Iowa football: Four position battles to watch in 2019

The Iowa football team is losing key players from this years team, meaning there are spots up for grabs in 2019. Here’s a preview of these position battles.

Losing players is a natural occurrence in college football, and good head coaches are preparing for departures well in advance of a player graduating or a player deciding to forgo eligibility for a shot at the NFL. The Iowa football program is no different and while this team returns a ton of talent from the 9-4 Outback Bowl winning team, they are also missing two All-American tight ends, an All-American safety, and their entire interior offensive line.

That natural attrition can create opportunities for players to step right in and began tearing things up as a starter or it can create open competition where every man has a chance. For example, with Parker Hesse graduating, AJ Epenesa is obviously going to be taking over his spot. I honestly think if he didn’t all of Iowa football nation would be calling for Kirk Ferentz’s head. Another example can be found in Iowa replacing Outback Bowl MVP Nick Easley with already established guys like Ihmir Smith-Marsette and Brandon Smith. Sure there might be some other guys getting more snaps, but the majority of the open snaps are already accounted for.

As we talked about above, it’s critical that college teams prepare for this attrition well in advance and while the Iowa football team has done this, there will still be some spots up for grabs with a plethora of players vying for playing time. Furthermore, it’s important to note that every player must compete to keep his job (even Nate Stanley), but some (Nate Stanley) are on a significantly longer leash before losing their jobs.

Let’s take a look at the four biggest position battles.