Senior Mike Timm is transitioning to offense and has moved to fullback, signaling Iowa’s confidence at middle linebacker.
[autotag]Mike Timm[/autotag] is one of two players that got moved to the offensive side of the football to start Iowa’s spring practices. Timm joins redshirt sophomore [autotag]Logan Jones[/autotag] as Hawkeyes that are transitioning to offense.
Jones is transitioning to the center position along the Hawkeye offensive line, while Timm is adjusting to fullback. Currently, Jones and Timm are both listed third on the initial spring depth chart at their respective positions.
Timm arrived in Iowa City from Delafield, Wis., as a walk-on linebacker and recorded four total tackles in the 2020 season. He was listed as the second team middle linebacker following the spring last year, but Timm saw game action sparingly outside of special teams.
As a result, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz saw an opportunity to perhaps find more snaps for Timm at fullback.
“And then Mike has done a great job on special teams. We’re a little bit deep at the middle linebacker position and that’s what he plays, so I felt like he might have a better avenue for playing time at the fullback spot. But we count on him to be a real good special teams guy, continue to be a great special teams leader,” Ferentz said.
This also speaks to the confidence that Ferentz and the Hawkeye coaching staff have with their top two middle linebackers. It makes sense, too. Senior [autotag]Jack Campbell[/autotag] is arguably Iowa’s best returning defensive player after racking up 143 tackles, eight passes defensed, 3.5 tackles for loss, a pair of interceptions, one sack and one forced fumble in 2021. The Hawkeye coaching staff feels great about what it has backing up Campbell as well in junior middle linebacker Jay Higgins.
Again, more than anything, this is about putting Timm in a spot where he’ll have a chance to see more snaps.
“Just give him an opportunity to play a little bit more. I think we’re pretty well set with Jack (Campbell) and Jay (Higgins). Although, you know, they’ve got to play and they’ve got to improve. I’ll go back to the first point, but you’re stacked up in there a little bit. Turner (Pallissard) had a lot of injury issues last year so, and those fullbacks, they get beat up a little bit so it’s good to be able to roll guys through if you have (injuries). He was excited about it. Mike’s just a high-energy guy,” Ferentz said.
Spring practices are for tweaking and experimenting some. Iowa will find out quickly whether or not the moves of Jones to center and Timm to fullback make sense moving forward.
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