Logan Lee is one of the big reasons why Iowa fans should be excited about what the Hawkeyes’ defensive line figures to bring to the table in 2022. The 6-foot-5, 275 pound defensive tackle from Orion, Ill., cracked Iowa’s rotation for the first time in 2021 and didn’t disappoint.
Lee started all 14 games as one of the Hawkeyes’ defensive tackles and ended the 2021 season with 48 tackles, five tackles for loss, three sacks, a pass breakup, one quarterback hurry, a fumble recovery and a blocked kick. He’s hoping for more in 2022.
“The biggest thing I’ve always valued is being able to help the team as much as I can and working as hard as I can to be able to put myself in that position. I’ve always been very confident with my abilities. I’m always willing to bet on myself. I knew my time would come and it was able to come last year. I’m planning on completely exceeding that this year,” Lee said with Hawk Central and Iowa reporters earlier this week.
Asked what exceeding 2021 would look like, Lee served up the following.
“Just being able to increase production predominantly, so being able to stay on the field longer and being able to just help the defense as much as I can with my production,” Lee said.
Now that he has a full season’s experience under his belt, an increased workload and jumps in production are reasonable expectations. Still, Lee understands that the nature of his position means that playing assignment-sound football doesn’t always net production at least when it comes to the stat sheet.
“Absolutely. Coach (Kelvin) Bell does a great job. We know what he’s looking for, and there’s oftentimes (where) to you guys it might seem like a failed rep, right? But, to coach Bell, he’s like, ‘You did your job. That was a great rep.’ It was A-plus on the grade sheet, so we go plus and minuses. More often than not, there’s actually a play that might look bad is actually a plus on the sheet because it’s what we are asked to do,” Lee said.
That being said, pass rush is one area he’s really zeroed in on enhancing throughout this offseason.
“I’m doing a lot of hand-fighting stuff. I’ve got a pop-up bag back home and then I’m able to come into the facility at any time of the day, so I do a lot of hand-fighting stuff so I’m able to improve my hand-eye coordination for the pass rush,” Lee said.
The other area would be continuing to add to his 275-pound frame and fine-tuning his understanding of defensive coordinator Phil Parker’s defense.
“Some of the biggest things I think would be beneficial for me are being able to improve my conditioning. That’s always a big thing. I’d like to be able to gain a little bit of weight right now. I’ve kind of plateaued a little bit, but I think I’m doing well. And then, just more knowledge of our defense and why everything’s doing what we’re doing,” Lee said.
Lee joins an Iowa defensive line that also returns starting defensive tackle Noah Shannon and starting defensive end John Waggoner. That duo combined for 72 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and four sacks. Plus, Iowa is expecting big things from Lukas Van Ness and also sees the returns of Joe Evans, Yahya Black and Deontae Craig.
“We’ve got a great group. We’ve got a ton of guys that are potentially capable of playing. There’s close to a dozen guys that we could travel, so there’s quite a few. I’m not going to name any names specifically, but I think we have a great opportunity to make an impact this year,” Lee said.
Then, there’s the defensive line signees from the 2022 class that includes Aaron Graves, Caden Crawford and Brian Allen. While he wasn’t actively looking to name specific standouts up front, Lee was asked what he’s seen of Graves so far.
“He looks really good. He’s moving really well. Great kid. Big fan of him. I’m excited to see what he’s able to do. I’m just trying to kind of take him under my wing a little bit and help him out as much as I can,” Lee said.
It’s an exciting group of players that the Hawkeyes feature along their defensive line heading into 2022 and Lee is one of the puzzle pieces making that the case.
[listicle id=6072]
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions.
Follow Josh on Twitter: @JoshOnREF
Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.