Line Backers

Turning our attention to the strength of the Hawkeyes, the defense, starting with the LB's. The Hawks return all three starters from last year, a trio that amassed 246 tackles, 16 for a loss, and 7 interceptions. They are paced by MLB Pat Angerer, the Bettendorf product essentially came out of no where to anchor the middle of the Iowa defense. Pat had very injury plagued three seasons at Iowa before bursting on the scene and earning 2nd team All Big Team last season. Pat has a knack for finding the ball and was second in the Big Ten with 5 INT's last season. He was one of 42 players to be named to the Lott watch list for 2009. Starting at the Leo linebacker position will be A.J. Edds for the third straight year, while his 2008 numbers were down from 2007, I don't think there is an Iowa fan alive that wouldn't tell you that he was equally as productive. AJ will be one of the two seniors that are projected as starters for the 2009 squad. Jeremiah Hunter has the inside edge on repeating as the starting will linebacker next season. Jeremiah came to Iowa as a heralded recruit out of PA and until last season hadn't seen the field much. With Jeff Tarpanian going down with an injury in the preseason he stepped in and performed brilliantly. The thing that really stands out about the linebacker corps is that the rarely seem to be out of position. While they won't win any beauty contests, they play fundamentally sound and in Norm Parker's defense, that is all that is needed. Backing up those three will be Jeff Tarpanian at the will, who will push Hunter for playing time, however if Tarpanian can't stay healthy it will be a one horse race. Tyler Nielsen will back up Edds at the leo and the one downfall of having a three year starter ahead of him is that he has had very little playing time so far in Iowa City. Nielsen has played a lot of special teams and will probably do the same for this season. At middle linebacker is the only backup spot that is up for grabs, Jacody Coleman is supposedly red shirting and won't be available unless Angerer gets injured. Look for Bruce Davis to be the #2, he is a sophomore out of Glenville high school in Ohio. He was another diamond in the rough player that the Hawks snuck out of Ohio. Overall the LB corps the Hawks will put on the field in 2009 will be one the top two in the Big Ten and top ten in the nation. This is a position where Iowa has some depth and could weather an injury or two if they have to.