Hawkeye football is officially back and game week is here!
Kirk Ferentz is a man of ritual and routine, but KF 4.0 (is that the right version? I’ve lost count) is updating those routines as he enters year 27 at the helm of the Iowa Hawkeyes. After years of releasing a fall camp depth chart, we got no such thing this go around. That was particular notable given all the turnover on the roster from a season ago.
Most notably, we’re all aware the entirety of the quarterback room has changed, save for walk
on Jackson Stratton. But beyond that, Iowa lost more than two thirds of its defensive starters from a season ago and there are questions all around as to who is starting and who is positioning to be that next man in as we enter the first week of the college football season.
Thankfully, KF didn’t break with tradition for long. After skipping that initial camp depth chart release, we got our first depth chart of the season as the Hawkeyes released their season opening one on Monday afternoon.
Noted Notables
The Offense
- No surprise here – SDSU transfer Mark Gronowski is your day one starter at QB. The most notable thing at the position is really that there is no OR after Hank Brown’s name. The Auburn transfer seems to have won the backup job with Wake Forest transfer Jeremy Hecklinski the third stringer. That’s a world away from where we were at this time last year.
- As for the weapons Gronowski will be throwing to, perhaps a surprise to see sophomore Reece Vander Zee not listed as a starter. He had a great start to his true freshman season before being shut down due to injury. He has significantly more size than any of Iowa’s listed starters. Across the board, the Hawkeyes go 5’7” with Chattanooga transfer Sam Phillips, 6’ in Seth Anderson and 6’ for Jacob Gill. Even the other backups are on the smaller side with Kaden Wetjen at 5’9” and KJ Parker at 5’10”. All six of those guys will no doubt get work this week, but as we get further into the season it seems like at least five of them will remain heavily in the rotation barring injury.
- At running back, there are a pair of ORs and no mention of true freshman sensation Nathan McNeil. Kind of wild. Kamari Moulton is the listed started, as expected, but he has an OR with Terrell Washington Jr., who is the hybrid RB/WR. At backup, it’s interesting to see freshman Xavier Williams listed with an OR to Jaziun Patterson, ahead of McNeil. The latter lit things up at the Kids Day practice and has had a ton of buzz this camp. Could Iowa really rotate through 4-5 backs as they look to replace Kaleb Johnson?
- Up front, the fall battle has really been for the starting left tackle job. Still no answers there as Jack Dotzler and Trevor Lauck have the OR. They’re also listed with an OR as the backup at RT behind stalwart Gennings Dunker. Where this gets a little interesting the backup at LT is listed as Ferris State transfer Bryce George. Last week, Ferentz mentioned George as someone he expects to be in the rotation, but seemed to indicate that would be somewhere inside. Now he is listed outside… Something to monitor Saturday, particularly in the second half when we presumably get to see some new combinations of players.
The Defense
- On the other side of the ball, we’ve been expecting the front four to be the strength of this team, but it’s worth starting there as we have a modest surprise with SDSU transfer Bryce Hawthorne winning the starting RT job opposite Aaron Graves. He beat out Central Michigan transfer Jonah Pace. Both of those guys will get plenty of run as Kelvin Bell rotates several linemen to keep everyone fresh.
- Behind them are a slew of new faces. Fifth year senior Jaden Harrell is your new starter at MLB. He’s joined by senior Karson Sharar as the two who will stay on the field in Iowa’s 4-2-5 defense. Fifth year senior Jaxon Rexroth will come on as the Leo in the 4-3. That’s a lot of seniors for a trio of first year starters. Perhaps more impressive about what Seth Wallace is building is the backups are junior Jayden Montgomery at MLB, fifth year senior Jaxon Rexroth at WLB and junior Landyn Van Kekerixz at Leo.
- Zach Lutmer is officially your Cash for 2025. He seems like he’s poised to be the next great one. Interesting that Koen Entringer is listed as the backup there while the starter at SS with…. Lutmer as his backup. Beside Entringer, former 5-star safety Xavier Nwankpa looks to end his Iowa career on a high note as the starter at FS. Although he has the OR with Entringer, which means we could see a secondary with no X and Entringer/Lutmer at FS/SS.
- On the outside, we expected TJ Hall to be the starter at one corner and that holds true. Like Nwankpa, the once highly regarded prospect looks to end his career on a high note. Opposite Hall, Deshaun Lee appears to have won the job at right corner. Jaylen Watson is listed as the backup on both sides, but has an OR in both spots. At LC, it’s with South Dakota transfer Shahid Barros while Rashad Godfrey, Jr. makes it three true freshmen to crack the initial depth chart. He’s the only one on defense and has the OR at RC.
The Hawkeyes are poised to open the 2025 football season under the Kinnick lights on Saturday evening as they play host to the Albany Great Danes. Kickoff is set for 5pm CT. Iowa is a 37.5-point favorite in the opener according to FanDuel Sportsbook. You can view all the action on FS1.
