JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
If someone asked you to pick the position Iowa has had the most success with at the NFL level, offensive line is likely going to pop into your mind, and with good reason.
Robert Gallery, Marshal Yanda, Eric Steinbach and Bryan Bulaga all quickly come to mind as past Hawkeye offensive linemen that have made a name for themselves in the league, with Bulaga and Gallery being first round draft picks. These are just some of the names and there are several others...
Going back to the original question, if you were asked to pick the position where Iowa has had the most success at helping players get to the NFL level and your answer was the offensive line, you'd be wrong.
Iowa Recruiting Coordinator Eric Johnson sent out a tweet on July 8th that surprised me. Here is what he wrote: "Iowa has more DLinemen in the #NFL (12) than any other college football team."
Then someone posted this list of every Iowa football player in the NFL and put the defensive linemen in bold. It's a pretty impressive list and there are some impressive NFL salaries being earned by former Hawkeyes.
You have a first round draft pick from 2011 in Adrian Clayborn (Tampa Bay) and fellow 2011 lineman Christian Ballard with the Vikings. They will get their deals done once the NFL Lockout is over. Clayborn was taken with the 20th pick of the first round, and last year's 20th pick received nearly $11mil in signing bonus money.
2005 draft class alum Jonathon Babineaux is with the Falcons and his most recent contract was for 5yrs/$25 mil.
Colin Cole's senior year at Iowa was in 2002 and he went undrafted. Thanks to his determination and time spent in the offseason with Iowa Strength Coach Chris Doyle (after his playing days at Iowa were completed) he is with Seattle and is under contract for 5yrs/$21.4mil.
Jared Devries (Lions) is still in the league and has banked over $10mil in his career.
2008 draft class alum Ken Iwebema (Cardinals) has earned over $2mil playing in the league.
2002 draft class alum Aaron Kampman has earned over $25mil in signing bonuses alone during his NFL career with the Packers and Jaguars, and he has been an All Pro.
2005 draft class alum Matt Roth has earned over $5mil in his NFL career with the Dolphins and Browns.
Iowa has eight offensive linemen currently affiliated with NFL teams, seven defensive backs, three linebackers, three running backs, four tight ends and many others.
But prospective defensive linemen who believe they can play their way into the NFL and the multi-million dollar payday that awaits may want to give Iowa a good, hard look before signing a letter of intent or giving a verbal commitment elsewhere...something that may be taking place.
On July 7th, four-star defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson verbally committed to Iowa. He told Rivals.com that he's 6-4/290 right now. Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Illinois and a host of other programs had offered him a scholarship, but he picked the Hawks.
This past February and on signing day, four-star defensive tackle Darian Cooper picked Iowa over offers from Florida, Michigan State, Michigan, UCLA, Wisconsin and several other top programs.
In 2010, 6-5/300 tackle Carl Davis picked the Hawks over offers from Michigan State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas and others.
Iowa fans have seen what a good to great defensive line can mean for their program. In my opinion, Iowa's ability to consistently put forth a great defensive line and scheme during the Ferentz era have allowed the past 12 years to be one of the best decades in Iowa football history. Right now, Iowa's success on the recruiting trail as it relates to the defensive line is at a Ferentz-era best, which means the future of the program is indeed very bright.
You build championships from the inside out, and the inside looks very, very good in the near term and long term for this program. Take a look at Iowa's national ranking as it relates to scoring defense the past few years:
2010: 7th
2009: 8th
2008: 5th
2007: 12th
2005: 22nd
2004: 16th
2003: 7th
2002: 24th
Iowa has consistently been able to control an opponents running game with just four down linemen and not having to commit extra resources for run blitzing. Iowa is now adding some 'beefier' incoming players to the mix, which may even give them the option of toying with some 3-4 looks as they continue to recruit faster linebackers.
Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here, however, as Iowa's 4-3 has been a dominant force in the Big Ten for the past decade and if it ain't broke, no need to fix it.
The heart and soul of Iowa football has been play at the line of scrimmage. We can continue to expect excellent teaching and on field success from the offensive line under the tutelage of Kirk Ferentz, considered one of the best offensive line minds in the sport.
