Brady Reif is underweight for DL.
Anthony Nelson could pack on about twenty more pounds. Eppy could put on about 15 more. I know Eppy is a speed rusher, but Nelson is all power, and there were times Eppy's over-reliance on speed caused him to be baited too deep into the backfield against more experienced tackles and ends, running himself out of the play. They are generally stellar. With more weight, specifically in the legs and hips, they'd pretty much be perfect. Their reach and size, combined with a few years of excellent tackling corners, has limited the horizontal spread vulnerability of the Iowa defense. I give this a push.
The rest of our line is big enough, though not quite as bottom heavy as you would like - they're slightly taller than the protototypical DT. I think that gives Iowa an edge in pass defense - you see a lot of blocked passes by Iowa lineman. However, being top-heavy limits their leverage; you don't see Iowa making massive pushes backwards against top olines like Wisconsin.
Our o-line are all around the 300 lb mark. They run-block well, but they had some agility issues at tackle, and dare I say it, center last year. This hampers them in pass, screen, and counter blocking. It didn't help that they had a first year starting qb that took a little too long to make decisions, occasionally. I used to use a five-count as the limit for when a qb must be rid of the football or tucking and running. The game has sped up in recent years, now I use a four-count. The OL needs to improve here, or we're going to have a lot of sacks again.
Our lines are decent, and built around our style of play. They are above average, though not among these best in the Ferentz era. Our gaurds last year were amazing, and you saw that whenever we went power (pulling gaurds). I expect that to continue.
