Comeback kid: Shaun Beyer
There were really just two candidates for this: Shaun Beyer and Brady Ross.
I chose Beyer for three reasons. First, he is coming back from a season-ending leg injury. Second, the biggest thing he is known for is the punt game mistake against Wisconsin. And third, he’s had quite a journey in his Iowa football career transitioning between wide receiver and tight end and getting stuck behind two first-rounders.
If he wins the number one tight end job (and I believe he will), he will be in line to run away with this superlative in 2019. To this point, he has more tackles and more fumbles caused than catches or yards. Those numbers are 2 and 1 respectively so you can see there isn’t much room to go down.
One of our Dear Old Gold writers Ryan Sikes predicted that Beyer would haul in 31 catches for 275 yards and 3 touchdowns, which compared to last year wouldn’t be great, but compared to a standard year in the Iowa football program for a tight end is pretty solid.
I agree with him, and if he obtains those targets, there’s no question who is the 2019 comeback kid.