Iowa Hawkeyes 2026 Season Preview

Ferentz Rode the Margins

Iowa's offense scored efficiently and its defense gave up points cheaply, and the model flags both as ripe to regress, while the group actually won 66.7% of its league games against a yardage margin that only implied 57.0%. That gap between what the numbers say Iowa should have done and what it actually did in conference play is the real 2026 question, not the 9-4 record or the No. 25 power ranking sitting next to it. Kirk Ferentz's 28th year has him working with a program that outkicked its yardage in close conference battles, and a step back toward the mean is the more likely bet than a repeat.

The Passing Void

Iowa built a top ten scoring defense and still couldn't shake a passing game that ranked 129th nationally, and that split defines what 2026 has to fix. Hank Brown is projected to take over after throwing for just 107 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception in his look last season, stepping into an offense that leaned on 177 rushing yards per game because the ground game had to. If Brown can push that passing number anywhere close to respectable, a defense that already ranks 8th in points allowed and 9th in yards allowed makes Iowa dangerous rather than just stubborn.

Mark Gronowski's 1,741 passing yards walk out the door, and what Iowa returns at quarterback is thin on evidence: Hank Brown has thrown all of 107 yards, Jeremy Hecklinski has 8, and Ryan Fitzgerald and Jimmy Sullivan have no game tape to speak of. Brown is the front-runner taking the early reps, but this camp battle stays live, and four-star signee Tradon Bessinger joins the room as a long-term answer rather than 2026 competition. Whoever wins the job inherits an offense that already leaned on the ground game over the air, ranking 43rd in rushing yards per game against 129th in passing yards per game, so the bar for the passing attack is simply not making that gap worse.

Kamari Moulton's 878 yards already made him the workhorse here, and Iowa didn't need to fix this position so much as reinforce it, adding South Dakota's L.J. Phillips Jr. after he ran for 1,860 yards. That's a real one-two punch behind an offense that ran the ball well (43rd nationally) but couldn't throw it (129th in passing yards per game), so expect Moulton and Phillips to shoulder even more of the load in 2026. Xavier Williams returns as a proven change-of-pace option too, and with Jaziun Patterson gone, this room looks deeper and more explosive than the one that got Iowa to 9-4.

No Iowa receiver caught more than 15 passes in 2025, which explains why the passing game ranked 129th nationally even as the ground game hummed. Ferentz went outside the program to fix it, landing Furman transfer Evan James, who piled up 65 catches and 796 yards last season and instantly becomes the most proven target on the roster. Reece Vander Zee returns as the incumbent leading returning receiver, but the departures of Jacob Gill, Kaden Wetjen and Sam Phillips gutted what little volume existed, so James isn't a complement, he's the plan.

DJ Vonnahme's 29 catches for 434 yards and 3 touchdowns dwarf everything else on this depth chart, and with Hayden Large gone, Iowa's passing game, already 129th nationally, has nowhere else proven to turn at tight end. Zach Ortwerth's 9 grabs are the only other catch total on the roster, while Michael Burt, Eli Johnson, Thomas Meyer and three-star signees Luke Brewer and Jack Janda arrive without a snap of production between them. Kirk Ferentz's offense leans on the run and finishes drives efficiently, but until someone behind Vonnahme shows up on a stat sheet, this remains a one-man position group propping up an already bottom-third passing attack.

Iowa's offense stayed run-heavy and efficient last season (177 rushing yards per game, 43rd) while ranking 129th in passing, and the line held up well enough to allow just 18 sacks. Gennings Dunker, Logan Jones and Beau Stephens are the notable losses up front, but 13 linemen return, led on paper by seniors Cael Winter, Cannon Leonard, George Nahas, Jack Dotzler and Kade Pieper, none of whom carries a confirmed starting label. Kirk Ferentz still has to sort out who actually lines up where, but with this much of the room back and four-star signees Carson Nielsen, Hudson Parliament and Gene Riordan added as future pieces, the bigger question is whether Iowa's passing game can finally catch up to a line built to run it.

