247Sports sources confident in Iowa Hawkeyes’ offensive line improvement

After talking with sources across the Big Ten conference, 247Sports’ Brad Crawford expects offensive line improvement from the Iowa Hawkeyes.

That should be music to any Iowa fan’s ears. After back-to-back disappointing seasons, the Hawkeyes are due and desperate for a breakthrough up front.

Of course, just about every college football fan has cracked a joke at the Hawkeyes’ expense or knows the overall offensive struggles of Iowa from last season.

The Hawkeyes ranked one spot from dead last nationally in total offense, averaging just 251.6 yards per game. Even with some help from its defense, Iowa finished ranked No. 123 in the country in scoring offense with 17.7 points per game on average.

Iowa’s quarterback play from Spencer Petras was obviously an issue, but don’t forget about the Hawkeyes’ consistent inability to run the football effectively. The Hawks ranked 124th nationally in rushing offense, mustering up just 94.9 yards per game on the ground.

Meanwhile, they didn’t protect their aforementioned signal-caller all that well either. Iowa ranked tied-105th in sacks allowed, surrendering 2.92 per contest. Sure, some of that was in part offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz’s play-calling and Petras’ lack of mobility. But, a good chunk of it was poor offensive line play, too.

Worried about more of the same? 247Sports’ Brad Crawford says don’t fret. Improvement is on the way.

Iowa’s offensive line is back. This should be one of the Hawkeyes’ strongest personnel groups after consecutive years of underperformance in that area. Despite the scrutiny surrounding Iowa’s disastrous offense last fall, very few fingers were pointed up front. Staying healthy from start to finish is of utmost importance for the Hawkeyes at the line of scrimmage because while the front line is strong, depth could be an issue — like all teams — tinkering with who goes where during fall camp.

“There’s a lot of optimism about center Logan Jones’ growth, especially from a confidence standpoint. Iowa is going to be more veteran at the position than they have been lately. They also added two new starting pieces in Miami University guard Rusty Feth and Saginaw Valley State offensive tackle Daijon Parker. With a renewed confidence from the offensive line, they are hoping it’ll allow new quarterback Cade McNamara opportunities to make plays,” one source said. – Crawford, 247Sports.

Agree to disagree on very few fingers connecting the dots between poor offensive line play and Iowa’s overall offensive failures last season, but let’s hope the sourcing going forward is right. It also tells us something that many had already speculated: transfers Rusty Feth and Daijon Parker are expected to be starters for the Hawkeyes.

That wasn’t the case during the spring. Parker was listed as a backup at right tackle and Feth hadn’t arrived on campus yet. Feth brings 34 career starts with him from Miami (Ohio). He started 25 straight at center over the past two seasons with the Redhawks and garnered second-team All-MAC honors. His other nine starts came at guard.

Meanwhile, Iowa flipped Parker from Virginia. Like Feth, the Saginaw Valley State transfer has one year of eligibility remaining. Parker played in nine games last season and 10 in 2021.

Per its 2023 Spring Prospectus, here’s what Iowa’s offensive line starters looked like to begin this past spring: junior Mason Richman at left tackle, junior Connor Colby at left guard, junior Logan Jones at center, sophomore Beau Stephens at right guard, and senior Nick DeJong at right tackle.

Despite taking its lumps each of the past two seasons, there’s now a bevy of experience across this Hawkeye offensive line. Richman and Colby have started 25 and 24 games the past two seasons, respectively. Colby did bounce around a bit in 2022, starting the first seven games at right tackle before getting shifted back inside to left guard for the final six.

Meanwhile, Jones started every game at center and Stephens the first 10 at right guard. DeJong started six games for the Hawkeyes last season and has 17 starts over the course of his Iowa career. DeJong started the first five games at left guard and the TransPerfect Music City Bowl shutout versus Kentucky at right tackle. Iowa also brings back junior Tyler Elsbury who made a pair of starts at left guard as well.

For this Iowa offense that’s looking to turn the corner with a new star quarterback in Cade McNamara and several other exciting skill weapons, it all starts up front. If the Hawkeyes are indeed improved here, then Big Ten West title aspirations and more could be in store in 2023.

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