Can Jay Higgins be even better in 2024?

Can Jay Higgins be even better in 2024?

The Iowa Hawkeyes gained a massive boost to their 2024 season when star linebacker Jay Higgins declared in late December that he would be returning to Iowa City for one last season.

Higgins was a focal point of Iowa’s defense, a defense so strong that Phil Parker took home the Broyles Award as the top assistant coach in the nation. Alongside other talent, Parker’s defense was bringing back its captain in the middle.

Higgins was phenomenal last season for the Hawkeyes, earning first-team All-Big Ten and first-team All-American recognition from the Football Writer’s Association of America, Phil Steele and Sports Illustrated.

Taking over for the reigning Butkus Award winner and first-round 2023 NFL draft pick Jack Campbell, Higgins immediately filled in his massive shoes in the middle of the defense. Higgins’ 171 total tackles even surpassed Campbell’s highest mark of 143 tackles during the 2021 college football season.

Unfortunately, Higgins was not named a finalist for the Butkus Award like his predecessor Campbell, falling short as a semifinalist. Back for one final year, though, Higgins figures to be in the front of the pack for the Butkus Award this season with last year’s finalists all off to the NFL.

Is the Butkus Award the only trophy possibly in Higgins’ sights, though? Phil Steele recently projected the Indianapolis native as their Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.

With how successful Higgins was in 2023, tying a school record alongside Andre Jackson (1972) with 171 tackles, it’s honestly hard to imagine him being even better.

It was hard to imagine Jack Campbell getting better after his junior season, though, and he would go on to win the Butkus Award his last year.

Could we see an even bigger jump from Higgins in 2024?

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