Welcome back to our countdown to the 2026 Iowa football season! 

Since May 28, we've been counting down the final 100 days until the Hawkeyes swarm out of the Kinnick Stadium tunnel for their season opener against Northern Illinois on Sept. 5. 

Each day of the countdown has primarily featured an article profiling one of the current members of the 2026 team based on their jersey number. 

Reading this countdown is highly recommended to help you pass the grueling summer months before football begins, and it may be hard to believe it, but we're getting closer to one month until the season. 

Today marks 44 days until kickoff, so that means it's time to take a look at No. 44 - defensive lineman Kenneth Merrieweather. 

Get to know him here. 

Hometown: Detroit, Michigan 

High School: Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School 

Year: Junior 

Height: 6-foot-3 

Weight: 263 pounds 

Other notable players to wear No. 44: A recognizable name that wore No. 44 is still a very popular name today. That player is of course former tight end Dallas Clark. Clark only played two years in Iowa City, but became a household name for his All-American performance during Iowa's perfect Big Ten season in 2002. 

Like many Iowa players, Merrieweather (who isn't related to former safety Kaevon Merriweather) has slowly worked his way up the depth chart and gained valuable experience from veterans along the way. 

The Hawkeyes were loaded at defensive end the last two seasons, but the room has seen a major overhaul this offseason. Ethan Hurkett, Aaron Graves, Max Llewellyn, and Brian Allen all graduated/transferred, leaving a major position up for grabs. 

There's a lot of names you can throw in these roles, but one would think Merrieweather is in line to fill one of them. He earned playing time in every game during the 2025 season, recording 14 tackles and one quarterback pressure.

Merrieweather's three tackles during the USC were a new career-high, and it's valuable game experience in high-leverage situations like those that will help prepare him for a starting role in 2026. 

To help give you an idea of what type of player Merrieweather is, check out this detailed scouting report from from former 247Sports recruiting analyst Allen Trieu: 

"Plays with good motor and has agility allows him to beat blockers in a short area and has a good spin move as well as inside moves," Trieu wrote. "Active, disruptive, finds his way into passing lanes. Likely a strongside end but not impossible he grows into having value as an inside guy also." 

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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 [email protected]