Unfortunately, the fact that redshirt senior Nico Ragaini wasn’t on the Iowa Hawkeyes‘ offensive two-deep that got released to start the week means exactly what everybody assumed it did.
Ragaini is set to be sidelined at least several weeks.
“He has a medical issue right now. It’s going to be at least a couple weeks, so he’s not on the depth chart, which means he has no chance to play this week. It’s unfortunate because he’s really practicing well, great guy, and another one of our veteran players, so would be great to have him with us,” Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said at his Tuesday press conference to preview South Dakota State.
The East Haven, Conn., product was Iowa’s third-leading receiver in 2021 with 26 grabs for 331 yards and a touchdown. For an offense that’s hoping the 2022 season doesn’t resemble last year’s production, starting off the season without one of the Hawkeyes’ top threats isn’t exactly ideal.
Ferentz acknowledged as much, but did say Iowa’s two walk-on receivers have been impressive and noted how tight end depth can help the Hawkeyes withstand this injury hit early in the season.
“Yeah, first of all, those guys have done a good job, Jack (Johnson) and Alec (Wick) have done a really nice job and been consistent, and they’ve been out there every day, which is a big, big part of it. They’ve done a good job and Arland has done a nice job, as well.
“We’re not as deep as you’d like to be. It seems like every preseason or every segment — spring ball kind of goes this way, too, certain segments get tagged a little bit with the injury deal, and just got to work around it. That’s what we’re doing there. I think the good news is we’re a little deeper at tight end than maybe some years past, so we’ll figure out a way to complement things and make it work,” Ferentz said.
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