Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa football program are known for bringing in two and three star recruits and developing them. 2017’s recruiting class is looking really strong at this point in time.
Scout and 247 Sports updated their class of 2017 recruiting rankings on Monday and the Iowa football program finds themselves in the middle of things early on in the process. Scout has the Hawkeyes ranked 21st nationally and fourth in the Big Ten behind Michigan, Ohio State, and Northwestern.
247 Sports has Iowa ranked 13th and third in the Big Ten behind Ohio State and Michigan.
Right now, the Hawkeyes have six commits in the 2017 class, which is headlined by four/five star recruit, A.J. Epenesa. With Epenesa, it really depends on what recruiting website you’re looking at. Scout has him as a five star recruit and the best defensive end in the class of 2017.
247 Sports has Epenesa listed as a five star recruit as well. It is clear that many people are high on the Edwardsville, IL product who’s dad played football at the University of Iowa.
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The supporting cast in this class includes; Djimon Colbert, who just committed earlier this month after a visit in Iowa City. Colbert is a product of Shawnee Mission, KS and is rated as a four star recruit by Scout. Colbert gives Iowa a talented defensive back recruit and at 6’1″ and 180 pounds, Colbert will need to put on a little more weight, but should impact the Hawkeyes early on in his career at the safety spot.
The other four commits in this class are all Iowa products. Tristan Wirfs is probably the most notable recruit of the four. He is a three star recruit rated by Scout out of Mouth Vernon, Iowa, which is only about a half hour up the road from Iowa City. He gives Iowa a good start on the offensive line in this class as he is rated as the 41st best offensive tackle by Scout.
Jacob Coons, Juan Harris, and Coy Kirkpatrick are the other three Iowa kids. Coons is out of Solon, Iowa, which again isn’t far from Iowa City. He’s listed as a tight end, but has the size and athleticism to be turned into a linebacker at the next level. Juan Harris will line up next to Epenesa on the defensive line. Harris is 6’3″ and 360 pounds, so he has the size already.
Finally, Kirkpatrick. He’s listed at defensive end right now and might stay there at 6’4″ and 240 pounds. If he bulks up, a move to the middle of the line may be possible, but he has good size already for a defensive end.
The most notable recruit in the class that Iowa has offered, but hasn’t committed yet, is Eno Benjamin. He’s the ninth best running back in the country according to Scout and has the Hawkeyes number one on his list after a bunch of spring visits that included one to Ann Arbor. Many thought the Wolverines would land Benjamin after he visited there.
Obviously it is still early on in the process for the class of 2017, but Iowa has set themselves a good foundation. If they are able to land Benjamin it could attract other bigger named recruits to Iowa City. But Epenesa might already being doing that.
Stay tuned on all of that.