Kirk Ferentz Elaborates on Pre-Season Depth Chart
Just prior to Kirk Ferentz's first chunk of media availability in Indianapolis at Big Ten Media Days on Tuesday, Iowa football released it's 2023 media guide -- and thus, its depth chart.
With several incoming transfers not appearing on the two-deep, fans understandably had questions.
The Offense
The first thing that leapt off the page is the absence of both Kaleb Brown and Seth Anderson among the wide receivers, with two walk-ons in Reese Osgood and Alec Wick finding positions on the depth chart. Brown has high expectations as a transfer from Ohio State and Anderson produced at a high level his first year of college football at FCS Charleston-Southern
"We just haven't seen Kaleb, and Seth was basically out all of spring season, too," Ferentz said. "I think we know what we have with Nico (Ragaini), obviously. I think Diante (Vines) has done a really nice job. He's just got to stay on the field. Hopefully all his bad luck is done. I'm really curious to see how the rest of that stuff comes out here. I don't think we'll know those answers till late August. I certainly expect Kaleb to be in that mix, and I wouldn't be surprised if Seth is, but it's got to happen organically."
Additionally, Nick DeJong is listed above Connor Colby at left guard. Colby has been tabbed by several media outlets as a potential first round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Daijon Parker and Rusty Feth are both listed as second-team linemen behind Beau Stephens and Gennings Dunker as well.
"Right now, I'd say don't even worry about it," Ferentz added. "There are probably eight or nine guys competing for a starting job [on the offensive line] -- maybe more. Who knows? We'll see."
"That's part of camp. We're going to figure all of that out. We don't plan on playing Connor on the outside. We just want him to stay at either left or right guard, whereas Nick can do both. He's got really good position flexibility. With Daijon out he basically had to work all tackle in the spring and did a really nice job."
In addition to the fact that Noah Shannon is listed period (which we will soon address further), Nick Jackson is written in as the second-string mike linebacker, as opposed to the first string will. Jackson has largely been expected to come in and play alongside Jay Higgins, rather than sit behind him on the depth chart.
"We know Jay, we know (Kyler Fisher) -- Fish has really ascended," Ferentz said. "Karson (Sharar) got hurt a little bit in the spring. He missed a lot of the spring, so we think we know what we've got, but we've still got some things to learn. We know what we've got with Nick. It's not 100 percent sure, but I'd be pretty confident to say he's going to be starting for us this year. That's what we brought him here for."