Iowa football: Hawks could pull in best tight end recruiting class ever

By Andrew Wade | Jun 24, 2019

IOWA CITY, IOWA- OCTOBER 20: Tight end Noah Fant #87 of the Iowa Hawkeyes is brought down during the first half by defensive back Darnell Savage #4 of the Maryland Terrapins on October 20, 2018 at Kinnick Stadium, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /

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IOWA CITY, IOWA- NOVEMBER 04: Tight end T.J. Hockenson /

Theo Johnson

Theo Johnson reminds me a bit of Noah Fant coming out of high school for the simple fact that they are both already pretty developed from a size standpoint. Johnson is listed at 6’6” and 240 pounds, and in a recent combine, he put up some impressive numbers.

The Canada native ran a 4.67 40-yard dash, posted a 35.2 inch vertical, and ran a 4.45-second shuttle.

He holds offers from 24 schools but recently announced his top-7 which included the Iowa football team. As of today, he is one of the highest rated recruits that has mutual interest from the Hawkeyes.

His film also has a bit of Noah Fant to it in the way they utilize his skillset. He was often split out wide and would either take on a defensive back straight on or step back to receive a screen pass. On go routes, he showed consistency in winning contested catches and exploding past the defender and he was tough to bring down on screen passes as he would carry a few guys each time.

I didn’t see much from blocking to give a fair assessment. With his size, there are not many technical skills needed to dominate the competition at this level, but it’s fair to imagine playing for the Iowa football team will develop him into an above-average blocker.