This week I’ll talk about the linebackers, defensive backs and special teams.
All three have All American candidates.
Linebackers
When you start with Jack Campbell (6-5, 246), you have a pretty good beginning.
All Jack did was finish second in the Big Ten in tackles last year with 143.
Chad Greenway comes to mind comparing him with Jack.
Chad was listed at 6-3, 237, had great quickness and knew the game well.
Jack was the Iowa MVP, academic and first team All-Big Ten and second team All American by Phil Steele last fall. The former Cedar Falls prep played as a true freshman and had 15 starts playing in 30 games.
Jack has 177 tackles, eight tackles for loss, three interceptions and two sacks to his credit.
Last week, Jack was named first team preseason All American by the Associated Press.
Jay Higgins (6-2, 229) is the backup at middle linebacker and also played as a true freshman.
Higgins, a junior, has seen action in 19 games.
The weak side linebacker is senior Seth Benson (6-0, 232). Seth, who was named South Dakota Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior in high school, has played in 37 games with 21 starts.
He has totaled 163 tackles including 8.5 tackles for a loss. The senior from Sioux Falls was third team and academic All-Big Ten last fall.
Kyler Fisher (5-11 229) is the backup, played in 20 games and won the team Hustle Award on
Special Teams.
The Leo position has Justin Jacobs (6-4, 238) as the starter who played as a true freshman.
Justin has nine starts and has played in 19 games.
Cooper DeJean (6-1, 209) is the top man at the Cash position. Cooper, who played in seven games last year as a true freshman, could also play safety.
“I played a lot on special teams and that helped me adjust to the speed of the game,” said Cooper. “It’s a challenge every day to go up against the speed of the wide receivers.”
Look for senior Logan Klemp (6-2, 235) to see some playing time at linebacker and special teams.
“It’s a real good group,” said linebacker coach Seth Wallace. “You could take the coach out of it and they would still keep going.”
Defensive Backs
Iowa led the nation with 25 interceptions last season with 11 players picking off at least one pass.
When you have the Big Ten Defensive Back of the year returning for his 5th year like Riley Moss, you have a good nucleus to start. Riley opened up the season last fall with two pick sixes against Indiana. The senior from Ankeny, Iowa has 10 career interceptions, ranks second in career interception return yards and is the third player in Iowa history with two interceptions for touchdowns in a single game.
Why did Riley come back?
“I definitely want to play in the NFL, but the NFL will always be there,” said Riley. “My love for football and my love for the University of Iowa,” Riley said. “It’s really a special place for people who make it. The way I look at it, I only had five years of my life to play football at Iowa.”
Riley is a preseason All American pick Phil Steele.
Senior Terry Roberts (5-10,182) is listed as Riley’s backup.
Terry is one of the fastest players on the team, has played in 28 games and won the Team Hustle Award on defense.
Junior Quinn Schulte (6-1, 208), a former walk on, is the top free safety.
“I think he’s starting to see the big picture,” said Phil Parker. “You need someone to direct traffic back there. Quinn does a good job of that. I’m really pleased. He’s a quiet leader. He knows what he’s doing.”
Junior Reggie Brace (6-0, 209) is listed as the backup free safety. Reggie played as a true freshman and has been in 12 games.
Senior Kaevon Merriweather (6-0, 210) is the starting strong safety. Kaevon has played in 47 games with over 25 starts. The senior from Michigan brings stability and experience two the secondary.
Cooper DeJean is listed as the backup and is one of the fastest guys on the team.
“He’s playing corner and he’s playing safety,” said Captain Kirk. “We still haven’t settled on one position with him. He seems to handle it well and does a good job on special teams.”
Xavier Nwankpa (6-2, 210) is the wildcard in the secondary.
Xavier was one of the top recruits in the nation last year, can play either safety position, and made some big plays in the Kids Day Scrimmage.
“He goes to work and that’s the thing you love about him,” said Phil Parker. “He knows what he has to do. He’s a very explosive kid and he’s a pretty big kid. He’s improving every day.”
This defense could be scary good.
Phil Parker is kind of like Jan Jensen, women’s assistant basketball coach.
Both could have taken head coaching jobs throughout their careers but chose to stay at Iowa because they really like it here, and that’s great news for Hawkeye fans.
Special Teams
The highlight of the scrimmage for me at least, was both kickers never missed a field goal.
Aaron Blom and Drew Stevens looked in preseason form at the Kids Day Scrimmage.
“We’re pushing each other as hard as we can,” said Aaron, a sophomore from Oskaloosa, Iowa. “We’re trying to make each other one percent better every day. I’d say it’s going pretty well.”
Tory Taylor has played in 22 games in his first two years as a Hawkeye.
The 6-4, 230 pound junior from Melbourne, Australia has an average of 45.4 yards per punt.
The late great Reggie Roby, who I consider one of the greatest college punters of all time, had a career average of 45.4.
That’s not bad company to be hanging out with.
For Tory’s career he has punted the ball inside the 20 47.5% of the time. That is so huge for the defense to make the opposition have to start their drives over 80 yards away.
Last year Iowa gave up an average of 17.3 yards on kickoff returns.
The punt return average was 3.8 yards.
Once again, special teams are so important in a winning season.
The punt return and kickoff return players will come down to Cooper DeJean, Terry Roberts, Arland Bruce, T.J. Hall, Alec Wick and Riley Moss.
“We’re building a good group of candidates,” said special teams coach LeVar Woods.
“We’re always pushing to be No. 1.”
That wraps up the preseason look of the Iowa football team.
The two positions I am concerned about are offensive line and place kicker.
If the line comes through Spencer Petras and Alex Padilla should have more time to find receivers.
The kickers can be a difference in close games.
It’s time to bring on the South Dakota State Jackrabbits!
