Tag: Tyler Elsbury

Iowa Hawkeye Tyler Linderbaum is Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded 2021 college football player

Pro Football Focus graded Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum as its top 2021 college football player.

Iowa center [autotag]Tyler Linderbaum[/autotag] is going to be an excellent addition for somebody in the 2022 NFL draft. That much is evidenced by his Pro Football Focus grade.

Linderbaum had the highest grade of any college football player in 2021. The 6-foot-3, 290 pound center earned a grade of 95.4.

That mark was well clear of the next-closest center. Missouri’s Michael Maietti finished the 2021 season with a PFF grade of 89.1, Minnesota’s John Michael Schmitz earned a grade of 88.5, USC’s Brett Neilon registered a grade of 86.2 and Wyoming’s Keegan Cryder recorded a grade of 85.5 to round out the top grades for Division I centers.

According to PFF, Linderbaum had a run blocking grade of 96.6 and a pass blocking grade of 79.8. His run blocking grade was tops among all Division I players, while his pass blocking grade checked in at No. 15. Linderbaum was also recently listed among Bucky Brooks of NFL.com’s top five interior blockers.

Iowa’s top ten offensive players during the 2021 season according to PFF looked like this: Linderbaum at No. 1 with a grade of 95.4, left guard [autotag]Kyler Schott[/autotag] with a grade of 86.1, offensive lineman [autotag]Tyler Elsbury[/autotag] with a grade of 80.4, offensive guard [autotag]Justin Britt[/autotag] with a grade of 78.5, center [autotag]Matt Fagan[/autotag] with a grade of 75.8, running back [autotag]Gavin Williams[/autotag] with a grade of 75.1, offensive guard [autotag]Cody Ince[/autotag] with a grade of 75.1, quarterback [autotag]Spencer Petras[/autotag] with a grade of 73.9, tight end [autotag]Sam LaPorta[/autotag] with a grade of 72.5 and right guard [autotag]Connor Colby[/autotag] with a grade of 71.5

The Hawkeyes’ top 10 defensive players in 2021 via PFF went as follows: defensive end [autotag]Zach VanValkenburg[/autotag] with a grade of 84.2, cornerback [autotag]Riley Moss[/autotag] with a grade of 80.1, cornerback [autotag]Matt Hankins[/autotag] with a grade of 80.0, safety [autotag]Dane Belton[/autotag] with a grade of 77.1, safety [autotag]Quinn Schulte[/autotag] with a grade of 75.3, safety [autotag]Kaevon Merriweather[/autotag] with a grade of 73.1, cornerback [autotag]Jermari Harris[/autotag] with a grade of 72.9, defensive tackle [autotag]Noah Shannon[/autotag] with a grade of 70.6, defensive tackle [autotag]Lukas Van Ness[/autotag] and linebacker [autotag]Jack Campbell[/autotag] with a grade of 69.8.

Iowa’s top-five graded specialists according to PFF were defensive tackle [autotag]Logan Lee[/autotag] with a grade of 89.0, cornerback [autotag]Terry Roberts[/autotag] with a grade of 84.6, cornerback [autotag]Cooper DeJean[/autotag] with a grade of 76.3, cornerback [autotag]Xavior Williams[/autotag] with a grade of 76.1 and defensive back [autotag]Henry Marchese[/autotag] with a grade of 74.2.

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Logan Jones has ‘transferrable’ skills for Iowa Hawkeyes after move from defensive line to center

Thanks to a wealth of talent up front defensively, Iowa pulled the trigger on moving Logan Jones over to the offensive line.

Iowa has a history of success moving players from defense to offense. Look no further than Tyler Linderbaum, last year’s Rimington Trophy winner. Linderbaum arrived in Iowa City as a four-star defensive tackle according to 247Sports. He left as the nation’s best center and a potential first-round NFL draft pick.

That’s the hope again with Iowa’s Logan Jones. The Hawkeye coaching staff announced that Logan Jones is moving over to the offensive line.

“Logan’s had a really good offseason. I think it just helps us first of all have enough depth so we can practice, but also increases the competition,” Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said.

Jones signed with Iowa as a four-star defensive tackle according to 247Sports. Ferentz noted that depth up front defensively was part of the rationale for the move, but he joked that Hawkeye defensive line coach Kelvin Bell is still adjusting to the news.

“It’s a big part of it and same thing going back. I hate to even go back to the last trade because throw a tag on a guy. But Logan was doing perfectly fine at that spot. And KB is, I think he’s finally over it, you know, a couple weeks later here, but he may still be mad at me and that’s okay. It’s about doing what’s best for the team. Part of the reason is that we were afforded that opportunity because we have some guys right now.

