The tight end position has been a big question mark entering 2019 for the Iowa football team, but Shaun Beyer appears to have taken a lead in the battle.
When last week’s depth chart was released, Shaun Beyer was nowhere to be found, and it appeared he had lost ground in the tight end position battle versus Nate Wieting and Drew Cook. Iowa football head coach Kirk Ferentz explained later on that Beyer would be in the mix but had been injured.
We didn’t exactly know what that meant for Beyer or the rest of the tight ends but we have a better idea now.
Against Miami of Ohio, Beyer hauled in his first career reception, which was a long time coming considering he joined the Hawks the same year as Noah Fant and TJ Hockenson did. He proceeded to catch two more passes for a total of 3 catches and 30 yards. No, that isn’t Fant or Hockenson-esque, but it’s a start.
Also worth noting though is that neither Drew Cook or Nate Wieting caught a single pass on the evening. And given the fact that quarterback Nate Stanley spread the ball around to ten different receivers last night, that’s kind of significant.
After the game, Kirk seemed to give an endorsement of Beyer taking the lead in this battle:
"We’re going to need that whole group. But this is Shaun’s time to go. He’s in his junior year right now. And he’s had some injuries he’s had to fight through, but really good to see him have that success."
With the depth charts for the Rutgers game being released today, I expect to see Beyer back on the two-deep, and honestly, if he can just get 3 catches for 30 yards game in and game out, the Iowa football team’s passing attack won’t miss a beat from last year.
It’s not the same level of production as the Hockenson and Fant combination, but the wide receiver group is so stacked that that isn’t needed.