No. 3 — C Austin Blythe

No. 3 ...

Austin Blythe made the Rimington Trophy watch list this summer. It's the highest honor a college football center can receive, the trophy and not the list. It's named after Dave Rimington, a former Nebraska all-American. The award ceremony is in Omaha. One cool thing I did learn about the Rimington Trophy is the award is sponsored by the Boomer Esiason Foundation, which was founded after Esiason's son, Gunnar, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis in 1993. Rimington was named president of the Foundation and under his leadership has raised more than $100 million.

I wanted to throw in a little about what the Rimington is about, because it's an honorable endeavor and does have an air about it.

With that said, it's now OK to make a little fun out of preseason watch lists. The Rimington list includes pretty much every center who played last year. It's excessive. It's also better to be on now than not.

Blythe, a 6-3, 290-pounder who's beginning his second season as Iowa's starting center, kind of took the summer announcement in stride.

'I am surprised [there are so many lists],” Blythe said with a laugh. 'I had to ask my dad [Curt] about the Bednarik watch list. I didn't know what that was. The big step is to get on the next stage of the list. No one has done anything at this point.

'You just kind of take it, shrug your shoulders and keep working.”

The people who do the voting for the Rimington Trophy probably appreciate that approach.

Some reviews ...

Blythe is generally regarded as the Hawkeyes No. 2 O-lineman behind that one guy. Blanking for a second ... oh, Brandon Scherff. You know, the guy with the 443-pound hang clean. That guy.

That's great company for Blythe, but, according to teammates, it's well earned and the truth.

Every day in practice, Blythe snaps the ball to Jake Rudock and/or C.J. Beathard and the first punch to the face comes from defensive tackle Carl Davis.

'Austin, he's a technician,” said Davis, a 6-5, 315-pounder. 'He's not necessarily an undersized guy, but he's going against me a little bit, he might be. When he gets his hands inside, he stays low, he's aggressive. He's a wrestler in high school so he has that grit to him. Me and him battle it out and I love going against him. There wasn't too many centers that were better than him that I played.”

And from senior right tackle Andrew Donnal: 'He's got to be a leader because he's calling the offenses and he's basically running the line. He's got to be someone who can take charge and lead us all and someone that we can trust and be confident and help us do what we want to do.”

Technical technique ...

Blythe was built for this. He won three state heavyweight wrestling titles during his prep days and was a high-level performer on the national prep scene. O-line coach Brian Ferentz and former three-year Iowa starter James Ferentz, now with the Houston Texans, played center for the Hawkeyes and wrestled at Iowa City High. Both have said that Blythe had the better wrestling credentials. James Ferentz used to say Blythe could still be wrestling if he wanted to.

Blythe has always had what it takes, here's him on how that translates into what Iowa's O-line wants to do (how it works, basically): 'I think it's just a powerful way to block. You can definitely tell when you do it right and when you do it wrong. When you do it wrong, it's not going to go very well for you. So just getting that backside knee in the crotch really helps finish guys. That's something that everybody needs to work.

'What we're taught is we just want to run through guys. Essentially you're just running on a treadmill, a 50-yard dash through somebody. You don't want to do any of that duckwalk stuff and you want to be powerful and move your feet and your legs and your hips.

'We just don't run sideways as an offensive line. We get vertical and we take guys where they want to go. If they jump behind you, you go with them. The back will read off you.”

Outlook ...

Blythe has a chance to be a four-year starter on Iowa's O-line (he started nine games at right guard, missing a few with an ankle sprain). There haven't been a lot of those. If all goes well, Blythe could finish his career with 48 starts. That's an elite club. That also doesn't mean he's just a clock-puncher. Last season, Blythe was an honorable mention all-Big Ten pick by league coaches and media.

This is a solid career happening right now and a potentially great one.

A lot of this top 45 was based on how indispensable the player is to Iowa's success in ‘14. Junior Eric Simmons is the No. 2. He's seen action in two games. Ever. Remember what center is for the offensive line, it's the central nervous system. The center's job is to count defenders and ID the middle linebacker, who absolutely must be blocked. Simmons could be good, but Iowa would sorely miss the talented, cerebral Blythe.

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