The University of Iowa football program entered 2018 with a huge question mark on defense: linebacker. After one game, has the battle been settled?
The Iowa football program is historically known for producing talented linebackers year in and year out. As guys leave the program, new guys step in to take their spot, but it’s not very often you need to replace three senior linebackers in the same year. This, however, is exactly what Kirk Ferentz has been tasked with in 2018.
Josey Jewell, Ben Niemann and Bo Bowers all left for the NFL, and you would expect there to be a little more clarity after an interesting first game. There were definitely some highlights like junior Kristian Welch producing a team-leading 11 tackles and a sack or the generally solid play of Nick Niemann. Unfortunately, there were also a few issues with the linebacker crew, particularly at middle linebacker where presumed starter Amani Jones lost a lot of snaps to senior Jack Hockaday throughout the day.
It became quite noticeable throughout the day that Iowa was trying to figure out the position.
Iowa really feeling out at inside LB right now.
— Marc Morehouse (@marcmorehouse) September 1, 2018
Kirk Ferentz had this to say in his media conference today about Jones’ day against NIU:
"Yeah, I think I’m not going to say it was predictable what happened, but I think what happened to him was consistent with him. The reason we like him so much, he’s high-energy–he wants to make every play and get to the ball and you can’t always do that. Sometimes you just have to play your position."
But does this mean Jones is out of a job? Or can we expect to see the Hawkeyes play the hot hand at one of the most crucial spots on defense? Sounds like we’re likely to see the latter.
According to Kirk, this position battle could rage on for a while:
"No, we’ll see how it goes. We still have an open mind. I said that, I think, back at the beginning of August and even last week. To me, probably at least for this month, we’ll be evaluating a lot of spots, and it could happen in October-November, too, you never know."
So what we can expect to see on Saturday? I think it’s fair to say we will be getting a healthy dose of both inside linebackers especially if Jones’ overzealous play continues. If Jones performs well initially and stays true to the position consistently, however, I fully believe the Iowa football coaches want him to seize the job leading to his more secured status as the starter.
As for the outside backers, it’s little Niemann and Welch’s time to shine and rise to the occasion as the next great linebackers of the University of Iowa football program.
To view the full recap of Kirk’s media conference go here.