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 Hawkeyes based on their jersey number. If there's 57 days until kickoff, we're going to take a look at the player who wears No. 57. 

READ MORE: 57 Days Until Iowa Football: Will Hubert

Today marks 56 days until kickoff, so that means it's time to take a look at No. 56 - defensive lineman Maddux Borcherding-Johnson. 

Get to know him here. 

Hometown: Norwalk, Iowa 

High School: Norwalk High School 

Year: Junior 

Height: 6-foot-3 

Weight: 292 pounds 

Other notable players to wear No. 56: A recognizable name that wore No. 56 in recent years was former offensive lineman Nick DeJong. The Pella, Iowa native started 23 games in various positions on the offensive line, and helped usher in the major resurgence this group experienced in 2024. 

To say Borcherding-Johnson had a successful prep career would be an understatement. He was a three-sport athlete in football, wrestling, and track and field, and though football emerged as the No. 1 sport, Borcherding-Johnson was a pretty good wrestler, too. 

Few athletes in the state of Iowa can say they had a better senior season than Borcherding-Johnson. Not only was he dominant on the football field, recording 62.5 tackles and earning first-team all-state honors from The Des Moines Register, he capped an undefeated wrestling season with a Class 3A heavyweight title. 

Ranked as a three-star recruit by 247Sports, Borcherding-Johnson didn't take long to announce where he would play college football. While most recruits commit at or near their senior years of high school, Borcherding-Johnson verbally announced his decision to play for the Hawkeyes in July 2021 - two months before his junior season. 

Borcherding-Johnson has slowly worked his way up the depth chart since arriving in Iowa City, and collected three tackles last season. Iowa's defensive line room is wide open in 2026, so it's possible Borcherding-Johnson could see an increased role if he performs well in fall camp. 

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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]