When you think of Iowa football, one of the first things that comes to mind is great offensive line play. 

It's been the standard for most of Kirk Ferentz's legendary career, and though the Hawkeyes stumbled a bit in the early 2020s, offensive line coach George Barnett has slowly improved this group's reputation. 

Helping Kaleb Johnson break school records in 2024 was promising, and everything finally came together in 2025. Iowa won the Joe Moore Award as the nation's best offensive line, and their efforts allowed the Hawkeyes to have one of their best offensive seasons in years. 

Though stars like Gennings Dunker and Logan Jones are off to the NFL, there's a pair of key returners that should help maintain this unit's lofty status in 2026. 

Going from position to position, here's your full offensive line preview: 

Of all the positions, center is easily the biggest question mark. Iowa has a quality group of guys competing for Jones' vacated spot, but we're still not sure who will get the job at this point in time. 

If the Hawkeyes had to pick one right now, they would probably lean towards Kade Pieper. Pieper has only one year of starting experience, but he was tremendous at right guard last season. The preseason accolades have already started to flow in for Pieper, and he was listed on the Rimington Trophy preseason watch list, so that could be a good sign that he'll indeed be Iowa's starting center. 

But the Hawkeyes are keeping their options wide-open at this point. Ferentz revealed at media day that Iowa has rotated snaps to veteran Michael Myslinski and walk-on Cael Winter, which was something we noticed at Kids' Day. 

If Pieper is indeed the starting center, then Winter and Myslinski will likely compete for a  guard, which is what they did when they weren't taking reps at center on Kids' Day. No position is guaranteed for either, but it says a lot about how they've performed for Ferentz to rotate all three at center. 

Both lineman have fascinating stories, too. Winter had little major college interest coming out of Waukee Northwest and walked-on at Iowa, but has impressed his teammates throughout summer workouts. Myslinski doesn't share the walk-on distinction, but he is fully healthy for the first time in a long time, and having an experienced sixth-year player in the room is far from a bad thing. 

Another man to watch out for at the guard spot is fourth-year Leighton Jones. Jones played in 11 games as a reserve last year and could be the next under-the-radar yet long-tenured lineman to follow Iowa's "Next Man Up" mentality and make an impact this year. 

James Madison transfer Trent Wilson is also a name to keep an eye out for as well. The second-year made an immediate impact for a College Football Playoff-bound Dukes team last year, but the Hawkeyes may keep him in a depth role this year because he is still learning the system. 

Promising second-year Lucas Allgeyer, who won the annual hay bale toss at Solon Beef Days in July, and Josh Janowski, who is back after incredibly fighting a cancer diagnosis last season, are also primed and ready to find a role if they can. 

Left tackle is where you're going to find the other anchor of this line. The man that owns that spot is fourth-year Trevor Lauck, who like Pieper, stole the spotlight with his strong play in year one as a starter. Lauck has also been listed on several preseason watchlists, and he and Pieper are the unquestioned leaders of this unit. 

Right tackle is up for grabs, though. Fifth-year Jack Dotzler, who Lauck beat out for the left tackle spot last season, is likely to be one of the main contenders for the position in 2026, but there's always other guys that are ready to step up and fill a role if need be. Fourth-year Cannon Leonard is another man that comes to mind. 

The bottom line here: outside of Pieper and Lauck there's a lot of unknown talent, but something Hawkeye fans should lean on here is the experience that everyone else besides Wilson possesses in this room.

Iowa has stuck with its formula of developing talent in the trenches (we'll get to the other side of the line Saturday), and there's no reason to believe why this unit won't be just as good as they were in 2026.

HawkeyeRoundtable is giving away TWO tickets to Iowa's season opener against Northern Illinois on Sept. 5! 

This is easily the biggest giveaway we've ever done on this site, and it's a great opportunity for two lucky fans to experience the joy of attending a Hawkeye football game at Kinnick Stadium. 

Click here to automatically become a member to enter the contest! Additional contest details can be found in our community section, too! 

HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at [email protected]