Iowa football: Tracking the departures from the 2018 Hawkeyes football team
By Andrew Wade
With the regular season over, the Iowa football team is suffering the annual exodus of players leaving the program. Here is the list of those departures.
This time of year it is not uncommon to see a few underclassmen choose to go down a different a path. More specifically, it’s not uncommon for underclassmen football players to leave their current university or in this case the Iowa football program.
Sometimes players aren’t happy with the coach or were promised things that ultimately weren’t delivered or they don’t see a quick route to playing time. And in some cases players are just too talented to keep their skill set at the collegiate level and decide they need to test the waters in the NFL.
That’s certainly the case with Iowa football player Noah Fant who has already declared for the NFL Draft and will not be playing in the Outback Bowl this year as he prepares for the NFL.
Others like corner Josh Turner likely didn’t see much playing time in his future with two true freshman starting over him this season while Michael Ojemudia and Matt Hankins dealt with injuries and personal issues.
Regardless of the reason, we wish them the absolute best in their future endeavors. As of today (12/9), five players have announced their intentions to leave the program, but that certainly won’t be the end. There are as many as four players who could decide to head to the NFL, and there are certainly a few more underclassmen who will be leaving in search of greener pastures elsewhere. As those announcements are made, we will continue to update this list going forward.
Kyshaun Bryan – Bryan was the first to depart from the Iowa football program after leaving the team for a brief period of time during the season.
Noah Fant – Fant will be heading to the NFL as he is very likely going to be the first tight end selected in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Josh Turner – Turner, a redshirt freshman corner, will be transferring from the Iowa football program after finding himself buried on the depth chart.
Aaron Mends – Mends was in line to be one of Iowa’s starting three linebackers, but he will now be leaving the Hawks as a graduate transfer after suffering an injury in spring practice that kept him out of the entire 2018 season.
Trey Creamer – Creamer announce via Twitter on 12/6 that he will be transferring.
Amani Hooker – The junior All-American announced via Twitter on 1/5 that he is declaring for the NFL Draft.
Anthony Nelson – The redshirt junior defensive end, a projected second round draft pick, announced his intentions to head to the NFL 1/7.
Garrett Jansen – Kirk announced 1/10 that Jansen would be leaving the Hawks as a graduate transfer.
Jack Kallenberger – The senior defensive lineman announced his retirement for football on January 17.
We will continue to update this post as more announcements are made.