IOWA CITY -- Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker briefly met with the media on Tuesday afternoon. Less than two weeks out from the season opener against Illinois State on August 31, the 2023 Art Broyles Award winner isn't ready to name his second cornerback starter opposite of Jermari Harris.
Of course, the crew of DBs in the mix include Deshaun Lee who started several games last season, John Nestor who burned his freshman redshirt on special teams in 2023 and TJ Hall who has periodically seen the field and remained in the mix of cornerbacks over his three years in Iowa City.
"It's really interesting," Parker said. "Seeing TJ Hall grow and improve his standard of play, John Nestor has really done a good job and is very competitive out there, and Deshaun Lee is doing a heck of a job."
He added that it's been a bit of a mixed bag of production between the trio thus far.
"One guy might have a better day than the others depending on the day and the point of attack," Parker said. "I think they're all into it, they're all working hard and you could see maybe playing more guys if you have to."
He's got an idea of who will start, but he wasn't ready to share who it is with the media quite yet.
"You never know until the day of the game," he said. "I've got a good idea, and I've got a list of guys, ranking them. Things change everyday throughout practice, one guy could jump ahead of another. Most likely, I know who it is."
For now, Parker splitting first-team reps in practice between the group for the sake of team health and development on the back end.
"I try to save guys," he said. "Sometimes I'll give a younger guy more reps so they can get more experience. I know it's not a game situation, but that's what we're trying to do -- make sure everybody is ready. If you lose a guy, you want to be able to plug a guy in."
