After an impressive end to the 2025 season, the third-year defensive back could be ready for an increased role in this defense.
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 this countdown has primarily featured an article profiling one of the current members of the 2026 Hawkeyes based on their jersey number. Loyal readers are already familiar with this process by now, but in case you're new, here's how it works: if a player wears No. 8 and we're eight days until kickoff, that's the player that will be featured in the countdown.
We've had to come up with some innovative pieces on occasion due to Iowa not issuing a jersey number for every numeral from 1-100, but with the season so close, that's not going to be a problem anymore.
Today marks just seven days until the season opener, so that means it's time to take a look at one of the two men (the other one will be featured later today) that wears No. 7 - defensive back Rashad Godfrey Jr.
Get to know him here.
Bio
Hometown: Plant City, Florida
High School: Armwood High School
Year: Third-Year
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 202 pounds
Other notable players to wear No. 7: There's a ton of great Hawkeyes that wore lucky No. 7 during their college careers, but one that Iowa fans will instantly know is former punter Reggie Roby. Roby was a member of Hayden Fry's first Hawkeye team in 1979 and played through the 1982 season, where he earned consensus All-American honors for his performance during Iowa's improbable 1981 season.
Godfrey's Career So Far
Ranked as a three-star prospect by 247Sports composite, Godfrey had a good selection of Power Four offers out of high school. Iowa, Kansas State, Duke, Boston College, and Louisville were just a few of the schools that offered the Florida prospect, and he ultimately chose the Hawkeyes the summer before his senior year of high school.
Arriving on campus ahead of the 2024 campaign, Godfrey swiftly took a redshirt year to learn under experienced defensive backs like Quinn Schulte and Sebastian Castro. A special teams role was expected in 2025, but Godfrey broke out near the end of the regular season, specifically in the regular season finale against Nebraska.
With TJ Hall and later Koen Entringer missing most of the game due to injuries, defensive coordinator Phil Parker turned to Godfrey. The move proved to be a good one, as Godfrey led Iowa with nine tackles and was PFF's highest-graded Hawkeye defensive player that day.
Godfrey returned to his special teams role in the ReliaQuest Bowl triumph over Vanderbilt on New Year's Eve, but he's likely to play a role in this secondary this year. Whether it's a starting spot or rotational role remains unknown.
Regardless of his role, keep an eye out for Godfrey in the secondary this year.
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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]
