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Sunday's film session was probably a difficult one for No. 20 Iowa.

The players undoubtedly had a hard time watching their first loss of the year on tape, but the mistakes the Hawkeyes (4-1, 1-1) made in last weekend's 31-14 loss to Ohio State were obvious and a major talking point during Tuesday's media availability. 

But now that the 24-hour rule has long passed, Iowa players and staff know that it's time to move on to Friday's opponent – Washington. The Huskies (3-2, 0-2) have struggled out of the gate, but the Hawkeyes know they need to be on their game to pull out a victory in a tough road environment at Husky Stadium. 

Here are four Iowa players you should keep an eye on for this prime time clash in Seattle: 

C Cael Winter 

There's no question that Iowa's offensive line hasn't met its lofty standard so far in 2026. There's a lot of factors that could be the reason for the struggles, but the most logical place to start is the lack of experience. Kade Pieper and Trevor Lauck are bonafide NFL prospects, but the three new starters around them – right tackle Jack Dotzler, center Cael Winter, and left guard Leighton Jones – have to carry their own weight at some point. 

Offensive line coach George Barnett is no stranger to developing a standout line (his group won the Joe Moore Award last year), but the results need to start showing up. Iowa tallied just 39 rushing yards against Ohio State last weekend and has averaged just 63 rushing yards per game across its three games against Power Four competition. 

We'll have a deeper dive on this struggling run game in film review on Thursday, but the success of this offensive line begins with Winter. He earned the starting center job over Kade Pieper in fall camp, and the Hawkeyes are going to need him to be a strong anchor against a good Washington defense on Friday. 

QB Jeremy Hecklinski 

Throwing a player on this list that may not play on Friday is a bold move, but Hank Brown's comments on Tuesday didn't give any of us that were standing to him much confidence that he'll be QB1 on Friday. Brown said he's doing everything in his power to get back for Friday's game after suffering an AC joint sprain against Ohio State. It's a mild sprain, but according to Motion Orthopaedics, that's an injury that can have a 1-2 week recovery process, which makes Brown questionable for the Washington game. 

With a bye week on deck after this game, it might not be surprising to see the Hawkeyes opt to rest Brown and turn to Jeremy Hecklinski. Going to a backup quarterback in a conference road game isn't the most ideal situation for some teams, but Kirk Ferentz expressed his full confidence in Hecklinski should be be the starter on Friday. 

"He's [Hecklinski] really practiced well. I think that showed up on Saturday. As I've been saying, I feel like we have two good quarterbacks right now, and I think that showed on Saturday. We'll play with whoever is ready to go," Ferentz said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday. 

If Hecklinski is in fact the starter on Friday, Hawkeye fans will have some valuable tape to look back on. The third-year was thrust into action against Ohio State after Brown's injury and played well, completing all five of his passes for 67 yards.

RB L.J. Phillips Jr. 

Injuries have derailed Phillips' Hawkeye debut so far, but he finally returned to the field against the Buckeyes, tallying 16 yards on four carries. It's a very small sample size, but Phillips may be just the back Iowa needs to get the ground game going on the road. Kamari Moulton is more than capable of doing damage, but Phillips' physical, down hill running style could be very important if the offensive line struggles to get a push again. Turning a two-yard carry into four yards could be a big difference-maker for the Hawkeyes, and it just feels like Phillips is primed for a big game. 

DL Kahmari Brown 

You could really list every defensive player here, but if there's a certain position group to chose from, it's probably the defensive line. Washington has struggled to run the football all season, averaging around 100 yards per game and 3.7 yards per carry, so the bulk of its offensive success is going to be on quarterback Demond Williams and the passing attack. Iowa's pass defense hasn't been great in Big Ten play thus far (yielding 300 YPG), but what really could be the game-changer for the Huskies is Williams' legs. 

While guys like Michigan's Bryce Underwood or Mark Gronowski last year prefer to run between the tackles, Williams will beat opponents with his breakaway speed on the edge. That means the Hawkeyes' defensive line is responsible for maintaining contain on the edge because if Williams (who tallied over 600 rushing yards last year) has daylight on the outside, Washington will probably win this football game. 

Elon transfer Kahamri Brown is the name I'm watching for on this defensive line on Friday. The 6-foot-2, 259-pound Brown took a few weeks to get acclimated to Phil Parker's defense, but he's coming off his best game of the young season – five tackles, one sack, and one forced fumble against Ohio State. 

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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

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