Iowa's 2023 PWO Class

Iowa has a long, illustrious history of turning walk-ons into regular contributors and even NFL-caliber athletes. See Dallas Clark, Riley McCarron, Jack Koerner, Nick Easley, Jake Gervase, Quinn Schulte, Caleb Shudak, Monte Pottebaum, and Joe Evans just to name a few.

This year, the Hawkeyes will add 12 preferred walk-ons (PWOs) to their roster.

A big name in this PWO class is Jackson Filer of Iowa Western. Filer had 14 scholarship offers out of JUCO, including FBS offers from Ball State, UNC-Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Hawaii, and Louisiana Tech. A 6'3, 230-pound defensive end for the Reivers, Filer racked up 56 tackles, 28 tackles for loss, and 15.5 sacks en route to being named the JUCO defensive player of the year. His father, Rodney Filer played fullback at Iowa in the '90s.

Hailing from Evergreen, Col., Poholsky received interest from Colorado, Wyoming, Colorado State, Montana, and North Dakota State during his recruitment. He threw for 2,622 yards and 37 touchdowns during his senior season. Another legacy recruit, his father Tom Pohoslky played quarterback for Iowa in the 80s. Unfortunately, he passed away suddenly at 54 in October 2021.

A state champion his senior year at Cedar Rapids Xavier, Iowa adds local talent in Aidan McDermott. The defensive back was initially committed to South Dakota State before de-committing and deciding to take the PWO opportunity with the Hawkeyes. He also received an offer from Northern Iowa along with interest from Iowa State, Nebraska, North Dakota State, and South Dakota.

Another young man that played both sides of the ball in high school, DeLong posted 2,111 yards and 21 touchdowns on the ground on 250 carries along with 66 tackles, including 14 TFL. He'll play linebacker for the Hawkeyes. In addition to his PWO from Iowa, he had offers from Northern Iowa and South Dakota. He also received interest from Wisconsin, Kansas State, Nebraska, Iowa State, and Yale.

Rusty VanWetzinga IV will be joining the Hawkeyes with the most fullback name possible. Initially committed to play linebacker at Southern Illinois, after a late push by Iowa, he decided to take the PWO route and stay in his home state. VanWetzinga carried the ball 45 times for 262 yards and eight touchdowns last season for Pleasant Valley. He had offers from UNC-Charlotte and Western Illinois while fielding interest from Minnesota, UNI, Iowa State, Iowa, and Kansas State.

Initially a Northern Illinois commit, Jalyn Thompson announced his decision to flip to Iowa in November 2022. A 6'4, 235-pound tight end from Dowling Catholic, Thompson posted 22 catches for 305 yards this season for the Maroons. He received scholarship offers from UNI, Lindenwood, St. Thomas, and Howard along with interest from Nebraska, Iowa State, Kansas State, Indiana State, North Dakota State, South Dakota State, and South Dakota.

A guard from Waukee, Cael Winter is walking on after receiving interest from both Iowa and Iowa State. He also received a barrage of DII, DIII, and NAIA scholarship offers. At 6'3, 250 pounds, Winter played both sides of the ball at Waukee Northwest. He posted 21 tackles, 10 TFL and 5.5 sacks as a senior.

Another recruit from right up the road in Cedar Rapids Washington, Watts McBride is joining the Iowa roster as an early enrollee. He ran the ball 115 times for 596 yards and ten scores while registering 55 tackles and 6.5 TFL last season. He'll play safety at Iowa. He received offers from Army, Nebraska, and South Dakota while fielding interest from Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Iowa State, and Wisconsin.

A big, long defensive end from Valley High School in Des Moines, Ryan Kuennen has the physical tools to potentially be a contributor at Iowa. Standing at 6'3, 245, Kuennen posted 35 tackles, including six sacks and 8.5 TFL last season for the Tigers. He received interest from Iowa State, Northern Illinois, South Dakota State, and Northern Iowa.

A rare, out-of-state PWO with interest from Kansas and Kansas State, CJ Leonard joins as another walk-on wide receiver for the Hawkeyes. Somewhat of a legacy recruit, his grandfather Larry Leonard grew up in Solon, Iowa, and went on to run track for the Hawkeyes. He posted 40 catches for 607 yards and seven touchdowns at Shawnee Mission East as a senior.

Yet another walk-on wideout, Luke Pollack will join the Hawkeyes after posting 800 all-purpose yards and eight touchdowns for Deerfield High School in 2022. He was the No. 1 kick returner in Illinois, posting 46 yards per return. Pollack had interest from Penn State, Butler, Drake, Montana, Northern Illinois, and Northwestern.

An athlete with FCS and FBS offers, Ayden Price will play wide receiver at Iowa. He did it all for Tigers at Valley High School in Des Moines, running the ball 33 times for 274 yards and three touchdowns, catching 67 passes for 685 yards and five touchdowns, and returning eight kicks for 199 yards in 2022. He had offers from Air Force, Army, Dartmouth, UNI, and North Dakota State along with interest from Iowa State.

From Carlisle, Iowa, Jack Laughlin posted 55.5 tackles and 7.5 TFL on defense this year. He also ran the ball for 1,448 yards and 24 touchdowns this season. Behind his efforts, he also received PWOs from TCU and Tulane. He says he'd prefer to play linebacker for the Hawkeyes but is also open to running the ball.