Iowa Football: Top 3 Way-Too-Early Breakout Candidates for 2022

With spring practice already well underway for Iowa football, which Hawkeyes can we expect to break out in 2022?

The Iowa Hawkeyes are one of the most historic programs in college football. Not only have they been one of the winningest teams in the last decade, but they’ve also managed to generate a number of elite NFL prospects in that time including safety Micah Hyde, offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs, and tight end George Kittle, to name a few. However, the last time Iowa football won a Big Ten title was nearly two decades ago, and their last claimed national championship was in 1960.

Though the legendary Kirk Ferentz has helped to re-establish a winning culture in recent years, it’s still hard to compare Iowa to some of the truly elite programs in college football.

In 2021, the Hawkeyes’ defense was one of the best units in the entire country, finishing third in turnovers per game (2.4) and first in interceptions per game (1.8). In fact, Iowa had 20 takeaways in the first 6 games of the season alone. The issue is that their offense was absolutely abysmal, and proved to be one of the least efficient units in college football all season. No matter who Iowa had under center, their offense never showed much consistency throughout the year.

It’s remarkable that the Iowa football program came away with as many wins as they did, finishing 10-4 on the season, and atop the Big Ten West. Which was even good enough to earn them a spot in the Citrus Bowl, in which they eventually lost 20-17 to Kentucky.

Unfortunately, they also bid farewell to one of the nation’s top offensive linemen in Tyler Linderbaum, as well as some of their key difference-makers on defense. Those departures included their top-three defensive backs from a year ago, Jack Koerner, Dane Belton, and Matt Hankins.

So, the Hawkeyes have a lot of work to do if they hope to make up for this massive loss of production. The good news is that they have tons of young up-and-coming talent waiting in the wings, many of whom are more than capable of breaking out in 2022.

Even though Iowa football is renowned for its big-bodied farm-boys at linemen, tight end and linebacker. There are three other positions being highlighted, and believe it or not, but two out of three are on the offensive side of the ball.

Here are the top 3 breakout candidates for Iowa football in 2022.