Guessing the top 10 highest-rated Iowa Hawkeyes in EA Sports College Football 25

Ahead of the return of EA Sports College Football 25, here is a guess at who may be the top 10 highest-rated Iowa Hawkeyes in the game.

After a decade-long wait, the return of one of the most highly-anticipated video games is finally coming. EA Sports has announced that this summer will be the official return of EA Sports College Football 25.

The game was discontinued after NCAA Football was released in 2013. This pause came amid the strife around paying players for their name, image, and likeness. Obviously, it goes without saying that NIL has taken leaps and bounds to allow players to be correctly compensated.

With the return of the video game, fans of the Iowa Hawkeyes are eager to see their favorite team and its best players as they lead them to glory in dynasty mode. This is every Hawkeyes’ fans chance to light up the scoreboard and put up truly “video game” numbers on offense.

Ahead of the release, here is a guess at who are the top 10 highest-rated Iowa Hawkeyes in EA Sports College Football 25.

Luke Lachey announces 2024 return to Iowa Hawkeyes

Another one! Luke Lachey is coming back to Iowa in 2024. The standout tight end revealed that news on Friday.

The Iowa Hawkeyes will have their top pass-catcher back in 2024.

Junior tight end Luke Lachey revealed his intentions to return to the Hawkeyes for next season on Friday afternoon.

Like senior linebacker Jay Higgins before him, Lachey turned down an opportunity to enter his name into the 2024 NFL draft in favor of another season in the black and gold.

In making the announcement, Lachey also had a simple message like Higgins before him: “More work to be done… Go Hawks!”

Lachey was the Hawkeyes’ clear No. 1 pass-catching target before suffering a season-ending right ankle injury in Iowa’s 41-10 Week 3 win over Western Michigan.

The 6-foot-6, 253 pound tight end ended his 2023 season with 10 receptions for 131 yards. In the Columbus, Ohio, native’s career, he has reeled in 46 grabs for 662 receiving yards and four touchdowns while appearing in 30 games and starting 13.

Lachey’s return provides a star pass-catcher for quarterback Cade McNamara to go along with sophomore wide receivers Seth Anderson and Kaleb Brown.

Lachey joins a group of tight ends that will feature juniors-to-be Addison Ostrenga and Johnny Pascuzzi and sophomores-to-be Zach Ortwerth and Grant Leeper. The Hawkeyes await a stay-or-go decision from senior tight end Erick All. Iowa also signed tight ends Michael Burt and Gavin Hoffman in their 2024 class.

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz discussed what advice he shares for his Hawkeyes making stay-or-go decisions.

“It’s ultimately about what’s best for them, kind of like recruiting. Make a decision that’s best for you. It would kind of be presumptuous for us to think that we know best when it comes to somebody else, what their goals may be,” Ferentz said.

In this instance, Iowa fans can celebrate because Lachey felt the best and right decision for him was one more trip around the sun in Iowa City.

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Hawkeyes’ Cooper DeJean top CB on ESPN’s NFL draft big board, both Iowa TEs ranked

Iowa’s Cooper DeJean sits atop Mel Kiper’s cornerback rankings for this year’s NFL draft. Other Hawkeyes are among the rankings as well.

The NFL draft and the Iowa Hawkeyes have become a bit like peanut butter and jelly over the last decade. The Hawkeyes are a bit of an NFL pipeline pumping out first round draft picks along with depth guys found in the later rounds that have proven to blossom quite nicely into NFL-caliber talent.

The 2024 NFL draft class for the Hawkeyes appears to be set to send their next handful to the league. Led by star cornerback and likely first round pick, Cooper DeJean, the Hawkeyes are once again proving they develop talent with the best of them.

The proof is in previous draft classes and also in the current 2024 NFL draft big board by ESPN’s Mel Kiper. He has five Hawkeyes ranked among the top 10 of their positional groups as attention now turns to mock drafts and scouting.

Here is a look at who Kiper has ranked, where they rank, and how they have produced in their time at Iowa.

Patriots 3-round 2024 NFL mock draft

The rebuild in New England would be off to a strong start with these draft selections.

‘Tis the season, and no, not for the holidays.

This celebration is for the 2024 NFL mock draft. There isn’t much for the Patriots to look forward to this year with the 2023 season basically being a wash. The team’s 2-8 record is the worst in the AFC, and the playoffs are completely out of the question.

However, things will get interesting in the offseason with the team holding a significant amount of cap space and likely a top-three pick in the NFL draft.

Keep in mind, this is just a fun exercise based on where the team is today, and if the draft was today. I am also picking based off of where the board falls.

Without further ado, here is a three-round 2024 mock draft for the Patriots:

Iowa’s Diante Vines, Steven Stilianos share strong words of encouragement for Luke Lachey

Luke Lachey is right at the heart of the Iowa Hawkeyes. After his injury, teammates offered strong words of encouragement for him.

When Luke Lachey went down last Saturday, all of the Iowa Hawkeyes, their fans, and supporters held their breath. A huge part of the heart and soul of the Hawkeyes, Lachey was off to a red-hot start to the 2023 season.

