The Iowa Hawkeyes breathed a small sigh of relief yesterday when it was announced that star left tackle Alaric Jackson might only miss a couple games. Iowa fans feared the worst when their standout tackle came off the field on crutches in a season-opening 38-14 win over Miami of Ohio, but Kirk Ferentz indicated that Jackson could return as early as late September for the Middle Tennessee State game. That would be a huge boost for the Hawkeyes.
Kirk Ferentz says Alaric Jackson will miss several weeks, but his right knee injury could have been worse. Sounds like he's certainly out for Rutgers, Iowa State games. https://t.co/7RJnBQxkiU
— Chad Leistikow (@ChadLeistikow) September 2, 2019
Jackson entered the year as a First Team Preseason All-American pick according to multiple publications, and some draftniks had the Hawkeyes’ left tackle being selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft if the redshirt junior made the decision to leave school early.
New Iowa depth chart reveals the first-team line we saw post-Jackson injury. Welcome, Shooter. (And Justin Britt, true freshman, is on as backup RG — Cole Banwart still out.) pic.twitter.com/7EbvdGXASJ
— Chad Leistikow (@ChadLeistikow) September 2, 2019
His injury means that Iowa is going to shake things up along the offensive line. Fortunately, the Hawkeyes have another standout projected first round pick in Tristan Wirfs. Wirfs is expected to move to the other side of the line and replace Jackson at left tackle, and Levi Paulsen will move to right tackle from right guard. Kyler Schott will come off the bench and be the starter to right guard.
At his weekly press conference, Kirk Ferentz didn’t say too much about Jackson’s injury, but he did say this:
“Every injury is serious, but the good news is, it doesn’t look like it will necessitate any kind of surgery,” Ferentz said. “I think we’re looking at a matter of weeks right now, but it could have been a lot worse.”
The Hawkeyes shouldn’t have too much trouble without Jackson against Rutgers this weekend, but their trip to Ames to take on Iowa State looks a little tougher now. Iowa is crossing its fingers that they’ll have their offensive line back and healthy when the Hawkeyes travel to Ann Arbor to face Michigan on October 5.
H/T College Football Talk
