Iowa football portal and roster rundown

It might not be entirely true, but it feels like the rest of the college football world is either watching players head to the transfer portal, shopping in the portal, or both. Most of them are in the both category.

Meanwhile, Iowa is simply and methodically following their plan. The Hawkeye doing what you would expect a Kirk Ferentz led program to do, have honest and open conversations with players about their future and discuss their future.

That is paying off thus far, so if you are one of those folks who loves seeing Iowa filling up with players from the transfer portal, it’s probably not going to be a year that you enjoy. But, if you like seeing Iowa keep some really talented players on the roster for another season, then you are potentially going to real enjoy the news this month.

First, let’s look at the current scholarship distribution chart for next season. LINK

Reminder, the limit on scholarships that schools need to be at by the start of fall camp is 85. At this point, there doesn’t appear to be any other Iowa players indicating that they will be leaving and hitting the transfer portal. The nature of college sports today means that the future of a player can change tomorrow, so what is true as this is written could change in an hour. But, right now, it seems like the current players in the portal are the current players in the portal.

There will be one player currently on the list who will be seeking a medical retirement in the near future, so that means Iowa will be at 83/85. Reminder that 85 also includes the prospects who are expected to sign later this month and will be freshmen next fall.

Now, there are really two tracks for current players right now. One includes three players who are going to be seniors, but are considering leaving for the National Football League. Those three are Cooper DeJean, Yahya Black, and Luke Lachey.

DeJean is an obvious candidate to leave for the NFL Draft. He is expected to be a mid to late first round pick and his late season injury will not impact that status. NFL teams can just turn on the film and know he has a great future in professional football.

But, is he ready to go to the NFL? Remember a couple of years ago, Tyler Linderbaum really wrestled with the idea of leaving for the NFL. A significant part of him wanted to stay at Iowa for another year. But, in the end, he left and was a first round pick of the Ravens. There’s a big part of DeJean that wants to stay put. He is deeply invested with his teammates and loves being a Hawkeye. I still think he ends up going to the NFL, but I do think there’s about a 20% chance he returns for his senior season. Cooper for Heisman anyone?

Black has a very good season and caught the attention of the NFL scouts. But, he could use one more year of high level play and may be a solid lean to return to Iowa for one more season.

Lachey is the real interesting case. On the surface, many would think, of course he would come back. Lachey played in just three games before breaking his ankle and he might be back to play in the bowl game. He’s also a pretty high target for NFL teams and even with his injury, they know he’s a player in the league. However, if he came back, Lachey could elevate his draft stock to a few rounds higher and perhaps contend for the Mackey Award. This one is a coin clip, true 50/50 shot right now.

The next bucket of players are the guys who are able to come back due to their Covid year, which was granted by the NCAA due to the pandemic in 2020.

Those players include Sebastian Castro, Jay Higgins, Kyler Fisher, Jermari Harris, Eric All, and maybe even Nick Jackson.

Let’s first start with Jackson. This was supposed to be his Covid season, but due to the tragedy that impact the Virginia football team last season, it was hinted at from administrative personnel that perhaps there could be an extra year available for the players at UVA. Watch this space.

It appears that Sebastian Castro, Kyler Fisher, and Jermari Harris are potentially leaning towards returning returning to Iowa. That would be a huge addition to the defensive backfield if Castro returns. He was second team All Big Ten and Harris would be Iowa’s best cornerback if DeJean moves on. Fisher is a core special teams performer and outstanding third linebacker for the Hawkeyes.

Jay Higgins had an outstanding season for the Hawkeyes. He was named first team All Big Ten and second team All American by at least one service and I anticipate one service will have him as a first team All American. He is considering a return to Iowa and right now is probably 60/40 lean towards staying for another year.

The longest shot on the board right now is probably All. He tore his ACL in the Wisconsin game and at this point it feels like he’s ready to move on to the next thing and chase the NFL dream. I’d put his return at about 10%.

Let’s go back and do the math. Remember we started this exercise at 83/85. Keep Lachey and Black and they are at 85 scholarship players. Take DeJean off and it’s back to 84. If Castro, Fisher, and Harris are back that would push it to 87/85. If Higgins stays, Iowa will be at 88/85. Reminder, Iowa is also expected to sign a punter from Australia, so that pushes the number to 89/85.

Bottom line, Iowa is going to have a numbers issue if all of these players return. But, in a lot of ways, this is a good problem to have. Retaining talent is always a good thing. But, if you are a fan of the Hawkeyes adding talent via the portal, it seems like this year might not be ideal. Stay tuned. As always, during portal season we can see wild twists and turns.

The post Iowa football portal and roster rundown appeared first on On3.