The quarterback battle will last deep into fall camp, but one player may have the early lead.
The weather for Iowa football's annual spring practices has been historically hit or miss, but for the second consecutive year, it was a hit.
Iowa City was hit with sunny, 64-degree weather on Saturday, and the fans that made the trip to Kinnick Stadium probably felt like they were witnessing an early-October contest.
October is still six months away, but the 2026 Iowa football season will be here before we know it. Kirk Ferentz and Co. held their only open spring practice on Saturday.
A good contingent of Hawkeye fans were on hand to get the first live look at their team, and so were we. After keeping unofficial statistics from the press box throughout the scrimmage, spend your afternoon by reading some of my takeaways.
Impressive Day For KJ Parker
No other Hawkeye had a better day than wide receiver KJ Parker. The sophomore has primarily played on special teams in his career, but a performance like this could help him earn more reps at wide receiver in 2026. Parker played in just two games last season - Massachusetts on Sept. 13 and Minnesota on Oct. 25, but he was making plays all over the field on Saturday.
There were two highlights that stood out in Parker's afternoon. Both were 20-plus yard receptions from each quarterback - a 23-yard catch from Hecklinski and a 28-yard catch on an under-thrown ball from Brown.
There's a long way to go, but Parker is definitely a name I would keep an eye on when fall camp begins this summer.
"He's got a good energy to him. He's got some abilities, certainly, and goes hard and, is fearless out there," Ferentz said. "Just has to learn some little details, a little bit more. And he's certainly better now than he was 15 practices ago."
Brown with an early lead?
I didn't get up to the press box until midway through the practice because I was on the field, but let's get one thing clear before I analyze both quarterbacks - they didn't have a great completion percentage.
Before the overreactions come in, remember that it's just spring ball and there's plenty of time for these guys to get in game shape. I don't think Ferentz will name a starter until the day of the season-opener (Sept. 5), but a practice like this certainly paints a clearer picture for the staff.
By my very unofficial count, Brown completed 2 of his 8 passing attempts for 33 yards, but that doesn't tell the full story. Brown's ball placement was good, but the accuracy just wasn't always there. The aforementioned 28-yard bomb to Parker was the highlight of the day, and there's definitely some building blocks for Tim Lester to build on.
Jeremy Hecklinski also struggled with accuracy, but many of his passes were way off the mark. He didn't have great chemistry with his receiving corps at times, but again, that can get cleaned up in fall camp.
This quarterback battle will continue deep into fall camp, but there's no question Brown was the better QB today.
Eli Ozick has a LEG
Outside of quarterback, the biggest thing I was watching for today was special teams. New coordinator Chris Polizzi said there's a revolving door of players waiting to take over Kaden Wetjen's role of return specialist, but my eyes were on the open kicker job.
North Dakota State transfer Eli Ozick is likely the favorite to win the job over redshirt sophomore Caden Buhr, and the Iowa fans were impressed with his kicking range. There were some misses (kickers are human, after all), but he nailed a 52-yarder with plenty of room to spare.
Drew Stevens is tough to replace, but the Hawkeyes look like they got a good one in Ozick. Should he earn the job, Ozick will enter the season with momentum, having made his final 11 field goal attempts for the Bison.
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HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at bradschultz@roundtable.io