TE Luke Lachey Announces Return to Iowa Football in 2024
Luke Lachey, a junior tight end and permanent team captain for the Iowa football team, announced Friday afternoon that he would return to the Hawkeyes in 2024.
Lachey, who is listed at 6'6" and 253 pounds, caught 10 passes for 131 yards in 2023 before suffering a leg injury that cost him the rest of the season; at the time, both led the team. Lachey also had 28 catches for 398 yards and a team-high four receiving touchdowns in 2022.
"More work to be done... go Hawks!" reads the Instagram caption, posted jointly by Lachey and the Hawkeye football team.
Lachey suffered a broken leg in the first quarter of Iowa's third game of the season against Western Michigan. He had remained on the weekly injury report for the duration of the regular season, unlike the numerous other Hawkeyes who were out for the year, as a hope that he'd be able to compete in the upcoming Citrus Bowl.
Unfortunately, Lachey has since been declared out for the bowl by Kirk Ferentz, ending his junior season at three games played (and opening the door for another year of eligibility, if desired), but it's clear that his connection to the program and players has led him back to Iowa CIty.
IMPACT
Obviously, Lachey looks like the next great Iowa tight end, and nobody would have begrudged him testing the professional waters after September's ankle injury. It's clear Iowa knows something about developing tight ends for the NFL that most schools don't.
That's also not the way anyone would want their last season of college to go, regardless of whether the NFL is a viable future option. And if Lachey puts on the pro-ready show in 2024 that many thought he was capable of this season, it may yet be a masterstroke to delay his pro entry.
As for Iowa's tight end room, Lachey returns to the top of the depth chart, with the emerging junior-to-be Addison Ostrenga and rising sophomore Zach Ortwerth behind him. Ortwerth's fellow 2023 signee Grant Leeper redshirted, and 2022 TE Cael Vanderbush didn't see the field. Senior transfer Steven Stilianos has exhausted his eligibility.
The main question in the TE room becomes, then, whether Erick All wants to rejoin the Hawkeyes or if he's ready for the next level. All still leads the team with 299 receiving yards, despite not playing since the first quarter of the Wisconsin game in Week 7, where he tore his ACL.
If All is back, Iowa has one of the best TE units in the nation once again, befitting the (increasingly unimpeachable) TEU moniker. Without All, Iowa's returning experience at tight end reverts to good-not-great, but it'll still be one of the most dangerous and productive units on the team.
Regardless of All's decision, with Lachey now returning to an already deep unit — barring another disastrous year of injury luck for TEU — we fully expect 2024 signees Gavin Hoffman and Michael Burt to redshirt for their first season in Iowa City.