Ethan Hurkett, Aaron Graves and Max Llewellyn combined for the bulk of Iowa's pressure last year, and all three are gone, leaving a line that finished just 69th in sacks and 93rd in tackles for loss to replace nearly its entire pass-rush production. Bryce Hawthorne (15 tackles, 3 TFL) and Kenneth Merrieweather (14 tackles, 1 TFL) are the only proven returners, so Northern Illinois transfer Lance Ingold and his 17 tackles and 1.5 sacks arrives as the closest thing to a plug-and-play edge answer. This unit will lean on Iowa's scheme and a top-10 yards-allowed defense to mask a rebuilt front rather than win with the disruption it had a year ago.

Karson Sharar (83 tackles, 12 TFL, 4 sacks) and Jaden Harrell (41 tackles) are both gone, stripping out the two players who actually made plays behind the line for a defense that ranked just 93rd in TFLs a year ago. Jayden Montgomery, who managed only 1 TFL on his 44 tackles in 2025, now becomes the clear top returner, with Preston Ries and Cam Buffington adding depth but little proven disruption. Four-star signees Julian Manson and Kasen Thomas arrive with real pedigree, but expecting true freshmen to replace 12 combined TFL immediately is a stretch, and Iowa's already thin pass-rush numbers up front figure to get tested again in 2026.

Xavier Nwankpa's 76 tackles and TJ Hall's 47 walk out the door, leaving Zach Lutmer, who racked up 71 tackles and 5.5 TFL of his own, as the lone proven piece in a secondary that ranked 10th nationally in passing yards allowed per game. Deshaun Lee returns with 34 tackles to hold down a starting spot, but Iowa is banking heavily on newcomers to fill out the room, from four-star corner Darion Jones to safeties Anthony Hawkins and Cody Haddad, none of whom has significant college tape. That's a steep bet for a defense that finished 9th in yards allowed per game, and Lutmer's ability to organize a largely unproven back end will decide whether that ranking holds.

Iowa is replacing its placekicker with another placekicker rather than hoping a young leg develops: Eli Ozick arrives from North Dakota State having gone 16 of 18 with a long of 54, a direct swap for Drew Stevens, who left after making 22 of 27 with 107 points. The bigger hole is at punter, where Rhys Dakin's 42 punts at a 43.6 average walk out the door with no returning numbers on file behind them, leaving Boston Everitt and Tanner Philpott to sort out that job with zero college stats between them. Caden Buhr returns at kicker without game numbers of his own, but Ozick's proven production makes him the name to watch on this unit in 2026.

Ferentz Bets on the Portal

Iowa spent the offseason importing production instead of develop-and-wait, and L.J. Phillips Jr. is the headliner, arriving from South Dakota off a 1,860-yard, 19-touchdown season to replace Jaziun Patterson's modest ground work. The bigger swing is under center, where Mark Gronowski's uneven final year (10 TD, 7 INT) gives way to Hank Brown, who has thrown all of 107 yards in his career, meaning Ferentz is trusting projection over proof at the position that decides how far this offense goes. On defense, Karson Sharar, Xavier Nwankpa and Koen Entringer all leave real tackle production behind, and the fixes are cheaper bets like safeties Tyler Brown and Anthony Hawkins and edge rusher Lance Ingold, a group built on volume more than pedigree.

Hank Brown's Arm

Iowa's ground game is stacked enough to carry a shaky passer, with Kamari Moulton back off 878 yards and South Dakota transfer L.J. Phillips Jr. arriving off a 1860-yard, 19-touchdown season. But Mark Gronowski's exit leaves Hank Brown, who has thrown for just 107 yards in his career, projected to run the offense, and how much he can complete to DJ Vonnahme when defenses stack the box for the backfield will decide whether this stays a 9-win team or slips.

Regression Watch

Iowa covered 9-3-1 and finished 9-4 largely because the offense scored on 10.9 yards per point against a 14.1 league median, an efficiency streak that rarely survives to the next season. The defense told a different story, letting opponents earn 17.7 yards per point, bending without breaking, and the yardage margin against conference foes implied a lower win rate than the 66.7% Iowa actually posted. That gap between how this team played and how it won is the real signal for 2026, and it points toward Kirk Ferentz's group taking a step back even before accounting for who is on the field.