As the reigning Big Ten West champion, any conversation about who will be in the mix from the West to get to Indianapolis has to include Iowa.
The Hawkeyes return a number of key players that helped Iowa start off 6-0 last season and then finish with four consecutive wins to end the 2021 regular season en route to a 10-win campaign and a trip to the Big Ten championship game.
Iowa brings back the nation’s leading tackler in linebacker Jack Campbell and he’s joined by a pair of talented linebackers in Seth Benson and Jestin Jacobs. Pro Football Focus just tabbed Campbell and Jacobs as two of its top-10 linebackers in their early 2023 NFL draft outlook.
On the back end of the defense, the Hawkeyes bring back the Tatum-Woodson Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year in cornerback Riley Moss. Jermari Harris was listed atop the spring depth chart opposite Moss, but look for Cooper DeJean and Terry Roberts to also make contributions at corner.
Iowa can feel comfortable about its options at safety, too. Kaevon Merriweather and Quinn Schulte were listed as the spring starters there with Sebastian Castro and Jaxon Rexroth the other two safeties listed on the Hawkeyes’ two-deep.
Up front defensively, Yahya Black, Joe Evans, Logan Lee, Lukas Van Ness, Noah Shannon and John Waggoner gives Iowa a group it’s excited about.
Flipping to the offensive side of the football, there’s optimism that the Hawkeyes’ offensive line will take a collective stride forward despite the loss of first-round 2022 NFL draft pick Tyler Linderbaum at center.
How the center position plays out will be one of the keys to watch there, but Iowa has guards Justin Britt and Connor Colby and tackles Nick DeJong, Jack Plumb and Mason Richman all returning with prior starting experience.
Iowa returns its top receptions and receiving yardage leader in tight end Sam LaPorta to go along with wide receivers Arland Bruce IV, Keagan Johnson, Nico Ragaini and Jackson Ritter.
The lion’s share of attention with Iowa will be on how the quarterback situation shakes out. If Spencer Petras remains the starter, what’s his ceiling in 2022? He’s been busy working to improve this offseason with quarterback trainer Tony Racioppi. Joe Labas and Alex Padilla will look to give him a run for his money at earning the starting gig throughout fall camp, but the wide belief is that it’s still Petras’ job to lose.
With all of that said, there’s some wide-ranging opinions on exactly how good Iowa will be in 2022. At least one writer is willing to serve up some game-by-game predictions for the Hawkeyes. 247Sports’ Nick Kosko took a crack at predicting results for Iowa’s 2022 season and he has the Hawkeyes finishing 8-4.
Take a look below at his score predictions and some of his thoughts.