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Iowa football: Where each former five-star recruit in the Kirk Ferentz era is

By Andrew Wade

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - NOVEMBER 8: Jake Rudock #15 of the Iowa Hawkeyes takes a huddle with his teammates against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the first quarter on November 8, 2014 at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - NOVEMBER 8: Jake Rudock #15 of the Iowa Hawkeyes takes a huddle with his teammates against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the first quarter on November 8, 2014 at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images) /
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STATE COLLEGE, PA – OCTOBER 23: Quarterback Zack Mills #7 of the Penn State Nittany Lions tries to run against defensive lineman Matt Roth #31 of the Iowa Hawkeyes during the game at Beaver Stadium on October 23, 2004 in State College, Pennsylvania. The Hawkeyes defeated the Nittany Lions 6-4. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
STATE COLLEGE, PA – OCTOBER 23: Quarterback Zack Mills #7 of the Penn State Nittany Lions tries to run against defensive lineman Matt Roth #31 of the Iowa Hawkeyes during the game at Beaver Stadium on October 23, 2004 in State College, Pennsylvania. The Hawkeyes defeated the Nittany Lions 6-4. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) /

Matt Roth

To this point, Matt Roth has had the most success of any five-star recruit in the Kirk Ferentz era. The 36th best recruit in the 2001 class, Roth came in to the Iowa football program and started from day one. He proceeded to have arguably one of the best Iowa football careers of any defensive lineman in the history of the program.

At the conclusion of his four seasons in Iowa City, Roth would earn All-Big Ten honors twice and he earned Second Team All-American honors after his senior season where he had 49 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 8 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles.

He would also become the highest drafted five-star recruit after the Miami Dolphins selected Roth in the second round of the 2005 draft. He spent five seasons in South Beach before spending time with both the Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars.

Although he was never quite able to obtain the success he had in college, he did carve out a nice niche as a pass-rusher. In 96 games, he had 23.5 sacks, 295 tackles, and six forced fumbles.