Iowa football trio among The Athletic's top 25 Big Ten players
The Athletic got in on the action when they released their top 25 players in the Big Ten conference entering the 2025 season on Tuesday morning.
The list features young phenoms like Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith and grizzled veterans like Penn State's Drew Allar. The list also features three Hawkeyes, with one of those three garnering an immense amount of respect.
Manny Navarro of The Athletic put the list together and put a pair of Buckeyes with Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs at the top of the list. Iowa fans didn't have to wait long to see their first representation on Navarro's list, though.
Which Iowa football stars made the list?
The first Hawkeye to make the list was senior offensive lineman Gennings Dunker, who Navarro put as his eighth-best player in the Big Ten for the 2025 season. It's great praise for the 6-foot-5, 316-pound right tackle, who was named to the second-team All-Big Ten squad by the league's coaches after his performance in 2024.
He doesn't wear gloves, shops for his clothes at thrift stores and squats close to 700 pounds. The 6-5, 316-pound senior is everything you love about gritty right tackles. He's started 25 games in his career, including 11 last season on the way to a second-team All-Big Ten selection. - Navarro, The Athletic
The second Hawkeye to be named by Navarro on this list was Aaron Graves, who came in at the 23rd spot. Graves is coming off a career-best junior season, where he had eight tackles for loss and six sacks.
The senior defensive lineman has received a lot of praise this offseason, from being named a preseason first-team All-Big Ten player by Phil Steele to his rank on this list. Graves figures to have a huge season in Iowa City.
The 6-4, 300-pound homegrown senior started all 13 games for the Hawkeyes last season, tallying 33 tackles, eight TFLs, six sacks and three forced fumbles. He's considered one of the best interior pass rushers in the country. -Navarro, The Athletic
The third and final Hawkeye named on this list was sixth-year center Logan Jones, who came in right behind Graves at the No. 24 spot on this list.
Similar to Graves, Jones has received a lot of preseason hype coming off a 2024 season where he was named a first-team All-Big Ten player by the media. Jones and Dunker will be the anchors of an offensive line that will need to protect its new quarterback who's dealt with an offseason injury.
The 6-3, 293-pound sixth-year senior squats 705 pounds and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2024. He's started 38 games over the last three seasons. -Navarro.
Hawkeye fans will get to see all three of these players in action, as well as the rest of the team, next month when Iowa opens its season against Albany on August 30.
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Zach on X: @zach_hiney
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