Tag: TJ Hall

Iowa Hawkeyes 2023 Snapshot Profile: No. 2 TJ Hall

After a year of growth and development, the Fresno, Calif., native is back in Iowa’s secondary. What’s in store for TJ Hall in 2023?

TJ Hall had his big “welcome to the league” moment last year in the regular season finale.

In a must-win matchup against Nebraska, Iowa was extremely shorthanded at cornerback. Already without Terry Roberts and Jermari Harris, breakout starting corner Cooper DeJean exited the contest after just a single play. Plagued by injuries, Iowa had to turn to true freshman TJ Hall in the biggest game of the year.

The assignment was an extremely tough one for Hall. He was matched up against one of the best receivers in the conference in Trey Palmer. A speedster, Palmer would break the single-season record for yards in a season for the Cornhuskers before being drafted by Tampa Bay in the sixth round. Palmer tortured the Hawkeyes’ defense with nine catches for 165 yards and two touchdowns. Both of those touchdowns came against Hall.

It was a real trial by fire situation for Hall in his first genuine playing time for Iowa, and, unfortunately, the results went against him. Only a sophomore, TJ Hall’s story is far from over at the University of Iowa despite a rocky start.

A four-star cornerback, TJ Hall is a talented player with a good bit of potential for Iowa. That game was a great learning experience for the young California native, and he will look to use those great lessons moving forward to improve. As the primary backup at corner, Hall will look to put that Nebraska game behind him with a big 2023 season.

Here is a look at Iowa corner TJ Hall.

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Several Iowa Hawkeyes freshmen already starting to make an impact

Running back Kaleb Johnson and kicker Drew Stevens are the two prominent names, but there’s several other freshmen making impacts for Iowa.

If there are any bright spots on this middling 3-3 Iowa football team (we certainly need some good with Ohio State coming up this week), it is the youth carving out roles already.

We already know the impact sophomore Cooper DeJean has made in the secondary this year, looking like the next star Hawkeye defensive back. Multiple freshmen, though, have started to gain significant playing time early in the season.

According to Sean Bock of 247Sports’ Hawkeye Insider, his midseason Iowa redshirt tracker shows that six true freshmen have received game time this season.

Running back Kaleb Johnson, kicker Drew Stevens, and defensive backs Xavier Nwankpa and TJ Hall have all played in Iowa’s six contests thus far. Defensive tackle Aaron Graves has appeared in five games, tight end Addison Ostrenga in four and running back Jaziun Patterson has one lone appearance this season.

Johnson already has 50 carries for 232 yards with three rushing touchdowns. He finished with seven carries for 103 yards and a pair of scores from 40 and 55 yards out against Nevada. Then, versus Michigan, Johnson scored Iowa’s first points on a 2-yard touchdown run.

Kaleb Johnson has shown flashes of success as perhaps the Hawkeyes’ starting running back of the future, however, the struggles of the offensive line this season have really hampered any consistent impact he’s been able to have. Aaron Graves currently has seven tackles and Patterson has six carries for 20 yards.

Kicker Drew Stevens has probably seen the most success of the Iowa youngsters, staking his claim as the starting kicker. Stevens is 6-of-7 on field goal attempts this season, his first miss a 45-yarder coming in Iowa’s most recent 9-6 loss against Illinois. Despite the miss, special teams coordinator Levar Woods had a lot of positive things to say about the freshman kicker.

“As far as that goes, field goal units, I think Drew is coming along as a player,” Woods said. “He is definitely young. He has had — every game is really like a new experience for him in some way because he was a high school kid a year ago. Really less than a year ago. I think he has made a huge transition since spring. We’ve all kind of seen that. He missed a kick, his last kick, against Illinois, which I know is just eating at him, but to me that shows the guy is a competitor. He may be young. He may be inexperienced, but he is a competitor, and he has that drive inside.”

Both Nwankpa and Hall have received significant playing time on special teams so far this season. While many are anxious to see the five-star Nwankpa get on the field for Phil Parker’s defense, I’d like to remind them of Cooper DeJean’s career arc at Iowa thus far. A lot of his contributions his freshman year came on special teams, and we see how well he’s done in his second year.

