Iowa football: Who’s going to be the next great Hawkeye linebacker?

The Iowa football team is known for producing top-end linebacker talent, but after a year of fluidity at the LB position, is someone ready to breakout?

Let’s just take a trip down memory lane and list off some of the great Iowa football linebackers in the Kirk Ferentz era.

Christian Kirksey, AJ Edds, Ben Niemann, Grant Steen, Josey Jewell, Abdul Hodge, Pat Angerer, Fred Barr, James Morris, Chad Greenway, Anthony Hitchens, and Jeremiha Hunter. These are just a few of the names that come to mind when thinking of linebacker player for the Iowa football team, but take a closer look at that list.

Josey Jewell, Abdul Hodge, and Pat Angerer are arguably three of the top five linebackers on this list, and they have one thing in common, they all played middle linebacker.

Heading into the 2019 season, the Iowa football team’s defense is in a state of transition. Gone are the days where the Hawkeyes roll out their base 4-3 defense every single down. The “cash” position is here to stay, and with Amani Jones getting looks as an edge rusher, my guess is we may see even more defensive wrinkles in 2019.

But one thing is certain, the Iowa football team needs a bit more stability at the linebacker position. Last year was a hot mess, to say the least. There were six different guys who got significant playing time at all three linebacker spots, and only one of the three opening game starters from last year is at the top of this year’s depth chart, Kristian Welch. Injuries played a huge role as did ineffective play.

Welch was no stranger to this as he had an up and down season while battling injuries and inconsistent play, but despite the adversity, he finished 6th in total tackles for the team and was 2nd out of all returning linebackers, just 3 behind Djimon Colbert.

After starting out as the weakside linebacker last season, Welch is now entrenched at the middle linebacker spot.

He has just one season remaining, but as a true senior, big things are expected from the Wisconsin native. More importantly, though, he is manning a position that historically has been one of the most important on the Iowa football team and one with a great deal of tradition and talent.