The Iowa Hawkeyes bring back an experienced-laden roster across the board. According to ESPN’s returning production ranks, Iowa checks in at No. 10 nationally.
That is led by Iowa’s defense, which ranks No. 2 nationally. The Hawkeye offense ranks No. 33 in returning production, though.
New offensive coordinator Tim Lester inherits an offense that brings back its starting quarterback in Cade McNamara, standout tight end Luke Lachey, its top running backs in Leshon Williams, Kaleb Johnson and Jaziun Patterson and two of its top receivers in juniors Seth Anderson and Kaleb Brown.
Equally important is what Iowa brings back along its offensive line, though. Iowa returns starting offensive tackles Mason Richman and Gennings Dunker, starting guard Connor Colby and starting center Logan Jones.
Nick DeJong and Beau Stephens have each started games for the Hawkeyes over their Iowa careers as well.
Collectively, Iowa returns 58 offensive line starts from last season and a group that boasts 147 career starts.
As Iowa undergoes summer workouts, Colby shed light on what it looks like under new OC Tim Lester.
“I mean, there’s a few different things technique wise that he wants us doing, but ultimately the schemes and stuff that we’re running have kind of stayed the same. It’s just more with the wide receivers and stuff,” Colby said.
Richman hopes that continuity can help this offensive line group turn the corner.
“Very important. I think it definitely makes things a lot easier for transitions in terms of who our top dogs are gonna be, who are guys we’ve still got to push a little bit more and gives those younger guys a lot of time to keep getting better I think in that sense.
“Bringing back this many guys allows for younger guys to develop more behind us, but also for the older guys, get another year under your belt and another offseason and stuff like that is super important,” Richman said.
Richman said the key to this offensive line group making a serious jump in 2024 is to get the most out of every day.
“Yeah, I think it’s just every day everybody working their tails off as much as they can. Sometimes—and it’s in the most miniscule ways—guys might go through the motions in different ways. I think just the more we can push ourselves on the field and then in the weight room and stuff like that, the more prepared we’ll be for training camp and then for the season coming after that,” Richman said.
Colby echoed that sentiment.
“I think it’s just what we do on a daily basis from the reps we get together. I know that’s definitely a big thing, making sure all five are playing as one. Sometimes in the past couple years, we’ve had guys rotating in and out. I think now, all the guys coming back, we can finally gel together and hopefully take that next step,” Colby said.
One of the pieces of this offense that sounds like it’s changing is pre-snap motion. Colby joked that it isn’t changing a lot for he and the group up front.
“Yeah, I’m not going in motion any time soon. It’s just the cadence really. Got that down all spring, so we have a lot of reps under our belt with the new cadences. As long as we’re dialed in with that aspect, no false starts will be happening,” Colby said.
One of the common gripes with Iowa’s offensive woes over the past several seasons has been inconsistency up front. If Lester and Iowa offensive line coach George Barnett can get that group to finally gel, then McNamara and the Hawkeyes could be in for a surprisingly resurgent offensive season.
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