Iowa Football: Breaking Down The Hawkeyes Two-Deeps

With the start of Big Ten media days, the Iowa Hawkeyes media guide was released, and with that the first look at the ‘two-deeps’ for the depth chart before August camp.

The first glaring positional note that stands out is that sophomore quarterback Nathan Stanley is listed as the #1. With the departure of 49ers draft pick CJ Beathard, it has been made clear that the race to who starts against Wyoming is an even race among Tyler Wiegers, Stanley, and true freshmen Peyton Mansell. It is going to be an intriguing development to follow before the beginning of the season as the success of the 2017 season will as always loom on strong QB play.

The wide receiver position remains in flux, like quarterback with Matt VandeBerg and newly arrived Nick Easley slotted in as the starters. The two-deeps released do not include the true freshmen who will be fitting to avoid the red shirt in the coming weeks, and it is possible that a few of them could make a dent, and be on the list for week 1.

True tight end positions are listed with sophomore Noah Fant and red shirt freshmen TJ Hockenson listed as the starters. Could these be the ‘two terrors’ that can cause Big Ten defensive coordinators to lose sleep the next couple of years? It might be too early to say that, but it is interesting that they are listed ahead of seniors Peter Pekar and Jon Wisnieski.

The offensive line doesn’t have the large question marks like wide receiver and quarterback, and has a good mix of veterans and promising future impact players.

On the defensive side of the ball, no breakthrough has occurred onto the depth charts for redshirt defensive lineman Brandon Simon, Chauncey Gholston and Romeo McKnight, yet. However, sophomores Cedrick Lattimore, Garret Jansen and Brady Reiff have cracked the list. It will also to be expected that true freshmen AJ Epenesa will have his name on the depth chart for week 1.

At linebacker, the Hawkeyes have one more year of the status quo, and a very welcomed status quo at that, in three senior linebackers Josey Jewell, Bo Bower and Ben Niemann. All the other upperclassmen are listed in the two-deeps except for junior Jacob Sobotka.

In the secondary, it can be expected that like the wide receivers there will be some true freshmen listed in a month, especially with the absence of junior safety Brandon Snyder. Currently Jake Gervase and Miles Taylor are listed as the starters, but grey shirt Noah Clayberg, Amani Hooker, Geno Stone and Djimon Colbert could make a push.