Tag: Aaron Graves

Aaron Graves speaks to the drastic improvement of Iowa’s defensive line play

Iowa had a resurgence along the defensive front in a win over Purdue. Aaron Graves spoke about the breakthrough the Hawkeyes had.

The Iowa Hawkeyes pride themselves on having a stingy defensive front. Through the first five games, they played solid football, but they weren’t up to their own standard. At least not according to defensive lineman Aaron Graves.

Through the first five games, Iowa had registered just three total sacks. That all changed against Purdue. Iowa tripled their season total to nine by getting to the quarterback six times against the Boilermakers.

One of those sacks was from Aaron Graves who was asked about the Hawkeyes’ performance.

“We held a defensive line unit meeting on Friday before we left the hotel, and we just talked about how we have been playing super stuck up, tight and stressed about messing up our jobs. We said we’re going to go out there, have fun, and play together as a unit. I can speak for everyone on the line and say that we had more fun today than we had in any of the other games,” Graves said about the breakthrough performance by the defensive line.

Graves isn’t the only Hawkeye getting home. Deontae Craig, Logan Lee, and Joe Evans each have two sacks. Max Llewellyn, Nick Jackson, and Graves have all tallied one sack.

When Iowa kicks things off against the Wisconsin Badgers this upcoming weekend, the defensive line is going to be one of the most important units in this game. They need to be able to slow down Wisconsin’s strong ground attack and be able to pin their ears back in passing situations.

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Aaron Graves’ time to shine might have arrived

With Noah Shannon potentially lost for the season, Aaron Graves’ time to shine might be now.

Aaron Graves arrived as a four-star signee per 247Sports. So, there’s always been lofty expectations on the Southeast Valley product from the moment he arrived on campus.

The 6-foot-4, 293 pound defensive lineman did a good job fueling the hype train during his true freshman season. Across 214 total snaps last season per Pro Football Focus, Graves tallied 15 tackles, six tackles for loss, five pressures and three sacks.

Based off last season’s production and sheer talent alone, Graves was going to seriously factor into Iowa’s plans in 2023 regardless. Now, after the news that fellow Hawkeye defensive tackle Noah Shannon has been suspended for the entirety of the 2023 season, it only amplifies the role that Graves will have on this football team.

Graves is currently listed as one of the Hawkeyes’ backup defensive tackles after Yahya Black on the opening depth chart. Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said Graves has already stepped up his play.

“Yeah, he’s done that. He’s started that. He’s the one guy last spring, I made the comment—I don’t remember many guys in their first year that have been —he just practices at a really high tempo for a guy his size. It’s an unusual trait.

“Last spring, I was just impressed with the velocity he comes off with. He’s still got to learn how to play. I’m not minimizing that. So, it’s not like he’s out of place I guess with big guys, with the varsity.

“He’s done a good job in August, so obviously these last three plus weeks, four plus weeks have really helped move him forward as a football player, and Yahya Black has done a good job, and the other guys, Jeremiah Pittman, has really improved. A year ago, not even — he was a scout team guy, but right now he’s a legitimate player.

“That’s what you’re hoping for. You’re hoping to see young guys develop, and all those guys I just mentioned have done that,” Ferentz said of Graves.

Listening to Ferentz earlier this week, Iowa has been impressed with Graves dating back to his recruitment. His time in Iowa City has only reinforced that.

“I’d almost use the ‘freak’ word. I don’t want to do that. But he came in here with like 60 credits. He’s graduating next spring as a second-year guy. He’ll be teaching when some other guys are coming to school. Probably be teaching here.

“He’s a focused, driven guy, wrestled, played basketball, four or five sports in high school. He’s just a guy who achieves. He really has a great attitude and works hard,” Ferentz said.

Graves joins a group on the interior that features the aforementioned Yahya Black, Logan Lee and Jeremiah Pittman on the Week 1 depth chart.

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Iowa Hawkeyes 2023 Snapshot Profile: No. 95 Aaron Graves

After a full year of on-the-job training, is sophomore Aaron Graves ready to take flight in 2023? His snapshot profile entering this season.

If there’s one thing you can guarantee about the Iowa Hawkeyes, they always have a next man up on the defensive line.

The front four is like a conveyor belt in the Phil Parker manufacturing plant. A new star leaves and there’s another on the way to break out and repeat the cycle. Iowa appears to have two candidates on the line this year, albeit in slightly different stages of their careers.

Defensive end Deontae Craig is the next man up on the edge, ready to fill in the shoes of graduated starter John Waggoner. He is, of course, also filling in the hole left by chess-piece Lukas Van Ness, the newest member of the Green Bay Packers.

