Inside The Hawkeyes

One Mammoth Concern for Iowa After Signing Day

The Iowa Hawkeyes have one pretty significant concern after national early signing day.
Matthew Schmidt|
Oct 26, 2024; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz walks off the field after a game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
Oct 26, 2024; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz walks off the field after a game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

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Iowa Hawkeyes

National early signing day has come and gone for the Iowa Hawkeyes, and while Iowa did have a nice haul, landing some impressive linebackers and another four-star tight end, the Hawkeyes still have one mammoth concern after Wednesday.

Wide receiver.

Iowa was only able to land one nominal wide out on signing day: three-star prospect Terrence Smith. The Hawkeyes did bring in Mason Woods, but he is simply referred to as an "athlete" at the current point in time.

Perhaps Woods will end up being a wide receiver for Iowa, but there's also a chance he may end up in more of a specialty role like Kaleb Wetjen.

So, really, the receiver position remains a major point of contention for a Hawkeyes squad that got very limited production from its wide outs in 2024.

Heck, Jacob Gill led the way with 32 catches for 382 yards and a couple of touchdowns, which is absolutely not going to cut it for your No. 1 pass-catcher.

Now, to be fair, Iowa's issues under center certainly had something to do with its lack of production from its receivers, but still, you would expect more than those numbers.

The Hawkeyes are obviously more known for producing tight ends, but they even failed in that department in 2024, as Luke Lachey managed just 27 receptions for 227 yards.

Luckily, Iowa still has the transfer portal at its disposal to add more receiving talent. That was how the Hawkeyes imported Gill last year.

But the question is whether or not Iowa is doing enough to prioritize the receiving corps?

Hopefully, the Hawkeyes are able to bring in more pieces. If not, 2025 could represent another long year for the Iowa offense, especially with running back Kaleb Johnson heading to the NFL.

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Matthew Schmidt
MATTHEW SCHMIDT

Matthew Schmidt is a sportswriter who covers NFL, MLB, NBA and college football and basketball. He has been writing professionally since 2011 and has also worked for Bleacher Report, FanRag Sports, ClutchPoints, NFLAnalysis.net and NBAAnalysis.net. He was born and raised in New Jersey and has a rather eclectic group of favorite teams: the Boston Celtics, New York Giants and Miami Marlins.

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