Iowa University is Tight End U. Don’t give me some talk about teams that were great at a time before most collegiate athletes were even alive. We’re talking right now. We’re talking current day, and nobody produces tight ends like Iowa.
Since the Mackey Award was first instituted in 2000, two Hawkeyes have won the award in Dallas Clark (2002) and T.J. Hockenson (2018). Hockenson was joined by his teammate Noah Fant that year as a semifinalist for the award. Iowa had two straight semifinalists for the award in Allen Reisner (2010) and Tony Moeaki (2009), respectively.
Last year Sam LaPorta was named one of three finalists for the award. This was the same year he was named first-team All-Big Ten and was the Kwalick–Clark Tight End of the Year, an award partially named after, you guessed it, a former Iowa Hawkeye.
This doesn’t even mention the best of the bunch George Kittle, a fifth-round pick back in 2017 who has only been named an All-Pro three times while making the Pro Bowl four times.
Through college acclaim and professional success, Iowa has dominated the tight end position like no other. That trend does not look likely to end in 2023 one bit. Here is a breakdown of the tight end position for Iowa this upcoming season.