Iowa football: Hawkeye snubs from College Football All-Decade team

247Sports recently released their college football All-Decade team, and there are a few other Iowa football players I think should have made the team.

For the most part, I really liked the list put out by 247Sports highlighting college footballs All-Decade team, and although the Iowa football team hasn’t won a national championship or even finished the season ranked in the top-5, I do believe they’ve had some incredible talent that deserves to have made this list.

Before we jump into which guys are snubs, let’s provide a bit of context. This list is for players who have played any time between 2011 and 2019.

It’s also important to note that one former Iowa football player did make this list and that’s one of the all-time best corners in Hawkeye history, Desmond King.

Now on to the snubs:

TE, TJ Hockenson

Instead of last year’s All-American and John Mackey Award winner TJ Hockenson, the selection for this past decade was Florida State’s Nick O’Leary. His body of work is much bigger than Hockenson’s considering he played in 51 games, but Hockenson outshines O’Leary in their best seasons. O’Leary’s John Mackey Award-winning season came after he caught 48 balls for 618 yards and 6 touchdowns. Hockenson’s season saw him catch 49 balls for 760 yards and 7 touchdowns (1 was a rushing touchdown).

OL, Brandon Scherff

Per usual, the gravitation towards Alabama offensive line prospects happens here, but let’s not forget about one of the top offensive linemen in the Iowa football team’s storied history of o-line play. Brandon Scherff was a three-year starter for the Hawkeyes and in his outstanding senior season, he claimed the Outland Trophy Award, All-American honors, and the Rimington-Pace Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year Award. The year before that, he was a Second-Team All-American. You could put his resume up against Alabama’s Arie Kouandjio and Billy Price and Scherff is going to win.

LB, Josey Jewell

Jewell was a four-year starter that went down as one of the best linebackers to ever play for the Iowa football team. In his decorated Hawkeye career, he earned three All-Big Ten honors and unanimous All-American honors while winning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Jack Lambert Award, given to the nation’s top linebacker. I’ll be honest, when comparing his resume to the guys currently on the list (Luke Kuechly, Jarvis Jones, and CJ Mosley), I can’t necessarily argue with the lack of Jewell’s inclusion, but I don’t think it’s a ridiculous idea to see Jewell on this list.

If I had to list these three players in order from most egregious to least egregious, it would be Brandon Scherff, TJ Hockenson, and Josey Jewell.

Regardless, it’s nice to see some Iowa football representation on this list with Desmond King taking the honors.