Iowa football: Ranking the top five defensive backs in Kirk’s tenure

The Iowa football program has produced the last three of the last four Big Ten DB of the Year winners, but where do these guys rank in Kirk’s tenure?

When draft pundits talk about DB U, they don’t typically focus on the Iowa football program, but there is something in the water in Iowa City, Iowa that is allowing the Hawks to consistently churn out quality defensive backs year in and year out.

Since Kirk Ferentz took over the Iowa football team, there have been 13 defensive backs selected in the NFL Draft. Furthermore, four of those guys have claimed Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year (out of eight possible years), and two of those guys have won the Jack Tatum Defensive Back of the Year award. Three of those guys have been named All-Americans. Pretty impressive for a school that doesn’t exactly reel in top prospects year in and year out.

So who stakes the claim as the best defensive back since Kirk Ferentz has taken over? That’s what we are aiming to find out, and it wasn’t easy.

Here’s our top five defensive backs in the Kirk Ferentz era.