The Iowa football program is known to produce linebackers. After losing three starters, however, we didn’t know what to expect. We’re starting to find out.
Losing Josey Jewell, Bo Bowers, and Ben Niemann is never easy. Both of those guys were on a NFL roster during the preseason and two of them remain on the 53-man roster. Scouts around the country know that the Iowa football program is fantastic at producing quality linebackers who are technically sound, but heading into 2018, this position was viewed as a weakness.
Even after week one, we weren’t sure what to expect. As players begin to more comfortable, however, the picture of the linebacker position is becoming clearer. In fact, in week two, we saw really good play out of that unit that gives many of us hope for what this position beholds for the next few years. Despite looking like the weak link in a the well-oiled machine that is the Iowa football defense in week one, the opinions are beginning to change.
It begs the question, is the linebacker unit becoming a strength?
Kirk sure does think so even though there’s been somewhat of a revolving door at the linebacker position. The initial trio to start the season versus NIU was Kristian Welch, Nick Niemann, and Amani Jones. Last week, it was Djimon Colbert, Nick Niemann, and Jack Hockaday. Colbert was in due to an injury and Hockaday was in because of performance issues by Jones.
Either way, both players played outstanding last week as did Niemann.
What does Kirk think of the linebacker situation?
Kirk was particularly impressed by Colbert, a redshirt freshman from Shawnee Mission, Kansas. In his first start, Colbert put on a show and was literally all over the field. He finished with five tackles on the day.
Kirk had this to say about Colbert’s performance:
"I thought he did a lot of good things. He looked confident, first of all, which is not always the case for a guy. He hasn’t played at all, so for him to be out there doing that, that was really good."
Furthermore, Hockaday’s turned in a solid performance (8 tackles, 1 PD) as well and seems to have locked down the middle linebacker spot for at least the time being according to Kirk.
"Yeah, right now he’s working No. 1, and that’s remained pretty constant. He’s done a really nice job, and we’re just going to keep moving everybody forward."
Kirk didn’t have much (or anything at all) to say about Nick Niemann’s performance Saturday, but he didn’t have to. The sophomore linebacker had an outstanding game finishing with seven tackles and one sack. He did so well that we actually named him one of our standout performers from the game.
As Welch gets healthy, it will be interesting to see how the rotation at linebacker shakes out. Either way Kirk is not overly concerned with how it plays out.
"We keep people out of the end zone, I’m fine with that. I don’t care what the combination is. But the bottom line is, yeah, our production has been good, but I think it’s been healthy. It’s really healthy. I wish we had that at every position. You don’t have always have that luxury. When you have guys making each other better in practice, that leads to positive things, and it leads to faster improvement typically. Yeah, I think it’s a healthy thing right now. Nobody is elbowing each other out of the way. They’re just out there playing."
If the linebacker group continues their quick development, this will be crucial when Iowa takes on the Badgers in two weeks. The Badgers have arguably the best offensive line in college football and it will be very important for the linebackers to get off their blocks in order to take down Heisman candidate Jonathon Taylor.
Kirk’s full Tuesday conference transcript can be found here.