Elite play in the secondary has become a staple for the Iowa Hawkeyes during Phil Parker’s tenure as the defensive coordinator. This season, Iowa was seeking an answer as to who that playmaker could be with a bit of a new-look unit on the backend.
Halfway through the season, Iowa has seen sophomore Zach Lutmer, the Iowa native, step up and become a playmaker in recent weeks, with his versatility allowing him to play all over the secondary.
Kirk Ferentz was asked about Lutmer moving around the secondary and was complimentary of his ability to play any spot he is asked.
“No, I think I’ve said all along, Zach is one guy on our secondary that could probably play all five of the spots, if you include the dime position. He has some versatility.
“I think it just gives us a way to rotate guys through. Right now those four guys, plus Deshaun, we think we have five starters against Wisconsin because of the way they do things, their personnel. We envision being in 40 more than the dime package. It just gave us another way to split those reps up a little between he and Deshaun. I think it worked out just fine.
“We’ll see how it goes, but most teams aren’t going to be in those heavier groupings typically. We’ll probably be back in dime a lot more, I’m guessing, down the road. Probably all season for the most part at least, yeah,” Ferentz said about Zach Lutmer and his versatility in the backend of the defense.
Lutmer, a sophomore in his third year with the Iowa program, has started all six games this year. He has been able to move around from safety to corner, to slot corner, and done so rather seamlessly, which creates a ton of unique and tough defenses for opposing quarterbacks to read.
On the year, Zach Lutmer has registered 31 total tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, a fumble recovery, five pass deflections, and an interception, which shows his ability to do a little bit of everything on defense.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Kirk Ferentz applauds Zach Lutmer moving around Iowa football defense, showing versatility
Reporting by Riley Donald, Hawkeyes Wire / Hawkeyes Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
