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Iowa Football: Five Players to Watch in Spring Practices

By Dylan Burn

Nov 14, 2015; Iowa City, IA, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz congratulates tight end George Kittle (46) during the second half against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Kinnick Stadium. Iowa won 40-35. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 14, 2015; Iowa City, IA, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz congratulates tight end George Kittle (46) during the second half against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Kinnick Stadium. Iowa won 40-35. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 3, 2016; Iowa City, IA, USA; The Iowa Hawkeyes football team is celebrated at halftime during the basketball game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa won 73-49. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 3, 2016; Iowa City, IA, USA; The Iowa Hawkeyes football team is celebrated at halftime during the basketball game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa won 73-49. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 5 – Brandon Snyder

Snyder was a very decorated high school football player coming out of West Lyon High School in Inwood, IA.  He was a class of 2014 recruit and redshirted during the 2014 season before spending time behind Jordan Lomax at free safety this past season.  He was named the Male Iowa High School Athlete of the Year by the Des Moines Register as a senior and was the Sioux City Journal Athlete of the Year in his senior year of high school.

With Lomax now graduated, that leaves a hole at free safety.  The Hawkeyes will return three of their four starters in the defensive backfield with the one wild card being Snyder at the FS spot.  It’ll either be Snyder or Jake Gervase from Davenport, IA.  Both of these players are walk-ons, so it’ll be interesting to see who wins the battle at the free safety spot in the spring.

With how experienced this Iowa defensive backfield is; Snyder and/or Gervase will be able to learn a lot.  You have two seniors in Greg Mabin and Desmond King, and a junior in strong safety Miles Taylor.  That is a pretty experienced bunch who will be able to help Snyder in the spring and then in the fall when the games start to be played.

At 6’1″ and 210 pounds, he has pretty good size for a safety at the division one level.  With so many defensive starters returning (8 of the 11 if Ott gets a fifth year) Snyder will have a lot of eyes on him being one of the only new faces on the defense.  He finished the 2015 season with 11 total tackles, according to Iowa’s official site.

Next: Number Four

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