The Iowa Hawkeyes have been and are still built upon their defense. It is just how they play the game and how they win a lot of them.
The defense entering 2024 could be primed up to be one of the best they have had in years, despite a historic run of NFL talent coming and going from the ranks. The 2024 Iowa defense is highlighted by eight returning starters.
A large part of the experience and talent of this defense comes in the secondary where Iowa is returning veterans. They bring back safeties Quinn Schulte and Xavier Nwankpa, deploy CASH defender Sebastian Castro, and have a quarter of Deshaun Lee, Jermari Harris, TJ Hall, and John Nestor manning the cornerback position.
With that, Pro Football Focus has begun asking if the Iowa Hawkeyes and defensive coordinator Phil Parker boast the best secondary in all of America heading into 2024.
Nestor did not see defensive time last year as a true freshman, but the other five saw considerable snaps and each graded out above 70 per Pro Football Focus.
The group combines for 84 starts in their careers with appearances in a combined 170 games. This group has seen a lot of different offenses and has incredible depth.
The six defensive backs have 13 interceptions and 54 pass breakups to their names. The group gets their hands on the ball and when they do, they make opposing cornerbacks pay.
Iowa has the potential to be a very good team in 2024. With a strong year from this secondary, they have the ability to be the best in America and elevate this team to great.
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Back atop the depth chart, cornerback Jermari Harris provides an instant infusion of talent and experience in the Iowa defensive backfield.
The Iowa Hawkeyes‘ defensive backfield is adding back one of its top pieces this week versus Western Michigan.
Out each of the season’s first two games, junior cornerback Jermari Harris returns just in time to close out the nonconference portion of the schedule for the Hawkeyes.
Hawk Central’s Chad Leistikow reported that Harris missed each of Iowa’s first two games as part of an NCAA-levied suspension for his involvement in the Hawkeyes’ sports gambling investigation.
Now, as he readies to make his season debut, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz updated how involved Harris has been over the past several weeks and throughout training camp.
“He’s been really active, he’s been great. He’s had a great camp, and, basically, he’s been with our team, was with us Saturday. Just didn’t play the last two weeks. He’s fully engaged, ready to roll and it’ll be good to get him back,” Ferentz said.
Listed as the first team cornerback opposite junior Cooper DeJean coming out of the spring, Harris is also returning for Iowa after missing all of last season with an injury.
The 6-foot-1, 190 pound corner was terrific in 2021 as he stepped in for Matt Hankins as Hankins dealt with a season-ending shoulder injury. Harris appeared in all 13 games and started six that season for the Hawkeyes.
The Chicago, Ill., product tallied 34 tackles, broke up eight passes and came away with four interceptions. He also added 1.5 tackles for loss.
What does he bring back to the table for Iowa?
“Experience. He did a great job in a tough circumstance two years ago. All of a sudden he was in there, not maybe necessarily ready, but stepped up and did a really good job. The fun part, you talk about the human side of things, just to watch the growth that we’ve seen with him over his career, it’s just been unbelievable.
“He’s really developed into not only a good player but a really strong leader on our team and has taken a lot of ownership. Talking about mentoring young guys, he’s really been active helping younger guys try to get better,” Ferentz said.
(Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images)
The other silver lining for the Hawkeyes is that redshirt freshman corner Deshaun Lee picked up some valuable reps and starting experience against Utah State and Iowa State. For an Iowa team that came into 2023 with depth questions at corner, how well Lee played in the Hawkeyes’ first two games was an encouraging sign.
“Yeah, the good news there is, it’s kind of like Jemari’s situation a couple years ago. He got thrown in. I shouldn’t say thrown in, he earned his way to the field. We had an opening and he earned his way. Really did a good job.
“He’s played really well in two games now, and the good news for him is he’s gained a lot of confidence from his teammates, from the coaching staff. We came into the season with that being, depth at that position, the corner position being a real area of interest for us. Now, we have a lot more confidence in him, just like we did when Jermari stepped in and did the same thing,” Ferentz said.
Lee figures to remain a part of what Iowa is doing going forward given how well he performed in the Hawkeyes’ first two contests.
For Harris, his long-awaited return comes on Saturday, Sept. 16, at 2:30 p.m. when Iowa plays host to Western Michigan on the Big Ten Network from Kinnick Stadium.
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