When John Waggoner made the decision to come to Iowa and be a Hawkeye, it meant that the defensive end was staying home. The 6-foot-5, 266 pound product of Dowling Catholic High School in Des Moines, Iowa, chose the Hawkeyes over a number of other Power Five offers.
That list of potential suitors included Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Iowa State, LSU, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State and UCLA. According to 247Sports, Waggoner was a three-star signee, the nation’s No. 25 weak side defensive end and the No. 4 player from Iowa in the 2018 class.
Waggoner started each of the team’s 14 games last season and registered 25 total tackles, seven quarterback hurries, 3.5 tackles for loss, three pass breakups and a pair of sacks. Over the course of his Hawkeye career, Waggoner has 31 tackles, five tackles for loss and three sacks.
With Iowa’s leading tackles for loss artist moving onto the NFL in Zach VanValkenburg, Waggoner will be expected to help fill that void in production. In his first season starting, Waggoner delivered his fair share of highlights. Here’s a look back at Waggoner’s Hawkeye career thus far through these fantastic photos.