Iowa football has a long lineage of great tight end play.
The latest examples in the NFL include the Minnesota Vikings‘ T.J. Hockenson, the Detroit Lions‘ Sam LaPorta and the San Francisco 49ers George Kittle.
Each of those players are among the league’s best at the tight end position. All three were standouts with the Hawkeyes, too.
Now, senior tight end Luke Lachey gets to uphold the mantel of Tight End U with the Hawkeyes.
Lachey was off to a terrific start last season before suffering a season-ending injury to his right ankle early in the Hawkeyes’ 41-10 win over Western Michigan. The 6-foot-6, 247 pound tight end reeled in 10 catches for 131 yards across his three games played in the 2023 season.
As Lachey returns to 100 percent, the expectation is that he will be one of the Big Ten’s best. At Big Ten Media Days, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said Lachey’s response to his injury is the latest example of his star tight end’s character.
“Two things about Luke. You know him, so this will resonate. He’s just one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. He’s unbelievably just a nice human being, a really first-class guy.
“I think we all suspect and know that he’s a really good football player, but I think maybe as impressive as anything I saw was the way he handled a very disappointing injury last year. He was fully engaged, fully immersed, and did a great job working with the other guys that were playing where he was supposed to be playing. That’s as high a compliment, and that’s why he’s here right now, the team selected him as one of our leaders. It’s not even close. He’s up there at the top. So he’s just a great, quality young guy, and he’s all about the team. He’s an outstanding football player,” Ferentz said.
Ferentz was asked to compare and contrast Lachey to past Hawkeye great tight ends and to share some thoughts on Lachey’s potential upside in 2024.
“One thing, we’ve had a lot of great tight ends come through our place. You look at a guy like George Kittle, who really has continued to improve, and he’s playing at a much higher level, was starting to play at a much higher level at age 25 than he was at age 21. That’s what good players do, they just keep getting better.
“One common takeaway, if you look at all the tight ends we’ve had, they come in different sizes, speeds, makeups, but they’ve all found ways to really impact the game. Luke certainly fits that. He’s more of a conventional tight end, can block in line, but also be a real threat in the passing game,” Ferentz said.
Lachey will be one of the most important pieces of Iowa’s offense in 2024. The senior tight end has tallied 46 receptions for 662 yards and four touchdowns over the course of his Iowa career.
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