Tag: Quinn Schulte

Iowa Hawkeyes 2023 Snapshot Profile: No. 30 Quinn Schulte

Expected to be one of the rocks of Iowa’s defensive backfield, here’s a look at safety Quinn Schulte’s 2023 snapshot profile.

Quinn Schulte is one of the best success stories of this Iowa football team.

Schulte was an unranked player coming out of high school in 2019. A former two-time state champion quarterback at nearby Cedar Rapids Xavier High School, Schulte walked on with the Iowa Hawkeyes. Three years later, he earned both a full football scholarship as well as the starting role at free safety.

The Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native is the feel-good story that we all love in sports. Undervalued and overlooked coming out of high school, the safety pounded on the door at Iowa until they could ignore him no longer. The Xavier School product is much more than a nice story, though. He is an integral part of Iowa’s defense.

The 6-foot-1, 209 pound safety was a revelation for the Hawkeyes last season. Relatively unknown outside of inner Hawkeye circles, Schulte impressed right away in the black and gold. He racked up four pass breakups in his first start for Iowa against South Dakota State. The hard-hitting safety continued to impress all season long and finished as one of the top-graded safeties in the conference.

The goal for Schulte is a bit different now in 2023. He is no longer the unknown former walk-on looking to impress and prove that he belongs. Now a redshirt senior and a second-year starter, Phil Parker will depend on Schulte to be a rock in the defensive backfield and a core leader for the defense.

Here is a look at Iowa starting safety Quinn Schulte.

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9 Hawkeyes highlight Pro Football Focus’ preseason All-Big Ten team

Nine Iowa Hawkeyes made Pro Football Focus’ preseason All-Big Ten team, including five first-team selections.

Pro Football Focus released their preseason All-Big Ten teams, and judging from the results, it looks to be a big year for Iowa!

Last year, nine Hawkeyes received All-Big Ten honors. Despite five of those honorees moving on to the next level, Iowa once again has nine All-Big Ten preseason members for the 2023 season. Five players headline the group as first-team selections. Only two of those five are returning first-teamers from last year.

In all, Iowa has six players looking to make their debut on an All-Big Ten team in 2023. There are also a couple of notable omissions, players who weren’t featured but play a crucial role for this Iowa team. A little spoiler, there are two players we feature who absolutely should have made an All-Big Ten team, including someone who actually has made one before!

Here’s a look at the Hawkeyes featured on PFF’s preseason All-Big Ten team and where they ended up.

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Quinn Schulte spotlighted by Pro Football Focus as top 5 returning Big Ten safety

Often less talked about in the Iowa secondary is a glue piece, Quinn Schulte. Schulte is a top five highest-graded safety in the Big Ten.

As discussed when looking at Cooper DeJean being a top returning corner in the country, the less a member of the secondary is talked about can often bode for the best. No news is often good news as it means the secondary isn’t giving up big plays, blowing coverage, or missing tackles.

One unsung hero of the Iowa Hawkeyes’ defense that quietly flies under the radar is safety Quinn Schulte. Having spent last year playing alongside Riley Moss, Kaevon Merriweather, and Cooper DeJean, Schulte was part of one of the best secondaries in the country.

His performance last year didn’t go unnoticed by Pro Football Focus, though. Schulte is among the top five highest-graded returning Big Ten safeties.

Schulte posted 71 tackles last year to go along with one interception and six pass deflections. His 71 tackles were fourth on the Hawkeyes. Schulte, the senior from Cedar Rapids, Iowa is currently pegged as a Preseason second-team All-Big Ten safety by Phil Steele.

The 2023 season is going to see Schulte alongside sophomore Xavier Nwankpa in a tandem that has every chance to thrust itself into the conversation for the best safety duo in the Big Ten conference.

The other top returning safeties include Rod Moore and Makari Paige, a duo that belongs to the Michigan Wolverines. Tyler Nubin from the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Lathan Ransom of the Ohio State Buckeyes round out the top five highest-graded returning safeties in the Big Ten.

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Top three safeties in the Big Ten for 2023

Do you agree? Who else would you add? #GoBucks

We discussed that the Big Ten was stocked at cornerback with potentially five future first-rounders playing the role of lockdown stud, but the cupboard is a bit less stocked at the safety position. We have a choice in the top three from a non-premier program, but the situation is pretty cluttered after him.

