Four Things to Watch at Iowa's Spring Ball Open Practice

Iowa football's spring practice for 2025 wraps up on Saturday, with a practice session open to fans and media that's scheduled to begin at 10:45 AM CT. Obviously this is just one practice session out of many, so it's worth taking everything that happens on Saturday with a grain (or bag) of salt.

At the same, it's also one of our few chances to get a glimpse at how the Iowa football program has been progressing since we last saw the Hawkeyes in action in the Music City Bowl -- and our last chance to see the players in action until the Kids Day open practice in August. So what are some of the things that we're going to be watching on Saturday?

The Quarterback Battle

The QB1 battle at Iowa took a hit when Brendan Sullivan entered the transfer portal a few weeks ago. While he still hasn't gone through any formal practices at Iowa, Mark Gronowski remains the clear favorite to be Iowa's starting quarterback when the season gets underway this fall. His talent and experience -- as well as the investment Iowa made to secure him out of the transfer portal -- has him clearly positioned to be Iowa's day one starter.

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But what about the quarterback depth chart behind Gronowski? If the last two seasons have taught us anything, it's that Iowa is very likely to need multiple quarterbacks over the course of a football season. Three different quarterbacks have started at least one game in each of the past two seasons and while the hope is for good health for Gronowski in 2025, the adage is hope for the best and prepare for the worst for a reason.

In that regard, the fact that Brendan Sullivan entered the portal a few weeks ago may have been a long-term blessing for Iowa, if you assume he was likely to lose the QB1 race to Gronowski and unlikely to remain with the team after that. His departure has cleared the way for Auburn transfer Hank Brown to get the majority of QB1 snaps over the last few weeks. What does he look like? How is his command of the offense? What sort of chemistry has he developed with the receivers and tight ends? Those are things we'll be trying to watch on Saturday.

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Saturday is also a first chance to get a look at Jimmy Sullivan since the true freshman arrived in Iowa City a few months ago. He's a possible QB of the future for Iowa and while he's still very early in his development, this is a chance to see if he can make a positive early impression. Finally, Saturday is also a chance to see how Jackson Stratton has progressed since the fall. Stratton was called into action when Brendan Sullivan went down and led Iowa to wins over Maryland and Nebraska, albeit with very run-heavy gameplans. How has his command of the passing offense improved since November?

The Left Tackle Battle

Several of the positions on the offensive line look pretty set, even with several months to go until the 2025 season kicks off. Logan Jones is your starter at center, Gennings Dunker is the guy at right tackle, and Beau Stephens and Kade Pieper are strong favorites to man the left and right guard positions. That leaves left tackle as the position with the most uncertainty ahead of next season.

Jack Dotzler and Trevor Lauck have been battling it out this spring to win the left tackle job this fall and Saturday will be a chance to see how that competition is playing out on the field. Granted, that battle might also be moot -- Iowa added Ferris State's Bryce George out of the transfer portal last week and he should enter fall practice as a strong contender -- if not the outright favorite -- to be the starter at left tackle when the season gets underway.

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But nothing is guaranteed. The jump from Division II to the Big Ten is significant and we won't know how George will manage that for a while. Even if George is the guy at LT1, though, having a capable back-up at such a critical position is very important. That back-up figures to be either Dotzler or Lauck and Saturday's open practice will give us some insight into which player might have the current advantage.

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The Messy Picture at Linebacker

Linebacker has gone from a position of immense strength and reliability for the Iowa defense to one of complete and utter uncertainty. Jack Campbell and Seth Benson gave way to Jay Higgins and Nick Jackson after the 2022 season and Iowa scarcely missed a step at linebacker. The picture for replacing Higgins and Jackson in 2025 looks considerably muddier at present.

Jaden Harrell and Karson Sharar are currently atop the depth chart at MLB and WLB, but the word out of practice hasn't suggested that their hold on those starting spots is ironclad. There's been positive buzz for Jayden Montgomery and Landyn Van Kekerix (current backups at MLB and WLB, respectively, on the depth chart).

Defensive coordinator Phil Parker noted the improvement that he'd seen from Montgomery and Sharar during the spring when he spoke to the media earlier this week. "You look at Montgomery. He's done a good job and really like what Karson is doing," Parker said. "Those guys are working well, and obviously there are some other parts in the back end."

In addition to the foursome noted above, Saturday is also a chance to get a glimpse of some of the very promising young linebackers Iowa added in 2024 -- Derek Weisskopf, Preston Ries, and Cam Buffington. The good news is that Iowa has a lot of bodies to throw at the linebacker position in 2025; the bad news is that it's not yet clear if whoever emerges at the position will be able to uphold the (very high) standards set by some of the recent standouts the Hawkeyes have had in the middle of defense.

Clarity at Defensive Back

Finally, how is the back end of the defense looking? Two notable players graduated from last year's secondary -- Quinn Schulte and Jermari Harris -- and the returning starters (Xavier Nwankpa at safety; TJ Hall and Deshaun Lee at cornerback) had plenty of ups and downs during the 2024 season. The Hawkeyes need greater solidity at the cornerback position this fall, as well as improvement at the safety positions.

The latter position is set to feature two new starters, with Xavier Nwankpa sliding to free safety from strong safety and Koen Entringer set to replace Nwankpa at strong safety. Parker was pleased with the early returns from Nwankpa at free safety.

"I think it's another opportunity. We had some other guys that were trying to get on the field over there, and I think sometimes if you want to try to bring him down in the box, a bigger guy, it would be helpful I think to bring him down there," he said. "I wouldn't say a linebacker depth at times. I guess we would bring him down, and I think he can see more. I think he's more comfortable there at free safety."

"With [Zach] Lutmer and Koen being on the other side, I think it was just a better fit. I think he's happy there, and we have seen real big improvement with him the last three weeks," Parker added.

He was also impressed with the improvement from Entringer and Lutmer.

"The improvement they have in their footwork, and then obviously some things that you might not be able to evaluate just by the way they move around, but the way they diagnose plays and to be able to read the run, pass keys and understanding what plays are being run against them based on the formation, based on the motions," Parker noted. "Just the growth of the knowledge of how to prepare for practice, how to prepare for a game. These guys have really grown."

Eliot discussed the improvement that TJ Hall has made during the spring and his growth will certainly be worth watching on Saturday -- has he become the #1 cornerback that Iowa needs on the outside? In addition to that, though, we'll be looking at the progress Deshaun Lee has made -- as well as the young players who are emerging, like Rashad Godfrey, Jr. and Jaylen Watson.

"I've seen some growth," Parker said. "Obviously last year was their first year here, and Jaylen got a little bit more playing time than Godfrey. You start working at it. There's another guy that we flipped over a year ago was [Alex] Mota. He came in. He really can jump. I've been impressed with him."

Iowa's likely going to continue looking for defensive back help in the transfer portal -- a point Parker himself even made, saying "We're probably going to have to be open to bringing other guys in to help us out in the back end to have a full team" -- but getting a glimpse at how Lee, Godfrey, and Watson are playing will help determine exactly how much confidence there should be in the defensive backs already on campus.