What we learned at Iowa football's final spring practice

All spring we have heard rumblings from Iowa’s spring practices that the offense was holding an upper hand over the defense. So there was some anticipation from Hawkeye fans who filed into Kinnick Stadium that perhaps they would see a high flying offense on display.

Well, the reality was many of the top offensive stars either were not in uniform or played very limited snaps during the scrimmage portion of practice. At the end of the day, the final spring practice looked a whole lot like most of them that we have seen over the years.

Still, we learned a good amount about this time and the state of the position battles that remain ahead of the start of the 2026 season this fall.

Let’s take a look at some of the key things that we learned on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

QB RACE REMAINS UNDECIDED

As we have been told over the course of the last month, the two quarterbacks have been trading reps and it’s been pretty equal overall. Saturday it was Jeremy Hecklinski out of the gate and the ‘gunslinger’ was doing just that.

The bulk of his reps came with the first unit and our unofficial stat count during the full scrimmage portion was 10 completions on 20 throws for 99 yards. He showed pretty good touch and yes, he threw some passes into small windows and completed a few of those throws.

Hank Brown spent more of his day with the second unit, but also worked with first team as well. He was just 3 of 10, but completed two of the bigger passes of the day, both over 35 yards. He showed off a big arm and decent accuracy and touch on the ball in those situations. He struggled a bit against pressure brought by the defense that led to missed throws, but he also saw receivers drop a couple of passes.

There was no decision reached on Saturday regarding a starter and that battle will continue when fall camp resumes in August. Kirk Ferentz weighed in after practice and was pretty clear about his criteria, he is looking for a quarterback who moves the team and also takes care of the ball, in that order.

LOOKS LIKE PIEPER IS THE CENTER

Perhaps this decision was going to happen regardless of what anyone did this spring, but I asked Kirk Ferentz after practice about a potential decision at center and he essentially said Kade Pieper is the top guy after spring.

It should be noted that his expected main competition, Michael Myslinski, was out due to a minor injury. He was doing some work in shorts and a t-shirt on Saturday, but he hasn’t been in pads since early in spring practice.

It should also be noted that a player to watch at the center position could be Cael Winter. He’s a walk-on from Waukee who Gennings Dunker mentioned to us a couple of years ago as a freshman to watch. We are paying attention now because his stock is rising. He worked with the first unit on Saturday and did a nice job.

But, it’s Pieper in control at center, which is probably what Ferentz wanted as the longer term plan. What that means is right guard is wide open. The player to watch is going to be Lucas Allgeyer, a redshirt freshman from St. Louis. He’s probably the odds on favorite heading into fall camp to win that job.  

THE STORY AT WIDE RECEIVER WAS WHO DIDN’T PLAY

The last thing that any coach wants to see happen during spring ball is to see a potentially key player go down with a serious injury in the final practice in April.

With that in mind and also with a few players nursing some nagging injuries, Ferentz kept his powder dry on Saturday. Two of the head turning new players that joined the Iowa roster via the transfer portal, Tony Diaz and Evan James, were in street clothes on Saturday. Both have been nursing minor bumps and bruises, so it made sense. Watch out for them this fall.

We saw very limited glimpses of Reece Vander Zee and DJ Vonahme. While both wanted to be out there to compete on a more extensive level, they have nothing left to prove.

So, who stood out?

Last year the hype train was streaming along for KJ Parker heading into the season. He struggled early and basically fell out of the rotation at receiver, but recovered to regain his confidence by playing well on special teams. He had one drop on Saturday, but overall he looked a whole lot like the guy that we thought was on the rise last year. Dayton Howard also continued to ascend to more snaps. One freshman to watch is Xavier Stinson. We mentioned him as a freshman to watch back in January and he looks the part from a size and performance standpoint.  

LINEBACKER SORTING ITSELF OUT

It looks like the linebacker position is sort itself out as we thought it might.

One thing that linebackers coach Seth Wallace does a terrific job of is training his linebackers to play all three positions. Instead of just saying, you are a weakside backer, they work at middle or LEO, so if needed they can go in and play any spot.

You also get the chance to see if a player might end up being better at one spot when you had thought they might be better at another.

On Saturday, we saw the move that everyone thought might happen. Cam Buffington was at middle linebacker and Jayden Montgomery was spending time at the weakside. I think that makes sense for a couple of reasons. First, Buffington is bigger and suited for the middle and it helps keep Montgomery on the field to help the younger and more inexperienced backer recognize what is happening in front of him.

STILL QUESTIONS UP FRONT

I still have a whole lot of questions about the Iowa defensive line. Kenneth Merriweather and Iose Epenesa looked solid at end. I also liked what we saw from portal addition from Elon, Kahmari Brown. Joseph Anderson also impressed with a tip and pick six against the Iowa third string unit.  

The tackles did a nice job up front and seemed to limit rushing opportunities. Expected starting defensive tackle Bryce Hawthorne revealed that he has missed much of the spring with an MCL sprain, but he should be back shortly and will be ready for a heavy workload this fall.

Bottom line, still work to be done with the defensive line.

PROGRESS IN THE SECONDARY

With rumors of the Iowa passing game torching the Hawkeye defensive backs in practice, you know Phil Parker find a way to improve his group quickly and I thought they performed well on Saturday. It is worth noting that some of the top pass catchers were out, but overall the defensive backfield was good.

Zach Lutmer is flying around. He’s playing like you would hope he would, with speed, quickness, and anticipation. Same for Deshaun Lee. He’s the veteran at corner and playing like it. Phil Parker has been singing the praises of Jacob Wallace or ‘Wally’ as he calls him. He is looking solid and could be the Cash for Iowa this year or perhaps the second cornerback. Jaylen Watson was out on Saturday and will contend for that starting job. Another young corner to watch is going to be Darion Jones. He’s a freshman, but he doesn’t look like it at all. I’d also keep an eye on freshman Marcello Vitti. He’s worked at Cash too, and had the hit of the day in the secondary.