I wanted to place a Wolverine on this list, but Michigan’s best safety may have just left via the transfer portal in R.J. Moten. Still, an Ohio State Buckeye does make it within the ranks based in large part due to the expectation of a leap in production, and of course, this list wouldn’t be complete without an Iowa Hawkeye making an appearance. Let’s dive into the best safeties in the Big Ten.

Iowa Hawkeyes own 3rd-highest graded secondary in the country per Pro Football Focus

After an extremely strong start to the season, the Iowa Hawkeyes’ secondary is receiving their rightful recognition as one of the best.

Through three games, the Iowa Hawkeyes defense is allowing just 133 passing yards per game, good enough for ninth in the nation. They are allowing just 6.8 yards per completion, third in the country. And they have also hauled in three interceptions (four counting Terry Roberts’ pick-six called back for a penalty).

These numbers are spectacular coming from a group that lost some talent to the NFL last year. Not only have the Hawkeyes replenished the talent, they have not skipped a beat either. That is why they find themselves as the third-highest graded secondary in the country at this junction of the season per Pro Football Focus.

According to PFF, Georgia has the nation’s No. 1 secondary with a grade of 91.4, Michigan has the No. 2 secondary with a grade of 91.2 and Iowa has the No. 3 secondary with a grade of 91.0.

A group that returned preseason All-American Riley Moss might be having his name as the least talked about one of the bunch. That is likely due to his coverage making it impossible to throw against and teams deciding to attack other areas.

Those other areas haven’t shown a crack in the armor. Performances from Quinn Schulte, Cooper DeJean, Terry Roberts, and Kaevon Merriweather have all stood out at different times this far.

Each of them has been involved in turnovers, pass breakups, and none are afraid to get in the mix on a tackle. The group started out the season inexperienced but is rapidly molding themselves into another strength of an already stellar Iowa Hawkeyes defense.

As a team, Iowa was able to post a shutout against Nevada last week.

“For us especially, we never seem to get shutouts. You start putting the reserves in, the ball seems to go down the field fast. It was good to see the backup guys play well for a change. It’s not fair to these guys, but it has been a tradition here, our backups go in there.

“That was good. It is gratifying. Any time you get a shutout that’s great. It’s representative of the kind of work that guys have been doing. They were aggressive tonight. They played well and did a lot of good things. They can always feel good about that,” Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said of the defensive performance against the Wolf Pack.

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Kirk Ferentz pleased with Iowa Hawkeyes safety play, applauds Schulte

The Iowa Hawkeyes defense has been nothing short of stellar this year. A large contributor to that is former walk-on safety Quinn Schulte.

The Iowa Hawkeyes defense once again appears to be stifling and while they have just one interception through two games, they may be even better fundamentally and across the board this season.

One key contributor to that was once an unlikely source for the Hawkeyes. Quinn Schulte was a walk-on when he joined Iowa. Through just two games in the 2022 season, Schulte has doubled his career tackle total and finds himself tied fifth on the Hawkeyes in that department. Schulte is also leading the Iowa defense with four pass breakups so far.

The safety’s work through two games has not gone unnoticed, either. This week Kirk Ferentz was asked his thoughts regarding Schulte filling in and playing really well like former walk-on safeties such as Jake Gervase and Jack Koerner have done in past seasons.

“Quinn is off to a good start. It’s been really a pleasant surprise to watch him perform back there. Not shocking, but it’s been pleasant to see him do a good job,” Ferentz said about Schulte’s performance.

Schulte went about getting on the field the hard way by paving his path as a walk-on prior to earning a scholarship. His performance this year warrants the scholarship he was put on and Schulte may just be the next Iowa safety to keep this path going.

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Iowa safety Quinn Schulte shines in first career start, earns praise from teammates, coaches

Quinn Schulte started at safety for the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday for the first time in his career. He wasted no time having an impact.

With the Iowa Hawkeyes losing Dane Belton and Jack Koerner to the NFL this past offseason, there was a question mark of who is going to step in at safety on defense. It wasn’t so much a worrisome question as defensive coordinator Phil Parker always has his guys ready to go, but more of a question as to simply who it may be manning the position.

