No. 17 — OG Jordan Walsh

No. 17 ...

Guard Jordan Walsh (6-4, 290) begins his senior season with 23 career starts. Pair Walsh with center Austin Blythe and they account for all 58 career starts in Iowa's current O-line two deep. If Sean Welsh wins his job back over senior Eric Simmons, the Hawkeyes can add another six career starts.

Phil Steele, the college football magazine guy who KNOWS EVERY PLAYER EVERYWHERE (seriously, I was on the FWAA all-American committee last season with Phil and came away absolutely impressed with his encyclopedic knowledge of current college football players — kids, an encyclopedia was a set of books that contained facts and pictures and drawings), has Iowa with 69 career starts, which ranks tied for 57th in the country. I'm at 65 (Blythe 35, Walsh 23 and Welsh 7), which would be No. 63.

The point here is when 89 percent of your returning offensive line starts — the heart of your experience on offense — are concentrated among two players, those two players are really, really important.

Jordan Walsh is a really important player for Iowa. Head coach Kirk Ferentz often jokes when we (the media) get into QB questions that no one cares about the left guard. Well, Walsh is the right guard and he carries a nice slice of Iowa's returning experience.

Last season ...

Walsh missed a couple of starts with an injury (I think it was ankle, but officially undisclosed). And then, he and Welsh did a little dance while Blythe moved into one of the guard spots and fifth-year senior center Tommy Gaul jumped in at center.

The bottom line was O-line coach Brian Ferentz liked Gaul at center better than one of the W's at guard.

The guards had their struggles. For the most part, the coaches stuck with them. For example, the Purdue game.

Iowa's first drive went boom after No. 54 beat Walsh one-on-one for a sack. Did C.J. Beathard hold the ball too long? Maybe a count. Should Walsh have had help? Did the loss of RB Damon Bullock (who was out with an injury) hurt on this one? I don't think so. This seemed to be a one-on-one loss.

Drive two was hindered after Walsh was called for a false start. This drive started at Iowa's 9. The false start came on the first play after a dead ball. After a 9-yard completion to Parker, it looked as if this drive might make it with a third-and-3. Iowa ran an inside zone out of a double-TE formation. Walsh missed No. 92 and it was dog pile on the rabbit and punt.

This was a slow starter for a two-year starter. Coaches don't give up on players. That's how this game works.

On Iowa's first scoring drive, four drives later, the left side of Iowa's O-line caved in the right side of Purdue's D-line. Walsh popped out of the play and was one-on-one with a linebacker in space. He locked up and RB Jordan Canzeri cut off that block for a 9-yard gain. Iowa scored three plays later.

You don't dispose of players every other play. You win the right to screw up and fix it in practice. That eventually paid off here and, following along with that idea, should have a chance to pay off this season.

Outlook ...

Remember Adam Gettis? Does Walsh compare to him? Gettis (6-2, 305) ran with the first-team OL as a guard with the New York Giants this week. This is his fourth season in the NFL. At Iowa, Gettis started just one season (2011). He arrived underweight, raw talent, in need of development. He left as an NFL draft pick after one season as a starter.

All it takes is one to get paid. Does Walsh compare to Gettis? If he does, it really could pay off for the Hawkeyes in 2015.

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