Unfortunately, that season is going to be cut short as Kirk Ferentz confirmed that Lachey is likely done for the entire season after surgery on his ankle. This is a loss for the Hawkeyes but has spurred on a few teammates to let Lachey know they are playing for him and are already rooting for his comeback.

Wide receiver Diante Vines stepped up and let Lachey know that the comeback is just now beginning and is one that will be special.

“You’re about to have the greatest comeback. It’ll be a legendary comeback that Iowa people will be talking about forever,” Vines texted Lachey.

Steven Stilianos, a tight end, shares a bond with Lachey as they share the same position and spend more time together than any other teammates. Stilianos was heartbroken for Lachey but is now ready to play for him.

“It’s tough. He’s literally my best friend here. So it breaks my heart a little bit,” Stilianos said when asked what losing Lachey for the season felt like.

“No one’s Luke Lachey. He’s a hell of a player. But we’re going to do our damn best to play for him,” Stilianos added when asked how Iowa replaces him.

Iowa now turns to the trio of Erick All, Steven Stilianos, and Addison Ostrenga to carry the weight for the tight end group. Luke Lachey is going to be there supporting the Hawkeyes and just as much a part of this team as he can.

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Kirk Ferentz confirms star TE Luke Lachey ‘most likely’ out for remainder of 2023 season

Kirk Ferentz confirmed that tight end Luke Lachey suffered a “significant injury” and is “most likely” sidelined for the remainder of 2023.

At his weekly press conference to preview the Hawkeyes‘ trip to No. 7 Penn State, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz confirmed the bad news fans were hoping they wouldn’t have to hear.

Star tight end Luke Lachey is likely done for the 2023 season.

“Certainly, not happy about losing Luke Lachey. I feel most badly for him obviously. He’s the person most affected and it’s just an unfortunate development, but he’ll be fine here in time. But, it is, it’s a significant injury, so he’s going to be out for quite a while here,” Ferentz said.

Asked to clarify whether or not it was a season-ending injury for Lachey, Ferentz indicated it probably would be.

“Most likely, yeah. Yeah, most likely, so just unfortunate, but he’s going to be fine, but it’s just a tough development,” Ferentz said.

Lachey was Iowa’s second-leading pass-catcher last season, reeling in 28 grabs for 398 yards with a team-high four touchdown catches. The 6-foot-6, 253 pound junior registered 10 receptions for 131 yards across his action in the Hawkeyes’ first three contests this season.

Ferentz also revealed that running backs Kaleb Johnson and Jaziun Patterson would be unavailable versus the Nittany Lions, too.

“And then, on the more week-to-week type basis, both Jaz and Kaleb won’t be available this week, so we’ll evaluate that with each week as we go forward. But, they’re both going to be out Saturday, so we’ll go with the guys that we finished up with the other day,” Ferentz said.

At tight end, Iowa turns to seniors Erick All and Steven Stilianos and sophomore Addison Ostrenga to handle the bulk of the workload.

In the backfield, junior Leshon Williams is coming off a career performance versus Western Michigan where he carried 12 times for 145 rushing yards. Freshman Kamari Moulton also tallied 50 rushing yards and a pair of scores on eight carries, while fellow freshman Terrell Washington Jr. rushed six times for 31 yards.

“And that is a positive, certainly the tight ends as a group I think stepped up and did a good job. Erick obviously is a quality player and Ostrenga’s a good young player coming up the ladder. Stilianos, we talked about him being a much-improved player in the spring and camp and did a good job in there, too. And then John Pascuzzi jumped in, helped us out.

“And then, Kamari and T.J. on the offense in the backfield did a good job, so we’ll just go with the guys that we got like you always do and the next man in opportunity for them. Just wish Luke the best in terms of his recovery coming back,” Ferentz said.

Iowa kicks off at Penn State at 6:30 p.m. on CBS for the Nittany Lions’ annual White Out game. The Hawkeyes are wearing alternate uniforms for the occasion.

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Luke Lachey’s injury ‘fairly significant’ per head coach Kirk Ferentz

Kirk Ferentz and Iowa will know more in the coming days, but the Hawkeyes’ head coach says Luke Lachey’s injury is “fairly significant.”

A slow-starting performance against Western Michigan became more disheartening and frustrating as star Iowa tight end Luke Lachey went down with an injury in the first quarter.

On a 3rd-and-3 snap, Hawkeye quarterback Cade McNamara targeted Lachey. The pass fell incomplete as Tate Hallock was covering. In the process, Lachey’s lower right leg was twisted up.

It looked and felt serious in the moment as Lachey stayed on the Kinnick Stadium turf for an extended period of time. Then, he exited Duke Slater Field without putting weight on his right leg.

When Lachey returned later, the 6-foot-6, 253 pound tight end was wearing a boot on his lower right leg.

After the Hawkeyes had put the finishing touches on their 41-10 win over Western Michigan, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz updated Lachey’s status.

“Unfortunately, I hate to lose Luke to an injury. It’s fairly significant, so we’ll know more about that in a couple days. They’re assessing that,” Ferentz said.

