The secondary will be versatile
With the move to the 4-2-5 defense, the Iowa football team will be playing with five defensive backs on the field for the majority of each game this season, and fortunately, Phil Parker’s secondary is incredibly deep and versatile.
It’s fair to say 2 of the 5 positions are pretty much locked-up with Matt Hankins locking down one corner spot and safety Geno Stone, who is arguably the best in the Big Ten, locking down one of the safety positions.
After that though, returning starter Michael Ojemudia will almost assuredly be starting, and likely at the other corner spot, but I could see him playing the “cash” position given his history at the linebacker spot in high school.
Behind Hankins and Ojemudia are two true sophomore corners who showed significant potential last year in Riley Moss and Julius Brents, and the Iowa football team wants to try and get the most talented players on the field.
As of now, there are two spots that are up for grabs and who comes in could change throughout the game. Depending on performance, we could see Brents or Moss fill in and slide over or even Ojemudia take care of the “cash” role.
Here’s what Kirk had to say at his press conference yesterday:
"Not necessarily anticipate it, but we’ve discussed it, and it’s a possibility. But it’s not — right now we’re not really working in that light. We want to see what the other guys, how they do back there."
So basically what he is saying is there are five spots, and ther are about 10-11 guys who could be playing there. It also sounds like who takes the safety spot has gotten even muddier over the past few months, and there is a chance we could see some fresh names there.