Iowa Football: Hawkeyes Gain Big Tight End Recruit Anthony Torres
By Joe Favia
The Hawkeyes got some good news with the addition to the 2018 recruiting class with the pledge of Indiana tight end Anthony Torres.
The announcement by Torres via Twitter is the first known verbal for the Hawkeyes since Illinois defensive tackle Noah Shannon declared for the Hawks in the beginning of July. With Torres there are 11 known pledges for Kirk Ferentz, and Hawkeyes, which may be a little over half of the class at this point.
Torres is listed at 6’6 and 235 lbs heading into his senior campaign. He is ranked as a
.
The coaches honest and direct approach made things easy for Torres as he explained to ‘Dear Old Gold’:
I knew I wanted to be a Hawkeye after I talked with Coach Doyle, Coach Ferentz, and Coach Woods. They were straight-forward with me and told me how Iowa is. The history at tight end is incredible as well and I know that the tight end is a huge part of their offense.
Torres is the second tight end to commit to Iowa in this class, alongside Jack Plumb from Wiscosnin. Current expectations is that Plumb will join the offensive line group in Iowa City when the time comes.
In discussing if Iowa being known as one of the ‘Tight End Factories’ in College Football played a role in his decision, Torres explained:
The history definitely played a factor. I know that in the offense, the tight ends are going to be utilized like no other. There is always a tight end in the game and I know that Iowa develops their tight ends like crazy.
Also, the close knit nature of the 2017 recruiting class for Iowa stood out for many Iowa fans. Though it is early, and a ways away from signing day, Torres was asked if the 2018 class is slowly forming similar bonds:
Right after I committed a bung of the commits reached out to me and congratulated me. They also added me to their group chat right away and have made me apart of the family as quickly as possible.
Heading into his senior season, we found out what Anthony is looking to improve on the most:
I hope to improve on every part of my game but most specifically I hope to improve on becoming a better route runner and being more of a threat in the passing game. I also want to work on becoming a more effective blocker this season as well.
The Hawkeyes head into the season with two senior tight ends in Peter Pekar and Jon Wisnieski. The Hawks sport a number of big, athletic tight ends that could make an impact as starters next season including: Noah Fant, Nate Wieting, Nate, Vejvoda, Shaun Beyer, TJ Hockenson and newly transitioned quarterback Drew Cook. Jacob Coons also joins the team this Fall.
Adding Torres only improves what could be the best young crop of tight ends in the Big Ten.
Lastly, we found out that Mr. Torres prefers the Colts as opposed to the Bears. Hawkeye fans are familiar with a tight end that played for the Colts.