That question was answered rather quickly and in quite a resounding way on Saturday. Quinn Schulte started as safety for the Hawkeyes and he wasted no time at all making his presence felt.

Schulte led the Hawkeyes with four pass breakups on Saturday. That total matched the rest of the defense combined.

“I think just once you get that first play, first hit out of the game, you know, all the butterflies go away. Coach always talks about, ‘If you don’t have any butterflies, then it’s probably not a good thing that you don’t care.’ Once you get out there and you start playing, they definitely go away,” Schulte said of his first-game nerves.

The pass breakups flashed a physical brand of football, too.

“Yeah, I mean, we’re always trying to bring a physical brand defensively. You know, just trying to be tough, smart, physical. That’s kind of our saying,” Schulte said.

The performance wasn’t lost on fellow defensive back Terry Roberts.

“Quinn has made significant progress. He’s made a lot of plays even throughout practice, throughout spring ball, summer, camp, all that. He’s stepped up to the plate. I love it and the sky’s the limit for him,” Roberts said.

When asked about the Schulte’s performance postgame, head coach Kirk Ferentz was pleased with his performance and spoke a bit on what he saw.

“Quinn is just steady, kind of quietly steady. Not a flashy player but two really good plays right out there in the open. He has practiced well. He’s played well on special teams, and now he took the next step,” said Ferentz.

A position that was a bit of a mystery before the season got underway has suddenly morphed into a potential strength on the back end for the Hawkeyes’ secondary and defense. As the season continues, Schulte will likely be around the ball quite a bit as we already saw his innate playmaking nature in his first start.

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5 positives from Iowa’s 7-3 win over South Dakota State

Iowa is 1-0 on the season. Here are five of the biggest positives from the Hawkeyes’ season-opening victory over South Dakota State.

While it was far from the debut any Iowa fan was looking for, ultimately, the Hawkeyes did win their opener over South Dakota State, 7-3. There’s plenty of cause for concern with Iowa’s offense and grades have already been doled out here.

Still, even with some of the good marks that Hawkeyes Wire passed out, that space really didn’t lend itself to fully rewarding some of the good play that fans did in fact witness. Let’s do that now with the five biggest positives for the Hawkeyes against South Dakota State.

5 takeaways from the Iowa Hawkeyes’ abysmal opener against South Dakota State

Iowa topped South Dakota State, 7-3. Here’s the five biggest takeaways from the Hawkeyes’ season-opening triumph.

I honestly don’t even feel like writing about this game, or giving this team any attention right now. All credit to South Dakota State. They are not a pushover despite their FCS status and they played hard on defense. They were overmatched on offense, which was always going to be a likelihood with the talent on Iowa’s defense, but they surely were right there to stop Iowa’s offense.

Was that South Dakota State playing out of their minds, or Iowa just being a complete disaster? You can make your own judgement, but I know what my choice is.

I don’t care that they are a good FCS opponent, this Iowa team went into the season with aspirations of making it back to the Big Ten Championship game! That’s how you start out the season at home?! It was an embarrassment, it was a disgrace, and a disservice to every fan that sat through that mess in Kinnick Stadium Saturday. Ferentz and his staff need to figure it out, or this is going to be a long, long season.

That said off the top, let’s look at five of the biggest takeaways for the Hawkeyes versus South Dakota State.

Week 1 Iowa Hawkeyes defensive depth chart versus the South Dakota State Jackrabbits

Iowa released their first defensive depth chart of the season. What changes were made for their week one clash against South Dakota State?

Iowa released their depth chart on Monday for their week one clash against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits and it surely is interesting. Virtually nothing is changed on the defensive line from the depth chart we’ve already seen, and that might puzzle some.

Some players are listed at different areas on the chart than how we’ve seen them used during camp. The most important thing to note with head coach Kirk Ferentz’s Hawkeyes, the depth chart is not the be all end all. Just like the pirates code, Iowa’s depth chart is more what you would call guidelines instead of rules.

Defensive coordinator Phil Parker and defensive line coach Kelvin Bell know how to utilize their guys best, relying on the depth and versatility abundant with this unit. Expect to see Iowa’s front line look a lot different on game day. That being said, here’s a look at the week one defensive depth chart that was released.