No. 35 — LBs Chad Gilson and John Kenny

No. 35 ... One big driver that shaped this list was depth. More specifically, players with questions marks behind them on the depth chart are rated higher than players in positions with healthy competition. Some of the question marks at the positions along the line of scrimmage are rated more highly than bona fide backups whose names you might know.

Middle linebacker certainly qualifies as a scrimmage impact position. You know senior Quinton Alston. You might not know his backups, who, right now, look to be senior walk-on Chad Gilson and red-shirt freshman John Kenny. They are largely unknown quantities, but could end up being names you definitely know.

Gilson (6-1, 235) is a senior from Urbandale. He played two seasons at UNI after a red-shirt year in 2010. He played in 10 games in 2012, recording 24 total tackles, two tackles for loss, one blocked kick and one pass breakup. He played in seven games in 2011.

'I grew up a Hawk fan and saw an opportunity with three senior linebackers last year leaving, just saw a childhood dream that I could take advantage of and made the move,” Gilson said when asked why transfer with one year left.

Kenny (6-2, 225) was a first-team all-stater at Carmel (Ind.) High School before he redshirted last season. He also was Iowa's last early enrolle and participated in spring practice 2013.

Someone has to be No. 2 MLB ...

Gilson is probably the more ready-made scrimmage player. He's a fifth-year senior weighing in at 235. Head coach Kirk Ferentz started mentioning Gilson late in the season, praising toughness. His Iowa career will be all of this one season, so it's seize the day every minute of the day for Gilson.

Kenny is the taller of the two players. He started his career as an outside linebacker, but inside LB coach Jim Reid moved him inside.

'He was a little confused last spring,” Reid said. 'Got much better in the fall, but we decided to red-shirt him, and I think that was a good decision because he's playing really, really well right now, playing very well, playing faster. He's more sure of himself, and just doing a great job in school and every place else. So you've got a confident player who you should watch during the spring game,”

Oddity ...

Gilson spent three seasons at UNI. The Hawkeyes open their 2014 season against ... UNI. So, all along, the Gilson transfer has been an elaborate ruse ... no, that's not even a very funny joke. It is happening, though, and it is an oddity.

'That'll be interesting,” Gilson said. 'I'm definitely friends with a lot of the offensive guys. It'll be fun.”

Kenny is from Carmel, Ind. When he committed to Iowa in 2013, he had a bookend in David Kenney, another Indiana prep (a defensive end from Pike High School in Indianapolis). Kenney eventually de-committed to Indiana, where he'll be a sophomore DE this fall (played in seven games as a true freshman and finished with nine tackles and one pass break up).

Outlook ...

These two will fight it out to be Alston's backup at middle linebacker. They also will likely see a bunch of time on special teams.

It's a pretty good bet that Iowa will play one or two of the incoming freshmen defensive backs. Last week, Ferentz also threw in freshmen linebackers.

'Realistically, there are some opportunities for guys to play as true freshmen,” Ferentz said. 'We never envisioned Desmond [King, a cornerback] playing as a starter, but that's the way it worked out. We'll keep an open mind there and probably at the linebacker position as well. If a guy or two can help our depth, our special teams, we'll be open to it.”

Aaron Mends (6-0, 204 Kansas City, Mo.) and Jameer Outsey (6-3, 210 Somerset, N.J.) are the only two linebackers Iowa signed in 2014. So, maybe some consideration for those two.

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