The Iowa Hawkeyes remained quiet in the transfer portal for the most part aside from one offensive addition. That addition is at the tight end position in the form of Steven Stilianos who comes over from Lafeyette and the FCS ranks where he played his previous four seasons.
CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli took a look at all of the top Big Ten transfers and ranked Stilianos Iowa’s top transfer for the upcoming 2022 season. Obviously, he sort of had to as he is the only transfer joining the Hawkeyes.
Iowa — TE Steven Stilianos: It didn’t take much time to figure out the best transfer in Iowa’s class because Stilianos is the only one. The Lafayette transfer is seen as more of a blocking tight end but might impact the passing attack. – Fornelli, CBS Sports.
Stilianos committed to the Hawkeyes in February of this year. He chose Iowa over a handful of other offers such as Pittsburgh, Virginia, Syracuse, Temple, and Rutgers.
God is good. Thanks to everyone that recruited me, this experience has been such a blessing. I’m excited to announce my commitment to the University of Iowa! Jeremiah 29:11 pic.twitter.com/xsJALbinUA
— Steven Stilianos (@StevenStilianos) February 28, 2022
While Fornelli views him as a blocking tight end—and it certainly makes sense why as Stilianos is 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds—he does add value to the passing game. While at Lafeyette, he racked up 65 receptions for 534 yards and five touchdowns. His ability to perform in the passing game is evident.
Stilianos joins a tight end room that includes Hawkeyes leading pass catcher Sam LaPorta and redshirt sophomore Luke Lachey. There are also two incoming freshman tight ends in the 2022 recruiting class, Addison Ostrenga and Cael Vanderbush.
The Hawkeyes were relatively quiet in the transfer portal as they often have most of their talent homegrown. Going out and adding Stilianos could be signs of mixing his size into the scheme with play-action passes and throwing the ball out of run-heavy formations to go against their tendencies.
Even with Sam LaPorta & Luke Lachey returning and two ‘22 TEs coming to Iowa City, Kirk Ferentz dipped into the portal (👀) to nab Lafayette TE Steven Stilianos.
The 6’5 250-pounder had ACC offers (UVA/Pitt/Syracuse).
there’s something there, right?pic.twitter.com/rHaejUoPsC
— Marc Poust (@fatpoust) March 24, 2022
As Iowa begins summer camp and preseason, it might be worth keeping an eye on not only how many reps Stilianos receives, but also what his utilization looks like. The Iowa Hawkeyes have built up a reputation for churning out top tight ends and have more than the benefit of the doubt to think they will be right once again.
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