Early depth chart projection for Iowa’s defense

The strongest unit on the Iowa football team is likely the Hawkeye defense. Last year they were among the best in the country and Phil Parker has another loaded roster on his side of the ball. Iowa will be led by players like Noah Shannon, Logan Lee, and Joe Evans up front and potential All American Cooper DeJean in the secondary.

How will the depth chart look once we get to August and the start of fall camp? We give you our thoughts and guess what it might look like at that time.

DEFENSIVE LINE

DE: Deontae Craig, Max Llewellyn

DT: Noah Shannon, Aaron Graves

DT: Logan Lee, Yahya Black

DE: Joe Evans, Ethan Hurkett

What a loaded group. Honestly, Iowa is approaching the point where they could get to a three deep and feel pretty good about all of those players. Shannon, Lee, Evans, and Black were out either all or a good portion of the spring. They will all be healthy by August. Craig is a star in the making and Hurkett’s coming along as well. Keep an eye on Jeremiah Pittman, who could be close to earning playing time.

LINEBACKER

MLB: Jay Higgins, Jaden Harrell

WLB: Nick Jackson, Kyler Fisher

LEO/CASH: Sebastian Castro, Karson Sharar

This one feels like it could have some shuffling. Jackson will be arriving from Virginia and he’s going to be a starter this fall. He had 100 tackles the last few years and he’s going to be out there. Will it be at middle linebacker or WLB? Higgins is going to be the other starter. Castro has found a home at Cash and we will throw in Sharar as the option at LEO. Iowa coaches really like him. Harrell was getting first team reps on Saturday, which tells me his star is rising.

DEFENSIVE BACK

CB: Cooper DeJean, T.J. Hall

CB: Jermari Harris, Deshuaun Lee

SS: Xavier Nwankpa, Sebastian Castro

FS: Quinn Schulte, Koen Entringer

No changes for what we saw as far as a depth chart this spring. DeJean is a lock and Harris is back after missing last season due to injury. At safety, Nwankpa has settled into his role as a starter and Schulte is the quarterback of the back end of the Hawkeye defense. Hill and Lee had good springs and Entringer is on the rise.

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