The Contingency -- Offensive line

Offensive line

The Men:OTs Riley Reiff and Markus Zusevics; Gs Julian Vandervelde and Adam Gettis; C James Ferentz.

The Contingencies: OTs Nolan MacMillan, Brett Van Sloten, Kyle Haganman; Gs Orne, Cody Hundertmark; C Josh Koeppel.

Kirk Ferentz said after spring practice the Iowa O-line race was basically down to six, with James Ferentz and Josh Koeppel battling at center.

The Hawkeyes will probably need more than six.

Last season, Bryan Bulaga missed three games with a freak thyroid condition. Dace Richardson missed four weeks after suffering a broken leg against Michigan State. Vandervelde missed all of fall camp and the UNI game while a torn pectoral healed.

There is a degree of probability to playing O-line and injury. They're not doing the waltz up there.

So, who's ready?

C-- This is the easy one. Either Ferentz or Koeppel. One will win the job, the other would be the backup. There could be a rotation, but that doesn't make a lot of sense and I'm not sure coach Ferentz has ever done that at this position. You want a comfort level here.

G -- Hundertmark is probably the No. 3 here. Coach Ferentz liked what he saw coming out of spring. Hundertmark was a defensive end in 2009 until the Orange Bowl practices, when he showed up to practice in the black jersey the offense wears. Ferentz said, "I think it is going to be a great, great move and he seemed to learn very, very well, very quickly.” Orne will be a junior. He set a hang clean record in the weightroom. He's in his first full season after transferring from South Dakota State. He saw practice last fall, but he's still very, very new.

“He has some things to learn, but again, he's an older guy," Ferentz said. "He played in his true freshman year. I think he's definitely a candidate."

T-- Tough call here on No. 3. Van Sloten is a redshirt freshman who'll be seeing his first action. He's listed 6-7, 290, but strength probably isn't starter strength. He's still young. MacMillan would probably be the easy pick here, but he hasn't had a clean stretch of health. He missed spring after undergoing surgery for a sports hernia. Haganman is a fifth-year senior walk-on who's built himself into a solid 6-5, 285. He also missed spring, however, with a knee injury.

When NFL camps open this fall, Iowa could have as many as five O-linemen on rosters from the 2008-09 teams. That has taken a bite out of the roster.

Ferentz ended spring practice with this assessment: “Those six guys have made good progress and I think some of the other guys are coming along,” coach Ferentz said. “But that's clearly an area where we really have to keep our foot on the gas.”