The 2025 season for the Iowa Hawkeyes was largely defined by the usual suspects. This team played strong defense, ran the ball incredibly well behind a stout offensive line, and won games in the forgotten third of the game, special teams.
The latter two, the offensive line play and special teams, singlehandedly won games on multiple occasions this year. The offensive line took home the Joe Moore Award and is led by two future NFL talents, Gennings Dunker and Logan Jones, each of whom has earned a “best at” in ESPN’s NFL Draft superlatives.
Jones is steady in pass protection and had experience in a multiple-run scheme at Iowa. He has the field awareness to identify pressure and late movement to anchor the offensive front.
Dunker could make a move to guard in the NFL, but that won’t impact his play demeanor. He looks to bury defenders on combo blocks, and he will drive linebackers out of the screen when he gets his hands on them at the second level. It’s a double-chinstrap game when you line up against Dunker. – Matt Bowen, ESPN
On the special teams side of things, Iowa flipped multiple games on its head this year with electrifying special teams plays when elite return man Kaden Wetjen got his hands on the ball. One of the most explosive players in all of college football, he has NFL special teams coaches salivating with his innate ability to find green and burst through it for game-changing plays.
Wetjen is fearless in the return game, with the vision and open-field burst to create explosive plays. He returned three punts and one kickoff for a touchdown in 2025, and he had 10 punt returns of 20 or more yards — the most in the FBS. – Matt Bowen, ESPN
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire : ESPN NFL draft superlatives include trio of Iowa football stars
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