Iowa Football: Where Lindy’s Sports projects the Hawkeyes in Big Ten, national races, and other notes

With it being the day after Memorial Day, college football magazines have hit the shelves. 

Today, we picked up a copy of Lindy’s Sports magazine, and we’ve had a chance to look through the magazine and see where the Hawkeyes are ranked and what national pundits have to say about Kirk Ferentz’s team ahead of the 2024 season. 

Obviously, we are headed into a new paradigm in college football. This will be the first season of an 18-team Big Ten with Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington joining the league. And it will be the first season with a 12-team College Football Playoff to determine the national champion.

Lindy’s ranks Iowa as No. 27 nationally and projects the Hawkeyes to finish sixth in the Big Ten. 

The teams projected to finish ahead of the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten are Ohio State at No. 1, Oregon at No. 2, Michigan at No. 3, Penn State at No. 4, and USC at No. 5. 

The main concern that Lindy’s has with Iowa is the offense. The Hawkeyes will have one of the best defenses in the country this season, but the offense still has question marks. 

“The defense is still Iowa, but unfortunately, so is the offense,” wrote Lindy’s. 

As far as unit rankings go, Iowa’s linebacker corp ranks sixth nationally and the defensive backs also rank sixth. 

Luke Lachey is ranked as the No. 4 tight end in the country, Logan Jones is the No. 6 center, and Connor Colby is the No. 5 guard in college football. 

Nick Jackson is the No. 6 outside linebacker and Jay Higgins is the No. 2 inside linebacker. The Hawkeyes don’t have any safeties or cornerbacks ranked in the top-10 position wise, but Lindy’s is still high on Iowa’s defensive backs as a unit. 

Higgins is the lone Hawkeye on Lindy’s Preseason All-American Team as a First Team member. 

Lachey and Higgins are No. 6 and No. 7 in the Big Ten’s NFL Talent this season. 

Here is one notable quote from Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester that Lindy’s used. 

“We are going to be disciplined and we’re going to be aggressive,” said Lester. 

While he isn’t a newcomer, Lindy’s states that Iowa running back Kamari Moulton could be someone to watch this fall for the Hawkeyes in the run game. John Nestor is also projected to be one of the starting cornerbacks opposite of Jermari Harris, per Lindy’s. 

Lindy’s highlights tight end Gavin Hoffman, offensive lineman Will Nolan, and linebacker Derek Weisskopf as the top newcomers for Iowa in the incoming freshmen class. The top sleeper in the Big Ten is incoming Iowa defensive lineman Devan Kennedy, per 247Sports’ Brandon Huffman. 

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