The departure of the versatile Van Ness leaves a gap in both areas of the Hawkeyes’ defensive line. Hercules rotated both inside and out, a key for the way Iowa’s defense runs. While Craig figures to be the budding star at defensive end, look for sophomore Aaron Graves to be the next big thing on the inside.

Graves was one of eight true freshmen to see action last year, showing great flashes while still learning on the fly. The consensus four-star defensive end was getting accustomed to the faster style of play in Division I football, all while trying to bulk up. He still managed to earn six tackles for loss and three sacks despite being beneath some great players on the totem pole.

There is a ton of buzz around the true sophomore heading into the season, many projecting him to be a future NFL draft pick. Supremely talented, Graves will have his opportunity this season to show that the hype is real. Here is a look at Iowa’s defensive lineman Aaron Graves.

Report Card: Grading the Iowa Hawkeyes’ 27-0 win over the Nevada Wolf Pack

The Iowa Hawkeyes blanked Nevada, 27-0. Naturally, the best all-around performance thus far earns improved marks in this week’s report card.

Even though Mother Nature had other ideas, ultimately, nothing could stop the Iowa Hawkeyes from turning in their best start-to-finish performance of 2022. The Hawkeyes improve to 2-1 on the season and will now turn their attention to Rutgers next Saturday night from SHI Stadium at 6 p.m. on FS1.

As a result, the Nevada Wolf Pack exit Iowa City the victim of a 27-0 shutout and drop to 1-2 on the season.

“We got off the mat and got back in the fight and did a good job in unusual circumstances tonight. So to stay focused, that was good to see. Just really pleased. We showed some progress in certain areas. Happy about that. Obviously, it was good to get Nico (Ragaini) back and Keagan (Johnson) back and then Brody (Brecht) was able to get involved a little bit too at the receiver position. So gave us a few more guys to throw to.

“All in all, the team effort was good. Again, you go 60 minutes broken down over seven hours, not easy to do. Defensively, you all saw the game, those guys played a good game. They were aggressive and very tough to run against and they made the passing yardage tough as well. I thought especially in the first half. It was a little disjointed once we got back in the second half. But in the first half I thought we had a little rhythm offensively. The run game wasn’t perfect, but we did some better things so that was encouraging,” Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said of the victory.

Before completely turning the page over to Rutgers, let’s hand out some Nevada grades. Pull up a chair. Class in session.

Iowa Hawkeyes’ Lukas Van Ness appears to answer positional question in interview

After a recent interview, there appears to be no doubts about where talented Iowa defensive lineman Lukas Van Ness will play in 2022.

Pretty much all offseason it has been assumed that Iowa sophomore defensive lineman Lukas Van Ness would slide over to defensive end. It just made too much sense.

Senior Zach VanValkenburg, the team leader in tackles for loss last season with 15, has graduated and is trying to crack the Las Vegas Raiders roster. Lukas Van Ness, while effective last year as a rotational defensive tackle, is a bit undersized for playing inside full time. He self admittedly played at 265 pounds last year, and while he is bigger this year (around 270-275 pounds), he still is light for a tackle. With his athleticism at his size, though, sliding over to defensive end was just a no brainer, right?

While everyone assumed the change was going to be made, and there was evidence in favor of that of course, there were still some lingering doubts. The biggest reason for doubt was the Hawkeyes’ own preseason depth chart, where he once again appeared as a backup defensive tackle.

Now, a depth chart doesn’t always accurately describe what the team plans to do. While senior Joe Evans, the co-leader in sacks last season with Van Ness, is listed as the starter at defensive end, he is more of a designated pass rusher. The preseason depth chart created a bit of confusion about Van Ness’ role in 2022, though, especially with all of the national media coverage of his potential breakout.

It seems that Van Ness himself has cleared up any questions about him sliding over to end in a recent interview with Hawk Central‘s Chad Leistikow.

“I guess you could call it home. I definitely do enjoy being outside,” Van Ness commented on his new position. “I like the space, and being able to use my abilities. I definitely do like defensive end.”

That quote certainly doesn’t sound like a player prepared to once again serve as a rotational defensive tackle.

Iowa can proceed forward with their defensive line in an incredibly interesting way. While they have a talented potential starting four with John Waggoner and Lukas Van Ness flanking tackles Logan Lee and Noah Shannon, they have the depth to get solid contributions out of multiple players in a more rotational system. Of course Joe Evans, as mentioned before, was extremely effective rushing off the edge last year with seven sacks. He will still see a significant amount of time, especially in passing down situations.

