Iowa football: Two Hawks named to PFF’s Team of the Week in Week 3

After a 38-14 win over the Northern Iowa Panthers, it is no surprise to see a few Iowa football players named to Pro Football Focus’s All-Big Ten team.

In week one of the college football season, the Iowa football team had two individuals selected to Pro Football Focus’s All-Big Ten team: Amani Hooker and TJ Hockenson. In week two, only one member of the Hawkeyes was named to the All Big-Ten team: Matt Nelson. This week, however, we are back to two guys on the list and one honorable mention after the Hawks big victory over the Panthers.

As we have mentioned in the past, these “teams” aren’t really of any significant value long-term, but it does highlight who, according to Pro Football Focus, was the best at their position for a given week. It also doesn’t mean that if a player isn’t on the list they did bad, and lastly, there should be more Hawkeyes on this list once the Big Ten schedule begins and teams are playing each other instead of cupcake matchups. There is a reason why Illinois and Maryland continue to get so much representation on the list after all.

We had one member of the Iowa football team named to the offensive team, and that was Mekhi Sargent. Sargent had himself a game against the Panthers, and he left Kirk pretty impressed. He had 72 yards on 15 carries and scored two touchdowns. In the passing game, he had one catch for 48 yards.

It’s easy to see after that kind of performance why he was the highest rated running back in the Big Ten.

On defense, we have a slightly more shocking inclusion to the list. Backup junior defensive tackle Brady Reiff made the list this week with a grade of 81.4. Against the Panthers, Reiff had two tackles and one sack.

Earlier we teased an honorable mention honor of sorts, and here it is. Although not able to squeeze into the All-Big Ten team, senior wide receiver Nick Easley made the list of the top five receivers in week three. Easley had a career night for the Iowa football program. He caught 10 passes for 103 yards and one touchdown and added one carry for nine yards on the ground.

This kind of performance earned Easley recognition as one of our three standouts of the week along with the aforementioned Mekhi Sargent. With Iowa set to face off against Wisconsin in two days, I am hoping we see a few offensive lineman on this list, which would mean Iowa ran the ball effectively.

For more grades, advanced statistics and more at Pro Football Focus, subscribe to PFF’s EDGE or ELITE subscriptions at ProFootballFocus.com.