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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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Jan 1, 2016; Pasadena, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal running back Remound Wright (22) runs against Iowa Hawkeyes defensive end Matt Nelson (96) during the second quarter in the 2016 Rose Bowl at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 1, 2016; Pasadena, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal running back Remound Wright (22) runs against Iowa Hawkeyes defensive end Matt Nelson (96) during the second quarter in the 2016 Rose Bowl at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 4 – Matt Nelson

Nelson is an absolute monster. At 6’8″ and 270 pounds he’s one of, if not the biggest Hawkeye on the roster.  Because of this, he has a lot of upside.  He appeared in 13 games and recorded 14 tackles and a sack for Ferentz and the Hawkeyes.  Nelson got more looks when Ott went down for the year after the Illinois game, which is going to help in his development.

However, he is still very inexperienced just being a sophomore headed into this season.  That’s actually a major concern at both defensive end spots with Nelson and Parker Hesse.

He had his best game of the year in the final game of the year when he recorded his first career quarterback sack, including 1.5 tackles for loss.  This was nice to see for Hawkeye fans in a game that wasn’t exactly going well.  If Ott does in fact get his fifth year, it could delay Nelson a little bit, but he’s still pretty raw at this point, but he does have all the intangibles.  If Ott doesn’t get his fifth year, well, we are going to see what Nelson is made of then.

He’ll have Sam Brincks, another sophomore, backing him up, so there isn’t a lot of experience behind him either.  It’s going to be intriguing to see how Nelson performs this spring.  A lot of people will be narrowed in on seeing what kind of impact he brings to the Hawkeyes in his sophomore campaign.

Next: Number Three

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