Iowa defensive line’s key retentions, transfer portal additions improve 2025 outlook

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Yahya Black is quite the fan of the Settlers of Catan board game.

“Favorite game,” the Iowa defensive tackle said while in Nashville last month for Iowa’s bowl trip. “Taught a couple of these guys. It’s great. I win every time. But they’re learning.”

Black “used to play all the time” with his roommates — so often that he has an all-time wins chart on his phone. He, of course, has a commanding lead.

“My strategy is to monopolize and make sure people want what I have and then trade with them,” Black said.

But Black’s Settlers of Catan dominance will need to be passed on to one of the other Iowa defensive linemen — perhaps Pittman, perhaps someone else — as the position group will have a bit of a different look in 2025.

The Hawkeyes must replace Black and fellow senior Deontae Craig — both starters on the defensive line for the last two seasons and key contributors before that as well. (Both were all-Big Ten honorable mentions in 2024, and both likely have NFL careers ahead of them.)

The position group could have looked even more different, had it not been for the retentions of 2024 starters Aaron Graves and Ethan Hurkett. Graves is staying for his senior year rather than pursuing the NFL, and Hurkett using his extra COVID-19 year of eligibility.

As for the voids that the Hawkeyes still need to fill, they have been swift in finding solutions via the transfer portal. Iowa added Jonah Pace last month from Central Michigan and then Bryce Hawthorne from South Dakota State over the weekend.

Pace and Hawthorne are at different stages of their careers — Pace has one year of eligibility remaining versus Hawthorne’s three — but they fit a similar profile. They’re both players who will arrive in Iowa City with proven track records of production, albeit at a lower level.

Pace has appeared in 35 games in his career and was second on the FBS Group of Five-level Chippewas with 11 tackles for loss in 2024. Hawthorne, meanwhile, had 5.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks with the FCS-level Jackrabbits in 2024 — his second season on campus and first season with extended playing time.

They also both have played predominantly in the interior, which appeared to be an area of particular need for the 2025 Hawkeyes.

Only three different defensive tackles took at least 100 defensive snaps this season, per Pro Football Focus. That was down from four in each of the 2023, 2022 and 2021 seasons.

Subtract Black — an NFL-bound player whose impact as a two-gap defensive tackle was far greater than his seven tackles for loss in 2024 might suggest — and Iowa had an obvious void to fill on the interior.

That could mean immediate opportunities for Pace, Hawthorne and any existing players who can show significant strides in 2025. Will Hubert took 51 defensive snaps this season, per PFF, and Luke Gaffney took 24 defensive snaps.

On the exterior, Iowa appears to be in good shape as Hurkett returns along with key second-teamers Max Llewellyn (with 290 defensive snaps in 2024) and Brian Allen (with 255 defensive snaps).

As for the Iowa defensive line room’s void in Settlers of Catan dominance, that remains to be seen.

Devan Kennedy — nicknamed “Unc” — is “getting better” since Black taught him the strategy game during fall camp; however, Black will “still whoop him every time.”

“Jeremiah Pittman is the closest,” Black said as he mentioned his own lead in the all-time wins chart.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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