CFB 27 is vastly underselling Iowa's top two receivers in its latest ratings release

Kirk Ferentz and company know how underwhelming the offense has been for a while now, and they made a concerted effort to change that.

During the transfer portal window, the program scooped up three wide receivers, including Lance Beeghley (SMU), Tony Diaz (UTRGV), and Evan James (Furman), to bolster the wide receiver room. With Reece Vander Zee returning, as well as rising stars KJ Parker and Dayton Howard, the group has more depth now than ever before.

Despite all the potential the group has, EA Sports CFB 27 isn't sold on the group just yet.

Diaz and Vander Zee fell just short of being ranked 80 overall in CFB 27

It has been the same old song and dance with the Iowa offense for multiple seasons, and especially with the starting quarterback situation up in the air, it is hard to judge whether the group will take a long-awaited step forward next season. There is no telling whether that factored into the new CFB 27 rankings, but Iowa's top two outside receiving options were ranked woefully low.

In unsurprising news, the top five ranked Iowa players include Kade Pieper (95 overall), Trevor Lauck (90 overall), Zach Lutmer (88 overall), Kamari Moulton (88 overall), and DJ Vonnahme (88 overall). What is surprising is the rankings of projected starting wide receivers, Tony Diaz and Reece Vander Zee. Both players just missed being ranked 80 overall, with a legitimate argument for at least one of them.

Vander Zee has struggled to stay healthy, likely knocking his ranking down slightly, but when he is healthy, he makes tough catches away from his body and is a lethal downfield option. Diaz was also a force for the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley last season. The dynamic wideout notched 881 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns on 67 receptions for the Vaqueros as a freshman last season. His receiving numbers were double Iowa's leading pass-catcher, DJ Vonnahme (434 yards), and he caught triple the number of touchdowns that Vonnahme caught (11 vs. 3).

Even though Diaz's numbers were accumulated against much weaker competition, he easily has a case for being ranked 80 overall or higher. Regardless of the rankings, if both Diaz and Vander Zee can stay healthy, the Iowa offense has the potential to take the next step, regardless of who starts at quarterback. Ferentz and his staff have done a better job of making the offensive unit quarterback-proof with the ability to go at least four deep at wide receiver, tight end, and running back.

The pieces are in place, and now the squad must execute.

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