Iowa football: Mid-season MVP awards for the Hawkeyes

Defensive MVP: Amani Hooker

This is probably shocking considering how much we have been hyping up some of the defensive line guys on the Iowa football team such as AJ Epenesa and Anthony Nelson. Epenesa was leading the team in sacks for the majority of the season and has already received Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors and Nelson is now tied with Epenesa for the team lead after a three-sack performance against Minnesota two weeks ago. They are each tied for third in the Big Ten Conference.

While the defensive line has been instrumental in helping the Iowa football defense become one of the nation’s top defense, Amani Hooker has been the MVP through six games. He is leading a defense that is seventh in total yards allowed and 16th in points per game.

Hooker, a true junior from Minneapolis, Minnesota has served as the leader of the banged up secondary and has served as a swiss army knife in Iowa’s evolving defense. While his primary position is strong safety, the last two games with major injury concerns at the linebacker position, and with the Iowa football team facing two spread attacks, Hooker has slid down and primarily filled a small outside linebacker role.

Not only is Hooker sliding into a linebacker position a sign of evolution from Kirk Ferentz’s old-school and traditional mentality when it comes to the game of football, it’s a sign of confidence in the Iowa football player that they trust him to fill multiple positions.

For the season, Hooker is third on the team in tackles with 32 and leads the team with five passes defensed. He also has one interception to his name for 2018. While it’s easy to focus on the defensive line, Amani Hooker has been the linchpin of the defense holding two injury tested units together.