Iowa football releases Week 8 depth chart vs. Minnesota

The No. 14 Iowa football team is returning to the gridiron on Saturday after a much-needed bye week.

The Hawkeyes are 5-1 at the midway point of the season and are playing some really good football. The run game is coming off one of its best performances of the season at Washington. Kamari Moulton rushed for a career-high 208 yards in that 41-24 victory. The defense has had its ups and downs, but it should improve with Phil Parker in charge.

With a Week 8 road trip to Minnesota (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) ahead, Iowa released its depth chart for the matchup with the Gophers. There were a few changes from the last time Kirk Ferentz dropped a depth chart. The most noticeable difference was the "OR" returning to the quarterback position.

Ferentz announced in his Tuesday press conference that quarterback Jeremy Hecklinski will start for Iowa at Minnesota.

"So Hecklinski will be our starter Saturday. Since the start of the season, it's been even. What's good for us is they've both done good jobs and both won on the road in tough circumstances. So that gives us a lot of encouragement. I think we have two good quarterbacks, which a couple years ago we couldn't say that...

"As a determining factor, it's kind of like the first time. It's not a coin toss, but it's awfully close. Both guys, you can make an argument either way that makes sense. We just decided that was the best thing at this time to do, and we'll just keep playing forward here," Ferentz said.

The other big difference was Xavier Styles officially getting the start at strong safety. Tyler Brown is still absent.

Here's a look at Iowa's full Week 8 depth chart:

Iowa football vs. Minnesota depth chart

Week 8 \\ Depth Chart \\ at Minnesota pic.twitter.com/DYKjHQydPf

— HawkeyeFBNotes (@HawkeyeFBNotes) October 19, 2026

Quarterback

• No. 1: Jeremy Hecklinski OR Hank Brown
• No. 3: Jimmy Sullivan

Running back

• No. 1: Kamari Moulton
• No. 2: Xavier Williams

Wide receiver

• No. 1: Reece Vander Zee; Evan James; Tony Diaz
• No. 2: Jarriett Buie; KJ Parker; Dayton Howard

Tight end

• No. 1: DJ Vonnahme OR Addison Ostrenga
• No. 3: Thomas Meyer OR Zach Ortwerth

Left tackle

• No. 1: Trevor Lauck
• No. 2: Bodey McCaslin

Left guard

• No. 1: Leighton Jones
• No. 2: Will Hahn

Center

• No. 1: Cael Winter
• No. 2: Michael Myslinski

Right guard

• No. 1: Kade Pieper
• No. 2: Lucas Allgeyer

Right tackle

• No. 1: Jack Dotzler
• No. 2: Cannon Leonard

Left defensive end

• No. 1: Ken Merrieweather
• No. 2: Kahmari Brown

Left defensive tackle

• No. 1: Will Hubert
• No. 2: Devan Kennedy

Right defensive tackle

• No. 1: Bryce Hawthorne
• No. 2: Luke Gaffney

Right defensive end

• No. 1: Iose Epenesa
• No. 2: Drew Campbell

CASH

• No. 1: Jacob Wallace
• No. 2: Jaylen Watson

Leo

• No. 1: Landyn Van Kekerix
• No. 2: Derek Weisskopf

MLB

• No. 1: Cam Buffington
• No. 2: Nolan DeLong

WLB

• No. 1: Jayden Montgomery
• No. 2: Preston Ries

Left cornerback

• No. 1: Jaylen Watson
• No. 2: Rashad Godfrey Jr.

Strong safety

• No. 1: Xavier Styles
• No. 2: Anthony Hawkins

Free safety

• No. 1: Zach Lutmer
• No. 2: Ty Hudkins

Right cornerback

• No. 1: Deshaun Lee
• No. 2: Jacob Wallace

Place-kicker

• No. 1: Caden Buhr
• No. 2: Eli Ozick

Punter

• No. 1: Boston Everitt
• No. 2: Tanner Philpott

Long snapper

• No. 1: Ike Speltz
• No. 2: Matty McLaughlin

Holder

• No. 1: Tanner Philpott
• No. 2: Boston Everitt

Kick returner

• No. 1: Braeden Jackson
• No. 2: Xavier Williams

Punt returner

• No. 1: Reece Vander Zee
• No. 2: Evan James