← the board · drewhoover.com · 2024–2026
Iowa's best defenders since 2024
Zach Lutmer leads with 119 tackles in 27 games at Iowa; Jayden Montgomery had 79.
Every defender with 5 or more games at Iowa since 2024, ranked by tackles; the lines are each player's tackles game by game, the top 8 drawn. A link opens the player's page, where he has one, or his row on the board.
68 defenders with 5+ games at Iowatackles
| # | player | seasons | games | tackles | sacks | tackles for loss | interceptions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zach Lutmer | 2024–2026 | 27 | 119 | 1 | 7 | 4 |
| 2 | Jayden Montgomery | 2025–2026 | 16 | 79 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| 3 | Cam Buffington | 2025–2026 | 9 | 59 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| 4 | Jaden Harrell | 2024–2025 | 15 | 49 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | Jaylen Watson | 2024–2026 | 15 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Bryce Hawthorne | 2025–2026 | 14 | 34 | 2.5 | 8 | 1 |
| 7 | Brian Allen Jr. | 2024–2025 | 19 | 33 | 3.5 | 6 | 0 |
| 8 | Landyn Van Kekerix | 2024–2026 | 14 | 30 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | Jacob Wallace | 2025–2026 | 8 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 10 | Kenneth Merrieweather | 2024–2026 | 14 | 21 | 0.5 | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | Rashad Godfrey Jr. | 2025–2026 | 11 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Jonah Pace | 2025 | 11 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | Will Hubert | 2024–2026 | 9 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | Preston Ries | 2025–2026 | 10 | 14 | 2.5 | 4 | 0 |
| 15 | Luke Gaffney | 2024–2026 | 9 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Xavier Styles | 2026 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | Kael Kolarik | 2024–2025 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Kahmari Brown | 2026 | 5 | 11 | 1.5 | 3 | 0 |
| 19 | Iose Epenesa | 2025–2026 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 20 | Derek Weisskopf | 2025–2026 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Darion Jones | 2026 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Anthony Hawkins | 2026 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Nolan DeLong | 2025–2026 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Drew Campbell | 2026 | 6 | 7 | 1.5 | 3 | 0 |
| 25 | Joseph Anderson | 2025–2026 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 26 | Ethan Hurkett | 2021–2025 | 40 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 27 | Aaron Graves | 2022–2025 | 36 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 28 | Xavier Nwankpa | 2022–2025 | 34 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 29 | Deshaun Lee | 2023–2026 | 32 | — | — | — | 5 |
| 30 | Desmond King II | 2014–2016 | 32 | — | — | — | 14 |
| 31 | Max Llewellyn | 2022–2025 | 30 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 32 | Jay Higgins IV | 2021–2024 | 29 | — | — | — | 5 |
| 33 | Deontae Craig | 2021–2024 | 28 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 34 | Quinn Schulte | 2021–2024 | 28 | — | — | — | 6 |
| 35 | Sebastian Castro | 2022–2024 | 26 | — | — | — | 4 |
| 36 | Karson Sharar | 2023–2025 | 25 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 37 | Koen Entringer | 2023–2025 | 24 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 38 | Yahya Black | 2021–2024 | 24 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 39 | Jermari Harris | 2021–2024 | 23 | — | — | — | 8 |
| 40 | TJ Hall | 2022–2025 | 23 | — | — | — | 2 |
| 41 | Nick Jackson | 2023–2024 | 22 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 42 | Jaxon Rexroth | 2022–2025 | 19 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 43 | Kyler Fisher | 2021–2024 | 19 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 44 | Cooper DeJean | 2021–2023 | 18 | — | — | — | 7 |
| 45 | Jeremiah Pittman | 2022–2025 | 16 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 46 | Joe Evans | 2021–2023 | 16 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 47 | Logan Lee | 2021–2023 | 15 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 48 | Riley Moss | 2018–2022 | 15 | — | — | — | 11 |
| 49 | Jack Campbell | 2020–2022 | 13 | — | — | — | 5 |
| 50 | Jack Koerner | 2019–2021 | 9 | — | — | — | 6 |
| 51 | John Nestor | 2023–2024 | 8 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 52 | Josh Jackson | 2017 | 8 | — | — | — | 8 |
| 53 | Drake Kulick | 2015–2017 | 7 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 54 | Geno Stone | 2017–2019 | 7 | — | — | — | 6 |
| 55 | Jake Gervase | 2017–2018 | 7 | — | — | — | 7 |
| 56 | Kaevon Merriweather | 2021–2022 | 7 | — | — | — | 4 |
| 57 | Michael Ojemudia | 2018–2019 | 7 | — | — | — | 6 |
| 58 | Seth Benson | 2021–2022 | 7 | — | — | — | 2 |
| 59 | Amani Hooker | 2017–2018 | 6 | — | — | — | 6 |
| 60 | Josey Jewell | 2015–2017 | 6 | — | — | — | 6 |
| 61 | Matt Hankins | 2019–2021 | 6 | — | — | — | 6 |
| 62 | Terry Roberts | 2020–2022 | 6 | — | — | — | 2 |
| 63 | Brandon Snyder | 2016–2017 | 5 | — | — | — | 4 |
| 64 | Chauncey Golston | 2018–2020 | 5 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 65 | Dane Belton | 2021 | 5 | — | — | — | 5 |
| 66 | John Waggoner | 2021–2022 | 5 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 67 | Lukas Van Ness | 2021–2022 | 5 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 68 | Noah Shannon | 2021–2022 | 5 | — | — | — | 0 |
Also at Iowa: quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, kickers, punters. Every school and conference: schools, conferences. The games are ESPN's box scores since 2004 (the Method says where they fall short); a position is the roster's, else read off the box score, so a tight end from before 2014 may be listed with the wide receivers.