Iowa’s Nick DeJong, after ‘sticking with it,’ experiences success as starting left guard

IOWA CITY — Kirk Ferentz saw it in Nick DeJong.

The realization happened maybe “three years ago now” as the offensive lineman was coming off the indoor practice field at the Hansen Football Performance Center.

“I saw something,” Ferentz said. “I’m not sure he saw it.”

Eventually, DeJong “figured out maybe he can do this and do it successfully,” too.

Now, what Ferentz first saw and DeJong discovered as well is on display for everyone to see.

Once a walk-on, DeJong has found success as Iowa’s starting left guard through the first two games while sharing snaps with Miami (Ohio) transfer Rusty Feth.

While the line as a whole still has some work to do in the run game, the Pella native’s pass blocking efficiency is 98.7, according to Pro Football Focus — the highest in his career since he became a starter.

DeJong’s efficiency rating was 95.3 and 96.8 in his previous two seasons with substantial playing time. For perspective, now-NFL center Tyler Linderbaum’s pass blocking efficiency was 99.1 in his last year at Iowa.

Ferentz especially noticed DeJong’s improvement last spring.

“Really you could see the confidence growing,” Ferentz said. “He was more consistent with his techniques.”

It was perhaps partly because DeJong’s health was a plus rather than an impediment during the key developmental period.

“He’s dealt with a lot of injuries … like a lot of guys,” Ferentz said. “Last spring was the first time he ran the whole race — 15 days, every practice.”

DeJong takes pride in “sticking with it” since arriving on campus in 2019.

“Obviously five years in the Iowa football program is not necessarily easy,” DeJong said.

DeJong is the one offensive lineman from Iowa’s original 2019 recruiting class to still have a major role on the team despite arriving as the one without a scholarship.

Ezra Miller spent one year at Iowa before transferring to Nebraska, where he did not have a scholarship and rarely saw the field. Tyler Endres did not see any game action in his Hawkeye career. Noah Fenske transferred to Colorado (and then eventually Southern Illinois) after appearing in one game in his two seasons in Iowa City.

Justin Britt was the only other offensive lineman from DeJong’s class to start a game. He started in three games and appeared in eight others in 2021, but injuries derailed his college career. He was put on medical scholarship after last season.

Along with the “Iowa mentality” and family support, DeJong also credited offensive line coach George Barnett for his growth and success.

“Obviously, he’s improved me as a football player,” DeJong said. “But in terms of my mentality, outlook, whatever you want to call that, I think he has definitely had a huge impact on that.”

DeJong saw small chunks of playing time earlier in his career — he appeared in one game as a true freshman and seven as a redshirt freshman — and then saw a dramatic increase in his role as a sophomore.

The early playing time was a “good thing” for his career development.

“In the moment, maybe it didn’t always feel like a good thing,” DeJong said with a laugh. “But it taught me things in a way that maybe you wouldn’t be able to learn necessarily if you weren’t in there. … Right now, I can look back and say there’s a lot of things that I know and are able to do now because of those experiences.”

He appeared in all 14 games as a sophomore and made nine starts. He appeared in 12 of Iowa’s 13 games as a junior last year while making eight starts.

DeJong’s contributions to the line have come from the left and right sides.

His eight starts last year came at three different positions — five at left guard, two at right guard and one at right tackle. In 2021, he started seven games at right tackle and two games at left tackle.

“The most difficult part is just the stance,” DeJong said regarding switching sides. “It feels a little weird when you’re going from one side to the other, but everything else is the same.”

Switching between guard and tackle was not as much of an imposition for DeJong as it might be for other offensive linemen.

“There’s definitely things that transfer,” DeJong said. “The way that offensive line is taught here, it’s not necessarily position-specific in terms of fundamentals and stuff like that.”

DeJong is part of a 2023 offensive line with more experience than in past years.

Five players — DeJong, Feth, Mason Richman, Connor Colby and Logan Jones — have started at least 15 games at the FBS level going into Week 3.

Last year, Iowa did not have any offensive linemen with 15 career starts until the Week 3 game, when Richman started his 15th game. At this time two years ago, Linderbaum was the only offensive lineman with 15-plus starts.

More experience on the field also means more group bonding time off the field.

Board and card games are popular among the offensive linemen when they’re away from the football facility. “Secret Hitler” is a favorite.

“The name — yeah, I know, it sounds really bad,” center Jones said. “But it’s a very fun board game.”

The rules are complicated, but Jones said "you got to be a good liar" to be good at it.

“We have a few dictators in those games — their voices are the loudest — so they always end up winning,” DeJong said.

Now, it’s up to DeJong and the rest of Iowa’s offensive line to make a loud impact on the football field, especially on the ground after averaging a Big Ten-worst 3.1 yards per carry through the first two games.

“There hasn’t been a day where we come out and we’re just feet back, feet up on the table, leaning back, enjoying things,” DeJong said. “We’re coming out every day excited and eager to not only practice, but get better and get to where we want to be.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com