Iowa Hawkeyes 2026 Season Preview

The succession plan runs through two young arms who barely played a year ago. Hank Brown, a 6-4 junior with a strong arm, arrived from Auburn, where he started once and threw for 403 yards and six touchdowns against New Mexico; he completed 11 of 21 for 107 yards in spot Iowa duty last fall. Jeremy Hecklinski, a sophomore gunslinger with just two career attempts, climbed the depth chart late in 2025 and carried a slight edge out of spring. Neither has meaningful experience, and whoever wins will be thrown straight into a Labor Day opener. This is the defining question of Iowa's season.

The passing game leans on DJ Vonnahme, a former walk-on who became the team's leading receiver with 434 yards and three scores at 15.0 yards a catch. He finished with a flourish, piling up 146 receiving yards in the bowl against Vanderbilt, the most by a Hawkeye tight end in a single game since 2011 and a nod to a position that has sent Dallas Clark, George Kittle and TJ Hockenson to the NFL. He is a genuine breakout candidate. At receiver, Reece Vander Zee is the top returning wideout, while UT Rio Grande Valley transfer Tony Diaz, who caught 68 passes for 875 yards last season, created the most buzz of any newcomer in spring. Dayton Howard and KJ Parker round out a group reshaped by the portal.

Kamari Moulton returns as the lead back after rushing for 878 yards and five touchdowns at 5.2 a carry, numbers he posted despite an early injury that cost him three games. He gets help from LJ Phillips, a South Dakota transfer who led the FCS with 1,921 rushing yards, along with Xavier Williams and Nathan McNeil. This room is deeper and more settled than the passing game around it.

Iowa must replace three starters who all made first-team All-Big Ten, headlined by center Logan Jones, the 2025 Rimington Trophy winner as the nation's top center. Even so, the line should stay a strength. Trevor Lauck, a 6-5 junior at left tackle, is a preseason all-conference selection and the anchor of the front. Kade Pieper, a junior sliding from guard to center, rates among the most highly regarded interior linemen in the country. With Leighton Jones, Michael Myslinski and Jack Dotzler filling out the group, Iowa expects to keep chasing the standard that has made its line one of the best in the sport.

Phil Parker has to rebuild the entire defensive front, with all four starters gone. The centerpiece is Iose Epenesa, a redshirt freshman end and the third son of Eppy Epenesa to wear the Black and Gold, tabbed as a future standout. Bryce Hawthorne, a junior who transferred from South Dakota State and played all 13 games last year, holds down the interior, and Kenneth Merriweather steps in on the opposite edge. Iowa fortified the group through the portal, adding Elon's Kahmari Brown, who racked up double-digit sacks in the FCS, and North Dakota's Emmanuel Olagbaju among four new linemen.

The Cam Buffington era begins in the middle. A third-year sophomore and former Iowa eight-man standout, Buffington turned heads in spring and steps into the lineup. Jayden Montgomery, the leading returning tackler at the position, slides to the weakside to give the unit a steadying veteran, with Landyn Van Kekerix adding depth. Iowa linebackers are reliably productive, and this staff has a long history of developing the spot regardless of who is next in line.

The secondary is led by Zach Lutmer, the team's defensive MVP and a second-team All-Big Ten pick who intercepted three passes. A versatile junior who has manned safety, cornerback and the hybrid cash role, he is expected to settle at free safety and set the tone for a defense with just three returning starters. Deshaun Lee returns as a starting corner alongside Jaylen Watson, and James Madison transfer Tyler Brown joins Villanova's Anthony Hawkins among four portal additions in the back end. Parker, widely regarded as the best defensive coordinator in college football and a Broyles Award winner, has kept Iowa's defense among the nation's stingiest for more than a decade, and the secondary is again its likely backbone.

Almost everything turns over here. Iowa lost its kicker, its punter and All-America return man Kaden Wetjen, and LeVar Woods left to coordinate special teams at Michigan State. Chris Polizzi takes over the unit. The Hawkeyes rebuilt through the portal, landing kicker Eli Ozick, a second-team All-American at North Dakota State who made 16 of 18 field goals with a long of 54, along with punters Tanner Philpott, a Division III All-American, and Australian Boston Everitt. Replacing Wetjen's return production may take a group effort, and the inexperience here is a real concern.