Four Downs: Iowa's 2017 offensive line

Taking a look at the 2017 Hawkeyes. Today it's offensive line.

Returning scholarship offensive tackles

— Ike Boettger (6-6, 307, sr.), Boone Myers (6-5, 310, sr.), Alaric Jackson (6-7, 320, #fr.), Lucas LeGrand (6-5, 295, jr.), Tristan Wirfs (6-5, 315, fr.), Mark Kallenberger (6-6, 260, fr.)

Returning scholarship guards

— Sean Welsh (6-3, 295, sr.), Keegan Render (6-4, 310, jr.), Ross Reynolds (6-4, 300, jr.), Levi Paulsen (6-5, 305, so.), Landan Paulsen (6-5, 305, so.), Coy Kirkpatrick (6-5, 275, fr.)

Returning scholarship centers

— James Daniels (6-4, 295, jr.), Cole Banwart (6-4, 295, #fr.), Spencer Williams (6-3, 295, #fr.), Lucas LeGrand (6-5, 295, jr.), Tristan Wirfs (6-5, 315, fr.), Mark Kallenberger (6-6, 260)

Returning walk-ons

— Dalton Ferguson (6-4, 312, jr.), Burke Prins (6-4, 265)

Incoming freshmen

— Tristan Wirfs (6-5, 315, fr.), Mark Kallenberger (6-6, 260, fr.), Coy Kirkpatrick (6-5, 275, fr.)

Key losses

— OT Cole Croston

Quick Look Back

In total, the Iowa running game last season was terrific. We'll mention some of the same things mentioned in the Four Downs running backs post: The Hawkeyes produced a pair of 1,000-yard rushers for the first time in school history. The 2,234 total rushing yards were 17th most in Iowa history. Iowa also piled up six 50-plus runs, tied for the Big Ten lead and Iowa's most in the last seven seasons.

Lots of really, really great things, but also some massive fluctuations that kept 2016 from being a potential 10-win season. Four times last season the Hawkeyes were held to less than 100 yards rushing (North Dakota State, Northwestern, Wisconsin and Penn State). All of those were losses. The passing game filled the void in 2015, but never came close last season.

Of these four games, yes, NDSU is a surprise and that shouldn't happen, but it did and that's that. Northwestern's defense was sneaky good last year, finishing fifth in the league in rush defense (139.15 per game). Iowa lost 38-31, so a lot of this was on the defense, but when Iowa's running game works, it's also part of its best defense. Since 2013, Iowa is 26-5 when it rushes 40 or more times. Northwestern 2016 is one of those five.

The O-line rode a terrific November to the Joe Moore Award. Iowa, Alabama and Ohio State were the finalists. Yes, Alabama and Ohio State made the College Football Playoffs and Iowa skidded out in the Outback Bowl. There's no debate on which teams had the more successful seasons. Iowa rode a strong finish to the trophy.

'The voting was intensely close this year and Iowa and Alabama were neck-and-neck until the very end of the voting period,' said Aaron Taylor, CBS Sports college football analyst and chairman of the Joe Moore Award voting committee. 'Ultimately, while the other units may have had a few standout individual players, many of the voters felt Iowa personified the fundamental principle that drives this award: Teamwork. Iowa excelled in that this season.'

Iowa also finished second in the Moore Award voting last year, so it's been a terrific two-year run for a group that will be three-year starters this fall (guard Sean Welsh and tackles Ike Boettger and Boone Myers).

The award was nice, but the best thing coming out of 2016 for the Iowa O-line was another year of growth for Welsh, who's among the best interior linemen in the B1G, another year of learning and development for Boettger and Myers and junior center James Daniels growing into a starter and potential star.

Yes, there were 30.0 sacks and that's not good. Even if you dismiss 25 to 30 percent of those to a sputtering passing game, it's too many. The way Iowa's offense ended up last season, it just wasn't built for drive killers. Sacks kill drives, no matter whose fault.