A trio of redshirt sophomores in Deontae Craig, Yahya Black, and Ethan Hurkett all have shown things to get excited about over the offseason. Both Craig and Hurkett were featured in a report a few weeks ago by Hawk Central’s Kennington Lloyd Smith. Craig is generating a lot of internal buzz. Don’t forget about true freshman Aaron Graves either, the 2021 Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year and Adidas All-American. Graves is already turning heads early on. There is a lot of potential future firepower on this defensive line.

Iowa has the ability to go multiple players deep on a defensive line that can be one of the best in the country. They should be fantastic against the run, and there’s even more room for improvement rushing the passer compared to last year. Not only is there a ton of depth, multiple players can slide into different positions, including Van Ness who should be used as a chess piece along the defensive line. Look for Van Ness to spearhead a dangerous Iowa defensive front.

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How it played out with the Hawkeyes: Top 25 all-time Iowa football recruits per 247Sports

Kadyn Proctor just became Iowa’s highest-rated all-time commit in the 247Sports composite rankings. Who else comprises the Hawkeyes’ top 25?

Iowa landed a huge recruiting win by earning a commitment from five-star, in-state offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor out of Southeast Polk High School in Des Moines.

The Hawkeyes held off Alabama in Proctor’s final two and also won out over schools such as Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M and USC.

According to ESPN, Proctor is the nation’s No. 6 player in the 2023 class and the No. 2 offensive tackle. Rivals also ranks Proctor as five-star commit, the nation’s No. 14 player overall, and the top offensive tackle.

Meanwhile, On3 and 247Sports both list Proctor as a four-star commit. According to 247Sports, Proctor is the nation’s No. 7 player overall and the top offensive tackle. On3 ranks Proctor as the No. 31 player nationally and the No. 4 offensive tackle. However, he is rated as a five-star commit in both the 247Sports composite rankings and the On3 consensus rankings.

In the process, the 6-foot-7, 330 pound tackle becomes Iowa’s highest all-time commit in the 247Sports composite rankings. The commitment from Proctor also continues a recent uptick in the Hawkeyes’ recruiting over the past several classes.

A look at Iowa’s top 25 all-time commits according to the 247Sports composite rankings illustrates that point. Four of the Hawkeyes’ top 25 commits since the year 2000 are from either the 2022, 2023 or 2024 classes.

In addition to Proctor, who joins him on Iowa’s top 25 all-time commits list per the 247Sports composite rankings since the year 2000? Let’s take a look below.

Iowa Hawkeyes with two in 247Sports’ top 25 incoming Big Ten freshmen

247Sports listed two Iowa Hawkeyes signees among its top 25 incoming Big Ten freshmen.

The 2022 recruiting class for the Iowa Hawkeyes is packing some serious punch. The class that just arrived on campus is loaded with talent and features two individuals that could become household names quickly.

Those two are Xavier Nwankpa and Aaron Graves. Nwankpa is a consensus five-star recruit that will come in at defensive back and compete for reps right away. Graves is a consensus four-star recruit fresh off of being named MaxPreps National Athlete of the year.

The two of them have been placed in 247Sports’ top 50 Big Ten incoming freshmen list. The duo is not just in the top 50, but both crack the top 25. Nwankpa is listed at No. 9 and Graves at No. 23.

Nwankpa made a big splash in Iowa City when he committed to the Iowa Hawkeyes. Joining an experienced and talented secondary is something that can only help the freshman grow quickly. Joining the team early, Nwankpa began practicing with Iowa this past spring.

His time with the team showed during spring practices and was noticed during the open practice to cap off the spring. It has been noticed by fellow defensive back, Riley Moss, who spoke highly of Nwankpa’s physical attributes and how important the extra practices will be.

Graves is the second-highest rated member of the Iowa Hawkeyes’ 2022 recruiting class and comes in to join a defensive line that is always a stout unit of Phil Parker’s defense. Graves will have the chance to compete for time early and continue his development into a big contributor on defense.

Nwankpa and Graves are part of a 2022 signing class that has officially joined the Hawkeyes and will get their summer camp and training underway the second they get their dorm rooms set up.

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Iowa Hawkeyes freshman Aaron Graves named MaxPreps National Athlete of the Year

Iowa Hawkeyes freshman Aaron Graves has been named the MaxPreps National Athlete of the Year.

Iowa Hawkeyes freshman and member of the 2022 signing class Aaron Graves has been named MaxPreps National Athlete of the Year. The award is quite the recognition for the incoming Hawkeye defensive lineman as he prepares to join his new team in Iowa City.

 

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