Iowa football notebook: Cade McNamara is ‘moving around and more active’ than before

IOWA CITY — Cade McNamara’s health status is apparently continuing to move in the right direction.

“It’s good to see him moving around and more active than he had been before,” wide receiver Kaleb Brown told reporters on Tuesday.

Brown later added he has seen McNamara this summer “in his sprints, and he looked good.”

Running back Leshon Williams also said McNamara has “looked good” when throwing.

“It should be an exciting season for him too as long as he stays healthy,” Williams said.

The encouraging update is no surprise after Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz previously said he expected McNamara to be back to “full speed” in June. McNamara missed the last nine games of the 2023 season with an ACL injury and was limited during spring practices.

Ferentz most recently used former Washington quarterback and 2024 NFL first-round pick Michael Penix as an example of the feasibility of fully recovering from an ACL injury.

“It’s an ACL. Penix got drafted eighth and had two of them,” Ferentz told reporters in May ahead of a Polk County I-Club event. “So it’s not like 1982.”

Kaleb Brown, Cade McNamara develop chemistry

Iowa returns its most talented quarterback (McNamara) and most talented wide receiver from last year (Brown).

Ironically, though, McNamara and Brown have a relative lack of experience playing together in games.

McNamara only targeted Brown three times before the quarterback’s season-ending injury in Week 5 against Michigan State, and none of them resulted in receptions. Brown had fewer than 10 offensive snaps in all but one of those games, per Pro Football Focus.

Brown’s emergence came later in the season, as he had 22 receptions for 215 yards in Iowa’s last six games — the most for any Iowa wide receiver during that span — after not having any catches in Iowa’s first eight games.

Despite the limited time on the field together, Brown said he already is “comfortable” working with McNamara.

“It’s definitely been good to build the chemistry and just have him as a No. 1 quarterback stepping up to bring the guys together and keep pushing forward as a team,” Brown said.

Speedy skill position players

Brown mentioned defensive back Zach Lutmer and walk-on wide receivers Ayden Price and Kaden Wetjen as players who are winning sprints during offseason workouts.

All three players mentioned are Iowa natives. Wetjen is from Williamsburg, Lutmer is from Rock Rapids and Price is from West Des Moines.

Most of Wetjen’s in-game opportunities have come on special teams although he could see a larger role in the offense this fall. Lutmer, meanwhile, appeared in two games in 2023 while preserving his redshirt year.

“(Lutmer) is going to shock a lot of people, that’s for sure,” Brown said.

Nick DeJong’s 2024 position: TBD

Good luck trying to predict where on the offensive line Nick DeJong will play in 2024.

“I don’t know,” DeJong said. “That’s a great question. And if you’d asked me that question last year, I probably had the same answer. … I think a lot of it’s what we need and what we have.”

DeJong, a sixth-year senior, has essentially played everywhere. His 435 offensive snaps last year, as tracked by PFF, was split between left guard (156), right tackle (134), right guard (99) and left tackle (46).

He saw game action at all four of those positions in 2022 as well. The only position he has not played in games is center, where Logan Jones has been for the last two years.

“I practiced snapping a few times just to tell Logan that I can do it,” DeJong said.

DeJong is one of six Iowa offensive linemen returning who have started 10-plus games in their Hawkeye careers. The others are Jones, Mason Richman, Gennings Dunker, Connor Colby and Beau Stephens.

Considering Richman’s history at left tackle and Dunker’s significant strides at right tackle last year, one of the two guard positions appears to be a logical fit for DeJong. However, as has been the case in past years, injuries could quickly change the calculus for where to play him.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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