Howe: 10 Most Indispensable Iowa Football Players in '21

[RobHowe]

Howe: 10 Most Indispensable Iowa Football Players in '21

Key Hawkeyes for a successful fall campaign.

www.hawkeyenation.com

 

[Grady]

My top 3 most indispensable would be Goodson, Tracy, & LaPorta, in that order. Lindabaum would make the top 10, but no other OL or DB would because we have enough depth at those positions to plug and play without a huge drop-off. It's rare that Iowa has skill players who are truly game-changers, so when you DO have them -- especially at positions where there isn't a lot of other experience or depth as with Goodson & LaPorta -- it makes them very hard to replace.

 

[ricka]

Spencer Petras without a doubt. If he plays like he did the last two game of 2020 and shows improvement, well then we are looking at 9+ wins this fall. He is our make or break player and I am rooting for him.

 

[dahlhawk]

Goodson to me is one or two with Petras. Lose either one and the offense takes a big step back. My confidence with Parker is so high I think he could craft a decent D with high school players. The offense has much less room for error. Later in the season if we can develop some depth at running back losing Goodson would be less serious but not until then. I really doubt if any QB will be able to step in for Petras and perform for at least several games at his level. At receiver I think we're gonna see some younger players step up and by committee. La Porta is probable 3 and Linderbaum 4. They wouldn't derail the season but would be a gut punch. 5 and 6 go to the defense with Zach VanValkenburg and Campbell as the lineman with experience. After that I think it just gets to hard to say I could rattle off any name, but I'd hate to lose our punter, Tori, love those Aussies!