4th Down — Critical Questions

The sacks stat is a bit of a sore thumb for this group. There are a ton of factors that go into sacks. It's not always the offensive tackle or the O-line. Maybe as much as 25 or 30 percent of sacks go to the QB who holds the ball too long or a QB stuck in no man's land because a WR or TE missed a read.

To offensive line people, this is equivocation (see Brian Ferentz April news conference in 2016). The buck stops with them and that's how they want it.

'I'd like to sit here and tell you that they were all the quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers' faults, but we all know that's not true,' Ferentz said in 2016, in discussing the 2015 sack totals.

Iowa has allowed 60 sacks the last two seasons. In 2013, Iowa allowed just 15.0 sacks, leading the Big Ten. In 2014, the number went to 21. It's been 30 in each of the last two seasons.

Sacks ruin drives and can ruin games, with last year's Northwestern game standing as an example. The Wildcats had 6.0 sacks, with DE Ifeadi Odenigbo getting the best of OT Cole Croston, who was gutting through a shin injury, on four occasions.

Nathan Ford / The Gazette

Did anyone notice any big changes to pass protection last season? No, not really. Iowa didn't change really anything.

The expectation is for the tackles to hold up in one-on-one situations against defensive ends. That is a top-down thing. Kirk Ferentz carried that over from his offensive line coach days. Reese Morgan held that principle in his nine seasons as Iowa's OL coach. Brian Ferentz didn't send a bunch of backs or TEs at outside rushers during his five seasons as OL coach. Tim Polasek is inheriting two senior offensive tackles who've been taught that since day 1.

It's going to be Myers and Boettger against Ohio State's Tyquan Lewis (he's led the Buckeyes in sacks each of the last two years) and Sam Hubbard. That's probably the best DE duo Iowa, and a lot of teams, will face this year. Wisconsin's 3-4 defense has paired quick outside rushers vs. tackles and has pecked away at the Hawkeyes for 8.0 sacks in the last three meetings.

Of course, 25 to 30 percent of these might go away if the QB, whomever that ends up being (probably Nathan Stanley), clicks with receivers and the ball gets out a tick faster.

3rd Down — Additions/Subtractions

This section will be more about the future. Iowa's starting five seems solid.

Iowa signed three Iowa prep linemen in February — Tristan Wirfs, Mark Kallenberger and Coy Kirkpatrick. It's probably because Iowa prep O-linemen are the biggest sample size when it comes to just about everything Iowa recruiting and personnel, but Iowa prep O-linemen hit more than just about any other regular recruiting segment the Hawkeyes mine.

Probably two of the three plant a flag in the depth chart after redshirting next season. All three probably start at guard and will have a chance to show they can handle tackle (maybe Kallenberger starts at tackle and stays). All three are high achievers in football and other sports (Wirfs is a nationally ranked shot putter and might try to throw for Iowa track). All three have a great chance to position themselves to be multiyear starters.

Iowa football recruiting: Class of 2017 offensive linemen

Iowa is obviously losing OT Cole Croston. The 6-5, 295-pounder signed a free agent deal with the New England Patriots. He played all five OL positions during his visits, including center. Croston gained the Pats' interest and I think the way he'll develop, strength and size, might give him a chance to have a career in the league. I'd point to Matt Kroul (who grew to be a solid 310 pounds during his Jets days) and Matt Tobin (who, like Croston, began his Iowa career as a walk-on and started 20 games in four seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles).

The Hawkeyes go into 2017 with 15 scholarship O-linemen. The group is set up to be productive for the next three years, but keep an eye on tackle development. Freshman Alaric Jackson should position himself to take a spot in '18, but the other spot is kind of up for grabs (maybe LeGrand, who is 6-5 and did try tackle at the end of 2016).

2nd Down — Battles Brewing

I feel like guard Keegan Render has won the left guard spot. There could be some competition with sophomore Levi Paulsen, but Render won that competition last season. He entered the season as No. 6 and, because of injury, he went on to start seven games. Paulsen got a start at Illinois, but it had Brian Ferentz, then-OL coach, sweating bullets. All worries were quashed eventually in that game, but Render has been solid and feels like an incumbent here.

