Iowa true frosh WR Reece Vander Zee expected to garner early playing time

Kirk Ferentz said expect to see true freshman Reece Vander Zee play come Saturday.

It isn’t often that true freshmen grace the two-deep at Iowa.

When it happens, it means an individual has been incredibly impressive early on. It can also indicate that the situation presented an opportunity.

Both are true in the case of true freshman wide receiver Reece Vander Zee. The 6-foot-4, 207 pound freshman out of Central Lyon High School has been making a strong impression throughout fall camp in particular.

On Tuesday, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz shared why Vander Zee has made his way into the season’s initial two-deep.

“Two things with Reece. There’s opportunity at the position and then, secondly, more importantly, he’s done a good job. It was kind of frustrating because he had some stuff he was dealing with through the summer time medically.

“But, that cleared up right before camp I guess it would have been. He’s done a really good job. He’s learning quickly. Has done some really good things out there on the field. He’ll be on the field for sure Saturday,” Ferentz said.

Iowa is in need of young playmakers emerging at wide receiver. Joining Vander Zee on the initial two-deep are redshirt freshmen wide receivers Jarriett Buie and TJ Washington. Buie is listed as a starter alongside senior Kaden Wetjen and junior Jacob Gill.

Ferentz said he wasn’t definitively planning to play any other true freshmen on Saturday in the Hawkeyes’ season opener versus Illinois State.

“Nobody firmly I don’t think. I think I’m correct in saying that. I probably should know, but nobody firmly and I think we’ll be able to protect a lot of guys in that redshirt mode with the four-game rule. But, we’ll see. We’ll see how that all goes,” Ferentz said.

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