Projecting the 2024 Iowa Football Depth Chart: Offense

The end of season stay-or-go decisions for Iowa football seem to have wrapped up with Quinn Schulte's decision to return for a sixth season at Iowa in 2024. That means it's time to look ahead to see what the depth chart might look like on offense and defense when the 2024 season rolls around in September.

SPOILER WARNING: It's probably going to look a lot like the 2023 depth chart.

This post focuses on the depth chart on offense. A breakdown of the defensive two-deeps is also available:

Projecting the 2024 Iowa Football Depth Chart: Defense

Iowa is set to return seven starters on offense in 2024, including 4/5 of the offensive line and key returnees at QB, RB, WR, and TE.

NOTE: These projections are guided by a few things: 2023 results, snap count data from Pro Football Focus, as well as our understanding that Kirk Ferentz strongly values experience in making depth chart decisions (especially early in the season).

(12) Cade McNamara (6'1", 205 lbs, SR)
(11) Marco Lainez (6'2", 225 lbs, RS FR) OR (10) Deacon Hill (6'3", 258 lbs, JR)

Barring a setback in his recovery from a torn ACL, McNamara should once again be slotted as Iowa's QB1 ahead of next season. After injuries cut short his 2022 and 2023 campaigns, one can only hope that he finally gets some good injury fortune in 2024.

Assuming McNamara returning to the QB1 slot is essentially a formality, the battle for the QB2 job should be more competitive.

Deacon Hill's experience as a starter for nine games in 2023 will make it impossible to remove him from the race entirely, but his considerable struggles in those starts ought to create a sizable opportunity for Lainez, who worked his way into the #2 spot over the course of the season and got on the field in the 4th quarter of the Citrus Bowl.

My prediction? While both may end up listed on the depth chart, Lainez will be the one getting the QB2 reps in practice and will be the first QB to get on the field after McNamara in live game situations as well.

(4) Leshon Williams (5'10", 208 lbs, SR)
(2) Kaleb Johnson (6'0", 222 lbs, JR)
(9) Jaziun Patterson (5'10", 204 lbs, SO)

Iowa regularly listed three running backs on the depth chart throughout the 2023 season and with all three set to return in 2024, there's not much reason to think that'll change. The better question is if WIlliams can hold onto the starting role, or if Johnson regains his freshman form and retakes the starting job.

For now, Williams seems to have the edge, but this ought to be a tight battle through spring and fall camp.

(41) Rusty VanWetzinga (6'0", 230 lbs, RS FR)
(31) Eli Miller (6'1", 227 lbs, JR)

2023 starter Hayden Large is gone, but the role of the fullback has been shrinking within the Iowa offense in recent seasons. Monte Pottebaum and Turner Pallisard played in 39% of Iowa's total offensive snaps in 2021, but that dropped to 29% in 2022. Those numbers dipped even further to 15% for Large and VanWetzinga in 2023.

Increasingly, Iowa has preferred two-tight end formations on offense and leaving the fullback on the sideline. Time will tell which formations and schemes will be preferred by Iowa's new offensive coordinator, but it's a safe bet that Iowa's offense will continue to be very tight end-centric. The fullback position will never be completely erased as long as Kirk Ferentz is at Iowa, but it seems likely to continue having a diminished role in the Iowa offense.

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(7) Jacob Bostick (6'2", 183 lbs, SO)
(84) Jarrett Buie (6'1", 185 lbs, RS FR)

Among Iowa's returning options at receiver, Bostick seems best-suited to take over as the X, or outside receiver, given his size and athletic ability. He played an increasing number of snaps toward the end of the 2023 season (16 against Nebraska, 28 against Tennessee) and seems poised for more opportunities in 2024.

Buie saw action in three games in 2023 as a true freshman, but that extremely limited action still makes him Iowa's fourth-most experienced wide receiver in terms of returning snaps. He'll need good spring and fall practices to hold onto this spot, but for the moment, Buie looks like a small favorite to crack the two-deeps.

(3) Kaleb Brown (5'10", 197 lbs, JR)
(6) Seth Anderson (6'0", 180 lbs, JR)

Kaleb Brown finally emerged as a starter for Iowa by the end of the 2023 season and he looks set to build on that with an even bigger role in Iowa's passing game in 2023. Brown is Iowa's top playmaker at receiver and he should get all of the snaps, routes, and targets that he can handle in 2024.

Conversely, Seth Anderson's role in the Iowa offense diminished as the 2023 season progressed -- he played just two snaps apiece against Michigan and Tennessee in Iowa's final games of the season -- but he's also still one of Iowa's most talented and experienced options at receiver. A new face at offensive coordinator and a refresh of the passing game could provide him with more opportunities in 2024.