“I think we’ve got eight, nine, 10 guys that are kind of in the mix for playing time on the defensive line. We were really young a year ago. Zach’s gone, but most everybody’s back, so I think that gave us a little bit of flexibility. KB would not agree. If he was standing here right now, he would not agree and might hit me, but it was just one of those things. And it could have been worse I could have picked somebody else I guess and then he would really be mad,” Ferentz said.

Ferentz touched on something interesting with the transition, too. Defensive players sometimes pick up offensive blocking skills quicker than offensive players.

“It’s kind of funny. A picture comes in my mind is like when we do our high school camps out there, they have shoulder pads and helmets on, so we do a lot of run blocking and pass blocking. Typically, the offensive guy has to run block the guy across from him. The defensive guys always end up run blocking better than the offensive guys. I can’t explain why, but they come flying out of their stances and just like drill the offensive guy and they run him back usually.

“Really, it’s as simple as you tell a guy, hey, listen, when you’re playing defense, you are a people mover in the run game. If they’re trying to run the ball, you’re trying to be a people mover. You’re trying to engage that offensive guy and knock them back.’ When you’re pass rushing, you’re trying to run through a guy and then getting into his body and go. So you flip it over. In the running game you want to separate on defense and get to the football. That’s what passing is, is separating from the defensive guy, keeping him out. There’s a lot of transferrable skills. It’s just like you’re flipping the switch on what to do. Still gets time to have him leverage and then understanding how to body position. And then you’ve got to learn the offense, too, and that’s another separate degree,” Ferentz said.

Jones is currently listed third on the depth chart at center behind Tyler Elsbury and Matt Fagan, but it’s worth keeping an eye on this spring to see if he catches on quickly on the offensive side of the football and pushes for serious snaps.

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Examining the Iowa Hawkeyes’ offensive line to start the 2022 spring

What does Iowa’s 2022 offensive line look like as spring practices begin?

The Hawkeyes had the best center in the nation in 2021. That fact was illustrated by Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum earning the Rimington Trophy, which is awarded annually to the country’s top center.

Obviously, the loss of Linderbaum is a significant departure. The 6-foot-3, 290 pound center from Solon, Iowa, started all 35 games over the past three seasons for the Hawkeyes. Iowa replaces just three starters overall offensively, but another one of the Hawkeyes’ losses is left guard Kyler Schott.

The 6-foot-2, 294 pound offensive lineman played in 25 games with the Hawkeyes and started 18 overall, including the final 10 games of last season.

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz was asked if it’s a mix of fear and excitement with his offensive line entering the spring given some of the inexperience but knowing that young talent is there.

“Yeah, I’d say more fair a year ago. Again, we felt really good about the guy in the middle. Tyler (Linderbaum), one of the best guys we’ve had. And felt pretty good about Cody and, you know, well, Cody and Shooter. Thought we had three solid guys there. So we knew we had some work to do at the tackle spot, but that kind of blew up with Shooter and Cody. So that was a tough, challenging year and really impressed with the way George (Barnett) handled things. He didn’t go crazy or anything. He just kept coaching. And again, I think I’m excited about the growth that we saw, especially the last two months, November, December.

“So to me, I’m encouraged. I think the potential is there. Potential is potential. It really doesn’t help you, but I think the guys have worked hard. They’ve got the right attitude and I’m really anxious to see everybody this spring. It’s fun to watch guys and see how they practice, how they improve and compete. And it will be different on Saturday. We put pads on. We’ll be playing real football instead of just shells out there. But at least, you know, I think we’ve got, counting on everybody using the experience they’ve got and then improvement, and that’s where everybody on the team is really, that’s their job, including us coaches,” Ferentz said.

With that said, here’s how Iowa’s starting offensive line looks according to the first depth chart to the start the spring.

5 takeaways from Iowa’s spring depth chart reveal

Iowa gave us our first glimpse of the depth chart. What are the takeaways from the Hawkeyes’ spring starting point?

Football is back! At least a taste of it is anyways. Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz met with reporters and shared his excitement to get the spring slate underway.

“Certainly good to be back and it’s good for us as coaches to be able to focus on the 2022 team now, so it’s good to be back in the office and into it. As I said last time, you know, any time we get together, get started in January, it’s a new team, certainly a new season and a new opportunity on top of that, so it’s always good. As you approach spring football, there’s always promise and hope with the new season, a lot of excitement about that. I think that’s something that players and coaches both share. So it’s one of the great things about spring ball I think,” Ferentz said.

With the Hawkeyes underway with their spring practices, Iowa released its spring depth chart.

There’s certainly plenty to dissect from our first glimpse at a working two-deep for the Hawkeyes, so let’s take a peek at several quick takeaways.