Lachey already had 10 receptions for 131 yards this season. The Columbus, Ohio, product reeled in 28 grabs for 398 yards and a team-high four receiving touchdowns in 2022.

As Iowa waits to learn more about the extent of Lachey’s injury, Ferentz shared his disappointment to see a player like Lachey potentially losing his opportunity at a healthy 2023 season.

“At least we have some depth there. We do. The thing about injuries is just, as I’ve said a million times, it’s just guys work so hard to get out there in the field like that. Everything is focused on these 12 games, and the guys put a lot into it.

“To have them have opportunities stripped because of injuries, but it’s part of the game, too. So we all understand how that works, but, yeah, it’s disappointing. There’s not a better guy in our program than Luke Lachey. He’s just such a good young guy. Keep our fingers crossed,” Ferentz said.

McNamara was likewise downtrodden to see his teammate exit the way that Lachey did.

“I mean, we don’t know exactly what it is yet, but when one of your brothers goes down like that, it’s horrible to see. We’re all going to be praying for him, and it’s just tough seeing your boy do that, honestly,” McNamara said.

Ferentz provided injury updates on running backs Kaleb Johnson and Jaziun Patterson as well.

“Kaleb’s got an ankle. Got it at the end of the game last week, it didn’t respond. We’ll take it week-by-week, day-by-day. Jaziun had a little bit of a tweak as well. Obviously, we thought he was going to go today, but tweaked it a little bit during the game. I don’t think it’s real significant. We’ll know more in a couple of days,” Ferentz said.

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Week 2 Scouting Notebook: A look at potential Chargers prospects in 2024 NFL draft

Here are a handful of prospects for Chargers fans to watch in Week 2.

The second week of college football is here, which means we are back with another edition of the Scouting Notebook.

The Scouting Notebook will feature prospects to keep an eye on throughout the day. While some may think it’s too early to start talking about the 2024 NFL draft, there’s never a bad time to talk about the future of the Chargers.

With that being said, here are a handful of prospects to watch for in Week 2.

Iowa Hawkeyes select season-opening captains

The Iowa captains versus Utah State are set.

One of the greatest honors a player can be bestowed by their fellow teammates and from their coaches, the Iowa Hawkeyes have their captains for Week 1.

Quarterback Cade McNamara, tight end Luke Lachey, defensive end Joe Evans and linebacker Jay Higgins will represent the Hawkeyes as captains versus the Utah State Aggies.

The talented mix of players is actually a nice portrayal of the hopes for Iowa’s 2023 season.

Outside of Evans, there’s a relative lack of production from the group. At least in Iowa City anyways. Yet, that’s the story of the 2023 Hawkeyes. How much production will Iowa get from new faces and from faces that have been in the program but haven’t been placed in key roles here yet.

Of course, McNamara passed for 2,576 yards and 15 touchdowns while leading Michigan to the 2021 Big Ten championship. Obviously, that wasn’t at Iowa, though.

Lachey flashed in a big spot last season, reeling in 12 receptions for 166 yards with a score during the Minnesota and Nebraska games when Sam LaPorta was sidelined with an injury.

Then, there’s Higgins. He slides in to replace Jack Campbell at middle linebacker. Though Higgins tallied 39 tackles last season, including an 11-tackle performance versus Northwestern, he’s only started once in his career. Now, he’s a full-time starter and expected to be one of the Hawkeyes’ best players.

While there’s only one transfer portal addition among that group, the trio is symbolic of Iowa’s offseason shift toward a number of new leaders and hopefully stars in a number of different places.

Lastly, there’s Evans. Unlike the other three captains to start, Evans has been one of the Hawkeyes’ most productive defensive players each of the past two seasons.

The 6-foot-2, 252 pound defensive end has tallied 75 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks over the last two years.

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions.

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Iowa Hawkeyes 2023 Positional Breakdown: Scouting the tight ends

Iowa will have one of the nation’s finest tight end tandems in Luke Lachey and Erick All. A breakdown of the Hawkeyes’ tight ends.

Iowa University is Tight End U. Don’t give me some talk about teams that were great at a time before most collegiate athletes were even alive. We’re talking right now. We’re talking current day, and nobody produces tight ends like Iowa.

Since the Mackey Award was first instituted in 2000, two Hawkeyes have won the award in Dallas Clark (2002) and T.J. Hockenson (2018). Hockenson was joined by his teammate Noah Fant that year as a semifinalist for the award. Iowa had two straight semifinalists for the award in Allen Reisner (2010) and Tony Moeaki (2009), respectively.

Last year Sam LaPorta was named one of three finalists for the award. This was the same year he was named first-team All-Big Ten and was the Kwalick–Clark Tight End of the Year, an award partially named after, you guessed it, a former Iowa Hawkeye.

This doesn’t even mention the best of the bunch George Kittle, a fifth-round pick back in 2017 who has only been named an All-Pro three times while making the Pro Bowl four times.

Through college acclaim and professional success, Iowa has dominated the tight end position like no other. That trend does not look likely to end in 2023 one bit. Here is a breakdown of the tight end position for Iowa this upcoming season.