No. 16 — OLB Ben Niemann

No. 16 . . . At some point either during the TaxSlayer Bowl or shortly thereafter, Ben Niemann became Iowa's No. 1 outside linebacker.

You all remember the January depth chart that Kirk Ferentz released this year. It was a first during his now almost 17-year tenure. I think it probably was mostly a deal to unwrap a QB change and subsequent transfer of a two-year starting QB (you all know how that turned out).

One of the other changes was Niemann (6-3, 225) to OLB starter, pushing Bo Bower to No. 1 weakside linebacker. A sitting starter was switched out, but, of course, that was going to get a lot less fanfare than a QB change.

In the second half of the TaxSlayer Bowl (I promise to not reference this much longer, my promise to you), Niemann replaced Bower and has stuck. All through spring, Niemann was the OLB. He seems to have decisively won the job, with senior Cole Fisher backing him up.

Coaching change . . .

Along with Niemann making a run at a starting spot on the depth chart, veteran linebackers coach Jim Reid took over as position coach for the entire LB group. In 2014, he ran the inside linebackers while LeVar Woods coached outside. Woods was shifted to tight ends for this season.

Did Reid call for the change? It's impossible to know for sure. You know the info here is tough to pound out, but here's Reid on Niemann this spring (all of these quotes are complimentary, but this is above and beyond):

'Ben Niemann really fits the definition of Iowa football and being a linebacker,' Reid said. Let's hang with this one for a minute.

Yes, Reid is in just his third season at Iowa, but he's coached linebackers since 1973 with stops all over the Power 5 and one in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins. Yes, coaches are programmed to say these things. Consider the depth of this statement and choose to do with it what you'd like.

'He is fast. He is athletic. He's tough and he can really, really think on his feet,' Reid said. All good, all things you want from an outside linebacker.

'He just has instincts to the ball and he's got a great opportunity to get up there and show a little bit of what he can do right from the get-go, because now we've moved all the way inside so that these first five, six practices that will be constant, and it's working out I think really well,' Reid said. 'He's had three really great practices, flying around. Making mistakes, which is going to happen, but making them full speed ahead and then working on instinct, and that's where coaches come in to try to take that energy and maybe a long step here and get him going in the right direction.

'He's a high-speed athlete at linebacker.'

All good, all what you want.

FWIW, I thought Niemann was exactly what Reid said during the spring game. He ranged out quickly and met a lot of ball carriers. Does he have the strike and athleticism to make one-on-one tackles in space? That will be the challenge.

Outlook . . .

Here's Ferentz on his linebacking corps at last week's Big Ten media days: 'We're still not sure what our best combination at linebacker is, but the good news is I think we have some real options right now that are viable. Whereas last year, we were kind of trying to figure it all out. It was scary.'

This convo stemmed from a question about inside linebackers. I don't believe Ferentz was referring to Niemann, whose brother, Nick, committed to Iowa for the 2016 class this summer. I think Niemann is solidly in.

He blocked a punt and returned it for a TD vs. Northwestern last season. His dad, Jay, is the defensive coordinator at Northern Illinois. Niemann walked on campus on track to this. He's on schedule. All systems go.

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