Iowa Football Preview: Five players to watch on offense

One of the topics we always love to talk about this time of the year are the players who could potentially emerge during fall camp for the Hawkeyes. Heading into every season the new faces who might be either just getting established and moving up the depth chart or new to the campus are vying for playing time.

Of course, this is an inexact science, particularly when it comes to true freshmen who are just arriving on the Iowa campus and how much of an impact they can have in their first year of Big Ten football.

But, we are going to dive in anyway and take a look at five players on the offensive side of the football that Iowa fans should be keeping an eye on during fall camp. Some of the names won’t be a huge surprise, but maybe a few of them will be.

KAMARI MOULTON

Hawkeye fans might be getting tired of me singing his praises, but we heard this spring that Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester likes what he showed in practice. That was validated when the newly released two deep depth chart showed Moulton sitting behind Leshon Williams and Kaleb Johnson .

Iowa running backs coach Ladell Betts has found ways to be created and feed a lot of mouths at running back. Look back to the Bowl game last season when he played four running backs in the first quarter of the game to some level of success.

Moulton played a bit last year, but kept his redshirt season, seeing action four games. Moulton had 27 carries for 93 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Watch him this fall because his star is on the rise.

KADE PIEPER

The buzz was already building last season about Kade Pieper . He was a freshman that looked like a freshman standing next to teammates like Gennings Dunker and Mason Richman . He needed weight and he’s add a good amount to his frame.

If you thought the buzz would slow down, then Pieper went out and won the Solon Hay Bale Toss That’s a sure way to get fans excited about your potential. Nothing says future star like tossing a bale of hay in the air over a bar.

Anyway, Pieper is really talented. He’s probably a year away from being a starter, but that day is coming. He’s going to be a guard and Iowa offensive line coach George Barnett loves his toughness.

ZACH ORTWERTH

We don’t need to go into great detail about the tradition of the Iowa tight end position. Safe to say it’s good and Ortwerth is about to make some more significant noise in his sophomore year. He’s added weight and is now up to 240 pounds. That means he’s filling out to an optimal weight for the position.

Last year he got his feet wet, including a 54 yard reception against Rutgers last season. Iowa has their top two tight ends in Luke Lachey and Addison Ostrenga . They need to find a third and fourth option this season and the feeling is Ortwerth is poised to be their primary backup.

JARRIETT BUIE

The secret might be already out on Buie. The redshirt freshman wide receiver current sits at the top of the depth chart at one of the wide receiver positions. He played in three games last year and didn’t put up any stats. He also changed his number from 84 to 0. You don’t throw that number on unless you think you are going to be an impact player.

There was some buzz last year during fall camp that Buie was turning heads, but Iowa’s passing game was a huge struggle, so really no one emerged. This year perhaps he makes the leap into significant contributor.

BRENDEN SULLIVAN

Ok, full disclosure that Sullivan doesn’t fit into our usual selection for this piece. He’s a junior and already started in the Big Ten at Northwestern. Which is part of the reason why we include him. Iowa fans don’t have to be reminded about what last year was like for the Hawkeye offense once Cade McNamara went down for the season. It was a struggle. Can Sullivan ease some of those concerns heading into the 2024 campaign?

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