Two Deep Dive: Defense

As most fans are aware, the depth charts are very much in pencil this time of year, so take what’s written with a pretty significant grain of salt. What’s on the depth chart now, might look very different when we get the next one in late July and then it will change again once fall practice concludes.

Having said that, it’s still fun to speculate about the depth chart and what it all might mean for position. With that in mind, let’s take a deep dive into the defensive side of the ball where change is definitely happening.

Iowa heads into the 2019 without seven players who started in the Outback Bowl, but the good news is they return several players who played and started at times last year.

One of the big question marks on defense is what sort of alignment will the Hawkeyes have on the field this fall? Right now they are listing a depth chart that looks pretty traditional, but much of the second half of last year, they moved to a 4-2-5 alignment with Amani Hooker playing up near the line of scrimmage.

On Tuesday, Kirk Ferentz said that the 4-2-5 alignment is part of their DNA moving forward, but it’s going to be about finding the right guy to play that position to make it work. I suspect that this spring, we are going to see defensive coordinator Phil Parker moving a lot of guys around to see if anyone takes to that spot like Hooker did last season.

Here’s a look at the starters returning and those who have departued.

STARTERS RETURNING: Djimon Colbert, Geno Stone, Matt Hankins, and Michael Ojemudia

STARTERS LOST: Anthony Nelson, Matt Nelson, Sam Brincks, Parker Hesse, Jack Hockaday, Jake Gervase, and Amani Hooker

Now, let’s dive into the two deeps on defense.

DEFENSIVE LINE

LE: Chauncey Golston, John Waggoner

LT: Cedrick Lattimore, Austin Schulte

RT: Brady Reiff, Noah Shannon

RE: A.J. Epenesa, Nathan Nelson

TK’S TAKEAWAY: The four starters on the defensive line have moved on. Iowa knew they would be losing three of the starters to graduation and Anthony Nelson decided to leave early for the NFL.

However, they aren’t without veterans who have played a lot of snaps. Iowa essentially had a true two deep on the defensive line last year so Golston, Lattimore, Reiff, and especially Epenesa played a lot of snaps. I think Iowa will feel pretty comfortable with their starting four along the line. Epenesa is probably going to be on quite a few preseason All American teams and no one took a bigger leap last year than Golston, who was coming into his own at the end of last year. Lattimore has been a starter on in the past and he seems due to start to reach his potential. Reiff is a real grinder, but the concern will be can he hold up for 50+ snaps a game?

The real concern up front is obviously depth. The eight man rotation helped Iowa and none of the guys beyond the starters have played a snap along the line. Waggoner is probably the backup at both end positions right now and it will be interesting to see if Daviyon Nixon can work his way into the two deeps at tackle.

LINEBACKER

OLB: Nick Niemann, Barrington Wade

MLB: Kristian Welch, Dillon Doyle

WLB: Djimon Colbert, Amani Jones

TK’S TAKEAWAY: Iowa has a lot of depth and flexibility at the linebacker position. That’s a real positive.

What we don’t know is will they end up essentially losing a starter if Iowa goes to the 4-2-5? Right now we will operate under the assumption that they stay with the traditional look.

Niemann and Colbert were very solid last year. The question mark is really at middle linebacker. Welch has been in this spot before, but then it ended up being Jones for about 14 plays before he was benched and Jack Hockaday took over for the rest of the year. I did like what I saw from Welch last year as the season progressed, but keep an eye on Doyle, who could be the long term solution in the middle.

I’m interested to see Seth Benson and Jayden McDonald this spring. Both ended up redshirting, even though Benson played in a few games. They will certainly be core special teams players and will push for spots in the two deeps sooner rather than later.

DEFENSIVE BACK

LC: Matt Hankins, Julius Brents

RC: Michael Ojemudia, Riley Moss

SS: Kaevon Merriweather, John Milani

FS: Geno Stone, Jack Koerner

TK’S TAKEAWAY: The good: Really solid depth at cornerback. The bad: Not a lot of depth and experience beyond Stone at safety.

All four cornerbacks started game last season and played pretty well. One thing to keep an eye on is would Phil Parker consider moving Ojemudia into the Hooker role from last year? Parker mentioned Ojemudia and D.J. Johnson as possible options there during bowl prep. Whether it happens or not, Iowa has some really good depth this year at corner and that’s a good thing.

Safety is another story. Ideally, Iowa would have Hooker back and he could team up with Stone for a really good combination. Hooker is now headed to the NFL and Stone is the only player with any significant work at the position. Parker is very high on Merriweather and he’s usually on the money with his feelings, so expect him to be pretty good. But, with Hooker leaving early and Gervase graduating, Iowa is really thin at safety.

PUNTER

P: Colton Rastetter, Ryan Gersonde

TK’S TAKEAWAY: Iowa’s punting started off pretty well last season. Rastetter showed improvement and the directional rugby style punts were working. Then it stopped working well and the numbers suffered.

I’d put this race as wide open this spring and into fall camp. The Hawkeyes will also add graduate transfer Michael Sleep-Dalton to the mix in August. He averaged 43.8 yards per punt last season and I would expect that he has a shot at winning the job if he can perform at that level.