No. 32 -- DT Jaleel Johnson

During this exercise last season, defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson came in at No. 43. Then, he was a highly touted (12 offers including Michigan, Wisconsin and Michigan State) incoming freshman, standing 6-4 and weighing in at nearly 320 pounds.

There always was the possibility that Johnson would take a redshirt, which he eventually did, but the thought was Iowa needed D-linemen so badly that a true freshman with good size might have a shot at a spot in the rotation.

Johnson wasn't ready, few true freshman are. And so he begins his redshirt freshman year as a 6-4, 310-pounder who came out of spring practice a No. 2 on the depth chart behind sophomore Darian Cooper.

There are, however, no guarantees. Iowa has some solid bodies on the interior of the D-line. Johnson is going to earn his playing time, but he is being counted on to be in the rotation. Iowa doesn't have too many bodies like Johnson's shouldering into a blocking sled.

Key 2012 factors: When a true freshman is 320 pounds, you wonder how much of that weight is going to need to be rearranged during a redshirt season. We don't know all the particulars from inside Iowa strength and conditioning, but Johnson never looked overly heavy. Some people are just big, and Johnson is one of those people. He's listed at 310, which looks about right. Technique? He'll probably have the same issues a lot of young DL have with leverage being the constant battle.

Offseason factors: One factor that affected Johnson's spring was the injury to DT Louis Trinca-Pasat. He missed all of spring practice while recovering from surgery for a torn labrum. So, that opened the door to tons of playing time for young defensive tackles. In the spring game, Johnson was a No. 2 alongside Dean Tsopanides. The extra time in drills, the extra one-on-one time with D-line coach Reese Morgan and D-line assistant Eric Johnson, that couldn't have hurt.

Iowa saw 962 snaps on defense last season. I didn't track this stat, but I imagine Trinca-Pasat played around 80 percent of those. Can Iowa afford to have a 280-pound DT see that many snaps? Maybe not, but the bigger question is do the Hawkeyes have a tag-team partner to go along with LTP?

Competition: Right now, let's pencil Cooper and junior Carl Davis in as the starters. Cooper probably played the next most snaps at DT last season. At 280, he's also somewhat undersized. Throw in the chase for spread or zone-read QBs, you quickly understand why Morgan said this spring that Iowa will continue to rotate as many as eight D-linemen. Davis had a great spring, but needs to put it on the field in the fall. Johnson's biggest competition could come from fellow redshirt frosh DL Faith Ekakitie, who ended spring lining up at defensive end.

Why No. 32?: Johnson will have every opportunity to jump into the rotation at DT and, perhaps, win a starting job. The DT situation isn't as desperate as DE, but Iowa needs every young D-linemen to add something. If Iowa's defense progresses, you'll see players with Johnson's experience level making a play here and there.

"He's raw and he's tough," Morgan said this spring. "That's what you love about him. He's got a lot of pride and he's competitive, but he's still a work-in-progress, as all of our guys are. It's just been kind of fun to work with him and to see that and understand things.

He likes the physical part of the game and if anyone here likes that part of football, you would love a guy like that."

Outlook: Johnson's playing time is in his hands. If he has a great camp, he could win a starting job. He'll begin camp in the rotation. He's a big body, and so he'll get every chance to play his way "in." He controls his playing fate this fall. What more could you ask as a 310-pound redshirt freshman DT in the Big Ten?

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