Iowa Football Position Preview: TE

There has been a progression to Luke Lachey’s game as a tight end at Iowa, and now he seems ready to lead a room that has traditionally been one of the strongest positions with the Hawkeyes.

Lachey played one game as a true freshman in 2020, had eight catches for 133 yards in 2021, then had 28 catches for 398 yards and four touchdowns last season.

It’s been an education that he appreciates.

“I’ve learned a lot,” Lachey said. “I think my game is so much better now than what it was.”

Lachey closed the season strong, with 15 catches and two touchdowns in the final three games, including a 7-reception, 89-yard game against Nebraska in the regular-season finale.

It’s that kind of momentum, and experience, that has him at the top of the depth chart in a talented position group that lost Sam LaPorta to the NFL after last season.

Erick All, a transfer from Michigan, comes in with 54 catches for 565 yards in four seasons. Addison Ostrenga, who played in all 13 games last season as a true freshman, is No. 3 on the depth chart.

It’s a combination Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz likes.

“I think the good news is right now, Luke Lachey is a much better than he was a year ago,” Ferentz said. “We lost a really good player, needless to say, with Sam LaPorta. But then you get a guy like Erick All to join the team, so feel pretty good about those two guys.

“Ostrenga, he's in year two now so he is playing better than he did last year, and he played pretty well last year.”

There are high expectations with All, who joined former Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara in Iowa’s transfer class in the offseason. All played in three games last season before an injury ended his year, but he was an honorable-mention All-Big Ten pick in 2021 after catching 38 passes for 437 yards and two touchdowns.

Ferentz also likes Steven Stilianos, who came to Iowa from Lafayette last season as a graduate transfer with two years of eligibility remaining. Stilianos had 65 catches for 534 yards and five touchdowns in four seasons at Lafayette, an FCS school.

“To look at him last year, he struggled, quite frankly, a little bit like (Zach) VanValkenberg his first year. Now you're seeing a whole different player,” Ferentz said. “We saw that, kind of, in the spring, but right now he is practicing like a guy who can help us, so all of a sudden I think we have some depth there.”

All of this makes for a competitive position group, and Lachey understands that.

“We’ve got a lot of great guys in there,” he said. “My role isn’t going to be that much different. Whatever I can do to help the team win, I’m going to do.”