Two Deep Dive – Iowa Defense

One of the traditions from Big Ten Media Day is the release of the first depth chart for the Iowa football season. There were a few surprises on both sides of the ball and the expectation is there will be some changes before the Hawkeyes kickoff the season in September.

Let’s take a look at the two deeps on the defensive side of the ball and dive into what we learned.

DEFENSIVE LINE

DE – Deontae Craig, Max Llewellyn
DT – Noah Shannon, Aaron Graves
DT – Logan Lee, Yahya Black
DE – Joe Evans, Ethan Hurkett

DL ANALYSIS

This is about what we would have expected. Starters at the same as the spring and it’s veteran group. Second team, again, about the same. The real unknown here is what will be the status of Noah Shannon moving forward and will he miss any playing time due to his involvement in the sports gambling investigation. Even if he’s out for a short period of time, Graves can fill that role and Iowa has a good amount of depth.

LINEBACKERS

CASH/LEO – Sebastian Castro, Jaxon Rexroth
MLB – Jay Higgins, Nick Jackson
WLB – Kyler Fisher, Karson Sharar

LB ANALYSIS

Again, pretty much the same as the spring, expect for the addition of Nick Jackson. He officially arrived this summer and Iowa didn’t bring him in from Virginia to be a backup. I would suspect that he will move into a starting role either at MLB or WLB with Jay Higgins in the other spot. Sebastian Castro is moving into his second season at CASH and Jaxon Rexroth is a player to watch. Still think that if Iowa is playing three linebackers that it will include Higgins, Jackson, and either Kyler Fisher or Karson Sharar.

DEFENSIVE BACKS

CB – Cooper DeJean, TJ Hall
CB – Jermari Harris, Deshaun Lee
SS – Xavier Nwankpa, Sebastian Castro
FS – Quinn Schulte, Koen Entringer

DB ANALYSIS

No changes from the spring, which is to be expected. DeJean is the star of the group and Nwankpa is poised for a breakout season. Getting Harris back is significant for Iowa’s defensive backfield. Biggest concern might be lack of experience from the reserves at the cornerback position.

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