Just don't sleep on what has transpired and continues to evolve on the other side of the line for the black and gold...as one of the quickest and most valuable tickets to the NFL may just be in choosing to play defensive line for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Robert Gallery, Marshal Yanda, Eric Steinbach and Bryan Bulaga all quickly come to mind as past Hawkeye offensive linemen that have made a name for themselves in the league, with Bulaga and Gallery being first round draft picks. These are just some of the names and there are several others...
Going back to the original question, if you were asked to pick the position where Iowa has had the most success at helping players get to the NFL level and your answer was the offensive line, you'd be wrong.
Iowa Recruiting Coordinator Eric Johnson sent out a tweet on July 8th that surprised me. Here is what he wrote: "Iowa has more DLinemen in the #NFL (12) than any other college football team."
Then someone posted this list of every Iowa football player in the NFL and put the defensive linemen in bold. It's a pretty impressive list and there are some impressive NFL salaries being earned by former Hawkeyes.
You have a first round draft pick from 2011 in Adrian Clayborn (Tampa Bay) and fellow 2011 lineman Christian Ballard with the Vikings. They will get their deals done once the NFL Lockout is over. Clayborn was taken with the 20th pick of the first round, and last year's 20th pick received nearly $11mil in signing bonus money.
2005 draft class alum Jonathon Babineaux is with the Falcons and his most recent contract was for 5yrs/$25 mil.
Colin Cole's senior year at Iowa was in 2002 and he went undrafted. Thanks to his determination and time spent in the offseason with Iowa Strength Coach Chris Doyle (after his playing days at Iowa were completed) he is with Seattle and is under contract for 5yrs/$21.4mil.
Jared Devries (Lions) is still in the league and has banked over $10mil in his career.
2008 draft class alum Ken Iwebema (Cardinals) has earned over $2mil playing in the league.
2002 draft class alum Aaron Kampman has earned over $25mil in signing bonuses alone during his NFL career with the Packers and Jaguars, and he has been an All Pro.
2005 draft class alum Matt Roth has earned over $5mil in his NFL career with the Dolphins and Browns.
Iowa has eight offensive linemen currently affiliated with NFL teams, seven defensive backs, three linebackers, three running backs, four tight ends and many others.
But prospective defensive linemen who believe they can play their way into the NFL and the multi-million dollar payday that awaits may want to give Iowa a good, hard look before signing a letter of intent or giving a verbal commitment elsewhere...something that may be taking place.
On July 7th, four-star defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson verbally committed to Iowa. He told Rivals.com that he's 6-4/290 right now. Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Illinois and a host of other programs had offered him a scholarship, but he picked the Hawks.
This past February and on signing day, four-star defensive tackle Darian Cooper picked Iowa over offers from Florida, Michigan State, Michigan, UCLA, Wisconsin and several other top programs.
In 2010, 6-5/300 tackle Carl Davis picked the Hawks over offers from Michigan State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas and others.
Iowa fans have seen what a good to great defensive line can mean for their program. In my opinion, Iowa's ability to consistently put forth a great defensive line and scheme during the Ferentz era have allowed the past 12 years to be one of the best decades in Iowa football history. Right now, Iowa's success on the recruiting trail as it relates to the defensive line is at a Ferentz-era best, which means the future of the program is indeed very bright.
You build championships from the inside out, and the inside looks very, very good in the near term and long term for this program. Take a look at Iowa's national ranking as it relates to scoring defense the past few years:
2010: 7th
2009: 8th
2008: 5th
2007: 12th
2005: 22nd
2004: 16th
2003: 7th
2002: 24th
Iowa has consistently been able to control an opponents running game with just four down linemen and not having to commit extra resources for run blitzing. Iowa is now adding some 'beefier' incoming players to the mix, which may even give them the option of toying with some 3-4 looks as they continue to recruit faster linebackers.
Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here, however, as Iowa's 4-3 has been a dominant force in the Big Ten for the past decade and if it ain't broke, no need to fix it.
The heart and soul of Iowa football has been play at the line of scrimmage. We can continue to expect excellent teaching and on field success from the offensive line under the tutelage of Kirk Ferentz, considered one of the best offensive line minds in the sport.
Just don't sleep on what has transpired and continues to evolve on the other side of the line for the black and gold...as one of the quickest and most valuable tickets to the NFL may just be in choosing to play defensive line for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
