all 17 regular season games for the Giants, and starting in seven. In total, he completed his first year in the NFL with 59 combined tackles, 6.0 TFL, 2.0 sacks and one forced fumble. Though the Indiana linebacker was already expected to contribute mightily to the G-Men in 2023, it was confirmed on Tuesday when New York released its unofficial depth chart. 

Starting alongside McFadden at the MIKE linebacker position for the Giants will be Bobby Okereke. McFadden will also be backed up at WILL by former No. 8 overall NFL Draft pick Isaiah Simmons, who New York traded for in August. 

McFadden starts his second NFL season and first as a full-time starter in prime time, when the Giants take on the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. The game will be broadcast on NBC, starting at 8:20 p.m. ET. 

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