Offensive Players to Watch: Iowa @ Iowa State

It was a successful week for both Iowa and Iowa State’s tight end rooms in Week One, so we’ll be keeping an eye on both this week in Ames. Let’s start with the team out east.

Iowa: Luke Lachey

In last year’s CyHawk game in Iowa City, Hawkeye tight end Sam LaPorta was about the only threat in the passing game, catching eight of Spencer Petras’ twelve completions. It was a busy day early and often for him and I expect a similar story this year.

Now surely with a new #1 tight end AND a new #1 quarterback (Cade McNamara) you might not expect the same thing to happen, but that’s exactly what the Hawks did in week 1 vs. Utah State. Cade McNamara targeted Lachey the whole game, completing seven of his seventeen passes to the starting tight end.

Sound familiar?

Yeah, I thought so too.

Iowa and tight ends go together like peanut butter and jelly, and this year doesn’t seem to be any different. Iowa State will need to keep an extra eye out for Lachey on any and all passing downs this weekend.

Iowa State: Benjamin Brahmer

Okay, so maybe I’m a little biased in which tight end I’m picking for the Cyclones here. Brahmer was my pick for the offensive breakout player of the year, and he sure made that prediction look good in week 1, so thanks for that, Benjamin.

All jokes aside, you could probably slot in any of the Cyclones’ tight ends in this spot. Tyler Moore and Brahmer both found the end zone in different but equally as explosive ways on Saturday, and I suspect we’ll be seeing plenty more of them celebrating in the end zone this year.

Tyler Moore had a nice little catch and run to the pylon to push the lead to 20-0 late in the first half, while Brahmer’s lone catch on the day was his 36-yard touchdown to put the nail in the coffin, pushing the lead to 30-0.

While Easton Dean was unable to find paydirt vs. the Panthers, he did finish second on the team with 3 receptions (only behind Jaylin Noel’s 4).

I expect another big weekend from the Cyclones’ tight end room, but like I said, I’ll put the emphasis on Benjamin Brahmer.