That's really it as far as competition goes for the starting lineup. This, of course, is a product of having a trio of seniors and three-year starters.

Let's push forward to 2018, when Welsh, Boettger and Myers have graduated. What's that depth chart going to look like?

C — James Daniels will be a senior and a three-year starter and, probably, a Rimington Trophy candidate.

G — Render will be a senior at right guard and a 2 1/2-year starter. Paulsen would probably be in line for the other spot, but Ross Reynolds' name came up a few times last spring and he might be ready to make a push for playing time as a senior in '18. Maybe Cole Banwart factors in.

T — Here's the fun part. Probably Jackson, all 6-7 and 320 pounds, at left tackle. He's listed as the backup there this season. If his development continues, he could be ready to lock in at left tackle as a sophomore. Right tackle is a question mark. Will an incoming freshman (Wirfs or Kallenberger) be ready? Dalton Ferguson will be a senior coming off an ACL. He's hung around the depth chart most of the last four years. Maybe he gets a shot. Maybe it's Anthony McKinney. He's a 6-8, 330-pound tackle at Iowa Western. He has offers from everywhere and could be a January transfer. That size is quintessential right tackle.

1st Down — In Summary

Five finishing thoughts on what needs to happen for the best-case scenario.

1. 4.5 yards per carry feels like a magic number

— Iowa's best yards per carry since 2008 came in 2008 at 4.76 ypc, when Shonn Greene did his thing, setting school season and TD records en route to the Doak Walker Award.

In 2015, the 12-2 season, Iowa averaged 4.48 yards per carry. In 2009, the Orange Bowl championship season, the Hawkeyes averaged just 3.27 yards per carry.

There are a ton of ways to win, but Iowa seems to be in a high-comfort zone the closer it can get to 4.5 yards per (the last four seasons have been in that range and Iowa has averaged 8.75 wins).

Video: OL Ike Boettger talks summer workouts

 

4.5 yards per carry gets Iowa into position where it's controlling tempo. That's always a very good thing for Ferentz Iowa.

2. Cut sacks in half

— That doesn't seem unrealistic. Wisconsin did lose T.J. Watt and Vince Biegel to the draft. Iowa hit that mark in 2013. How much better would this make life for new QB (probably Stanley) and almost entirely new WR corps?

3. Get out of the inside trio's way

— Iowa's best OLs are always strong in the middle. Daniels, Welsh and Render should give the Hawkeyes a chance to 1) win a lot of one-on-one and combo blocks (combo is a huge cog in the Hawkeyes' zone scheme) and 2) allow coaches to build in some deception. Who says every outside zone has to look the same? With such a veteran group, Iowa might be able to play with aiming points and angles and keep fronts off balance that way (check North Dakota State and how it attacked Iowa last season).

4. Build up Nos. 6 through 8

— It goes without saying that Iowa is going to need some depth. Right now, Nos. 6 through 8 are probably Paulsen, LeGrand and Reynolds or Banwart. Remember the NDSU game? The Bison held Iowa to 34 yards on 25 carries. It was a tremendous effort, but that also was Render's first start and LeGrand's second at center. Welsh and Daniels were out with injuries. It was a major factor. Obviously, the more developed and ready Nos. 6 through 8 are, the better off the Hawkeyes will be in case of injury.

5. Be the hammer and not the nail in short yardage

— Last year, Iowa wasn't great at this. On third-and-1 to 3 yards to go, the Hawkeyes converted the first down in 21 of 40 attempts. The 21 conversions were OK (tied for seventh in the league), but Iowa gained just 50 yards and averaged 1.25 yards on 50 third-and-short rushes. When you're talking third-and-1 to 3 yards, 1.25 yards doesn't give you any room for error.

This is the difference between keeping the chains moving and keeping drives alive and the sting of missed opportunity. Third-and-1 to 3 yards should be doable, especially with an offensive line that boasts 85 career starts.

More from the 2017 Four Downs series:

• Wide receivers/tight ends

• Running backs

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com