Iowa is losing a lot entering this season at linebacker. Unanimous All-American Jack Campbell was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. He led the Big Ten with 128 tackles and earned numerous awards at the end of last season. Seth Benson signed as an undrafted free agent and had 94 tackles for the Hawkeyes last year. The Iowa linebacker group has a challenging task in front of it this season, replacing 222 total tackles from a year ago.
All-Conference Transfer
To help regain strength immediately, Iowa was able to land Nick Jackson from the Transfer Portal this offseason. He played four years at Virginia, was voted a team captain, and led the ACC with 10.4 tackles per game in 2022. Throughout Jackson’s career in Charlottesville, he had 354 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, and 10.5 sacks. His production at linebacker was among the best in the nation and he’ll suit up for the Hawkeyes this season.
In 2022, Jackson had 104 tackles in 10 games played. On a per-game basis, Jackson averaged more tackles than Campbell. He and Benson averaged a total of 17 tackles per game, and Jackson is replacing 58% of that production himself. He will be a significant addition to the linebacker room in Iowa City bringing leadership, experience, and talent to the spot. The coaching staff has been impressed with his unselfishness since arriving at Iowa. Jackson has been able to mesh with the team quickly and is already very highly regarded as a teammate.
Returners
Returning to the position at linebacker are a couple of players ready to make the jump to the starting role. The first is Jay Higgins. He’s played 31 games at Iowa over three seasons with two starts. In comparison to Jackson, who has 2,305 defensive snaps, Higgins has only 267. The experience levels are quite different, but Higgins is far from inexperienced in this linebacker group. Last year, he had a career-high 11 tackles against Northwestern and slid into the starting role for two games in the back half of the season.
Kyler Fisher is the other linebacker returning this season likely to start. In terms of experience, Fisher has the least of this projected starting group. He played in 13 games in each of the last two seasons but has yet to start. He has 12 career tackles and 56 defensive snaps played. Most of his work has come on special teams. In 2021, he returned a blocked punt for a critical touchdown against Nebraska to cap a 10-win regular season.
Depth at Iowa Linebacker
Other names to look for at the linebacker spot include Karson Sharar and Jaden Harrell. The two have very limited experience at the position, having played behind a couple of very talented linebackers for the last few years. Sharar is a sophomore and has 11 total games played at Iowa, and was limited last season with an injury. It will be possible to see Sharar rotate at the LEO spot with Fisher this season. Harrell is another sophomore who has yet to see the field. He is a true middle linebacker who might get in on the rotation this season behind Jackson.
Looking a little deeper, Jaxon Rexroth and Kelby Telander are a couple of players who are listed at the LEO spot but will likely have a bigger impact on special teams this season. They are both walk-ons who will work to make a name for themselves on special teams much like Fisher and many other former Iowa defenders have.