(85) Luke Lachey (6'6", 253 lbs, SR)
(87) Addison Ostrenga (6'4", 255 lbs, JR)

Lachey missed Iowa's final 10 games of the 2023 season -- and still finished eighth on the team in receptions (10) and seventh in receiving yards (131). His average of 43.7 receiving yards per game led the team and a healthy Lachey would have comfortably been Iowa's best and most productive pass-catcher. He'll have another opportunity to fill that same role in 2024.

The season-ending injuries to Lachey and Erick All were disastrous for Iowa's passing game, but the silver lining of those injuries was that Addison Ostrenga's development at tight end got supercharged. Ostrenga was effectively Iowa's starting tight end for the final seven games of the season and he became a reliable target. He and Lachey should provide a very potent combination atop a deep tight end rotation in 2024.

(78) Mason Richman (6'6", 312 lbs, SR)
(71) Jack Dotzler (6'6", 295 lbs, SO)

Richman is Iowa's most experienced offensive lineman, having started 39 games over the past three seasons. Unfortunately, he's also coming off a 2023 season in which he was Iowa's lowest-rated OL by far by Pro Football Focus -- 44.9 (out of 100) overall, 41.5 in run blocking, and 53.6 in pass blocking. Richman regressed significantly in run blocking, per PFF, as he was Iowa's highest-rated OL in run blocking in 2022 (70.7).

Dotzler was the primary listed backup to Richman in 2023, but he saw action in just one game. When Richman was hurt in the Northwestern game, it was Nick DeJong who filled in at LT. Nonetheless, without substantial improvement from Richman over the offseason, he can expect a competitive push from Dotzler as Iowa puts the 2024 offensive line together.

(56) Nick DeJong (6'6", 305 lbs, SR)
(58) Kade Pieper (6'3", 255 lbs, RS FR)

DeJong filled in at a variety of spots on the Iowa OL in 2023, starting five games at left guard, as well as a game at right guard and a game at right tackle. Rusty Feth started nine of Iowa's final 10 games at left guard, but he's out of eligibility. DeJong may not hold the LG starting job all season -- he didn't in 2023 or 2022 -- but he seems like the best bet to begin the 2024 season in that role.

Kade Pieper cracked the two-deeps by the end of the season, but only saw action in two games in 2023. Still, big spring and fall camps could put him in the mix at this position, given DeJong's past inconsistency.

(65) Logan Jones (6'3", 290 lbs, SR)
(76) Tyler Elsbury (6'5", 312 lbs, SR)

Jones has struggled a bit in the shadow of his highly decorated predecessors (Tyler Linderbaum, James Daniels, Austin Blythe), but he's also started 26 of the last 27 games at center, and when healthy he's effectively cemented as Iowa's starting center once again in 2024.

Elsbury started the one game (Nebraska) that Jones missed in 2023 and also saw heavy action at center against Northwestern, Rutgers, and Illinois while Jones nursed an injury. He should continue to serve as Jones' backup at center, but could also contend for a spot at LG if neither DeJong nor Pieper are able to take control of that position.

(77) Connor Colby (6'6", 311 lbs, SR)
(70) Beau Stephens (6'6", 319 lbs, JR)

Colby played the second-most snaps on the Iowa OL in 2023 and he's started 37 games over the past three seasons, with 25 of those starts coming at right guard. Colby has played elsewhere (most notably right tackle), but largely when he wasn't ready for Big Ten action and the results were accordingly poor. Right guard appears to be the position that suits him best and where he can be most effective.

Beau Stephens was limited to just five games and 70 total snaps in 2023, split between left and right guard. Stephens played 395 snaps in 2022, though, and started 10 games at right guard that season. He should slot in as Colby's main backup at RG, though he could also contend for the starting job at LG.

(68) Gennings Dunker (6'5", 320 lbs, JR)
(74) Trevor Lauck (6'5", 296 lbs, RS FR) OR (72) Kale Krogh (6'5", 300 lbs, SO)

Dunker played 712 snaps in 2023 and started at right tackle in 13 of Iowa's 14 games this past season. Injury kept him out of the Big Ten Championship Game against Michigan; Nick DeJong got a start at RT instead. There's no other obvious choice at the tackle position, so Dunker looks like a lock to start in 2024 as well.

In fact, it's not yet clear who Dunker's primary backup will be, with Daijon Parker exhausting his year of graduate eligibility. Lauck or Krogh seem to have the size to handle the tackle position, which is why they're slotted in to the RT2 position for now. We should have a clearer sense of who's in the mix here after spring practice.