It may not be the most glamorous on the stat sheet, but special teams is a great way for both Nwankpa and Hall to get their feet wet, to adjust to the speed of Division 1 ball. Their time will come.

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Iowa Hawkeyes seeing multiple freshmen impressing in 2022 fall camp

It’s great news for the present and the future. Several freshmen have been making a statement throughout fall camp for the Hawkeyes.

Fall camp is the perfect venue to gauge where young players stand heading into the season. While much of the attention will be placed on the projected starters, camp presents a unique opportunity for growth and exposure for the next generation of Hawkeyes. Through injury replacement and general rotation, several young players have shown the potential for an early impact this season.

As Hawk Central’s Kennington Lloyd Smith touched on, multiple freshmen have already shown flashes despite the abrupt adjustment to the rigors of Big Ten competition. Due to an injury that has kept likely starting running back Gavin Williams off the field the past week, redshirt sophomore Leshon Williams has received a bulk of the first team carries. Leshon Williams’ stock is reportedly rising internally amongst the Hawkeyes.

Freshman running backs Kaleb Johnson and Jaziun Patterson both took advantage of the opportunity, combining for an unofficial 21 carries during the Kids’ Day scrimmage. Both have sparingly received first-team reps in practice. Gavin Williams is back at practice but it would be reassuring to know there are capable runners behind him, whether it is in relief or to complement his play.

Wide receiver Jacob Bostick is another seizing his opportunity, learning multiple receiver positions.

Due to low numbers, Bostick is playing all three of Iowa’s receiver positions during camp. Wide receivers coach Kelton Copeland said Bostick has shown promise over the last few practices, and he worked heavily with the team’s second and third units on Saturday’s scrimmage. When healthy, the Hawkeyes feel good about their top three options. But if injuries continue, the speedy Bostick could be counted on to play early. – Lloyd Smith, Hawk Central.

While the availability of field time might not be as frequent on the defensive side of the ball, a trio of freshmen look to be in the Hawkeyes’ future plans. Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said after the Kids’ Day scrimmage that the Hawkeyes would be silly to redshirt defensive lineman Aaron Graves. Defensive backs Xavier Nwankpa and T.J. Hall have taken advantage of their early start with Iowa so far, too.

The benefits of Hall and Nwankpa early enrolling were two-fold: They got a head start on learning the system and they arrived at a time when there were injuries in the secondary, allowing for more reps during spring practice. Both feel like they’re much more comfortable in fall camp. – Lloyd Smith, Hawk Central.

Hall currently figures to be in the second group of cornerbacks, while Nwankpa continues to develop as a safety behind veterans Quinn Schulte and Reggie Bracy. Safety is one of the key positions for the Iowa defense. The CASH position, a role that Nwankpa easily projects to in the future, has seen some of the biggest stars on defense in recent years.

Amani Hooker and Dane Belton were both first-team All-Big Ten members in that role. The CASH spot requires not only high-level skill and athleticism, but communication, the key adjustment for Nwankpa in his first offseason in Iowa City.

Iowa is bringing back a ton of starters this year, especially on the defense. It is why there is a lot of buzz around the team as a contender for the Big Ten West division yet again. It is not just about the experienced players, though. If the new blood of the Iowa program can find ways to contribute right away despite the massive adjustment to Big Ten play, the Hawkeyes will be better off from it both now and in the coming years.

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‘It kind of gets passed down’: Iowa Hawkeyes star Riley Moss embracing 2022 leadership reins

As a returning All-American and elder statesman, Iowa Hawkeyes cornerback Riley Moss is embracing the leadership reins entering 2022.

As a returning first-team All-American, Iowa cornerback Riley Moss is naturally going to be looked to for leadership. The 6-foot-1, 193 pound defensive back from Ankeny, Iowa, registered four interceptions, five pass breakups and 39 tackles last season.

The fact that he also brings back 25 career starts with him only adds to that.

Plus, the Hawkeyes are replacing a pair of players in safety Jack Koerner and cornerback Matt Hankins that started 32 and 37 games in their careers, respectively.

In his first meeting with the Iowa media since the spring, Moss broke down with Hawk Central‘s Chad Leistikow, HawkeyeReport‘s Tom Kakert and others how he’s handling that leadership responsibility.