The Hawkeyes had the best center in the nation in 2021. That fact was illustrated by Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum earning the Rimington Trophy, which is awarded annually to the country’s top center.
Obviously, the loss of Linderbaum is a significant departure. The 6-foot-3, 290 pound center from Solon, Iowa, started all 35 games over the past three seasons for the Hawkeyes. Iowa replaces just three starters overall offensively, but another one of the Hawkeyes’ losses is left guard Kyler Schott.
The 6-foot-2, 294 pound offensive lineman played in 25 games with the Hawkeyes and started 18 overall, including the final 10 games of last season.
Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz was asked if it’s a mix of fear and excitement with his offensive line entering the spring given some of the inexperience but knowing that young talent is there.
“Yeah, I’d say more fair a year ago. Again, we felt really good about the guy in the middle. Tyler (Linderbaum), one of the best guys we’ve had. And felt pretty good about Cody and, you know, well, Cody and Shooter. Thought we had three solid guys there. So we knew we had some work to do at the tackle spot, but that kind of blew up with Shooter and Cody. So that was a tough, challenging year and really impressed with the way George (Barnett) handled things. He didn’t go crazy or anything. He just kept coaching. And again, I think I’m excited about the growth that we saw, especially the last two months, November, December.
“So to me, I’m encouraged. I think the potential is there. Potential is potential. It really doesn’t help you, but I think the guys have worked hard. They’ve got the right attitude and I’m really anxious to see everybody this spring. It’s fun to watch guys and see how they practice, how they improve and compete. And it will be different on Saturday. We put pads on. We’ll be playing real football instead of just shells out there. But at least, you know, I think we’ve got, counting on everybody using the experience they’ve got and then improvement, and that’s where everybody on the team is really, that’s their job, including us coaches,” Ferentz said.
With that said, here’s how Iowa’s starting offensive line looks according to the first depth chart to the start the spring.