ESPN tiers Iowa football QB battle among all Power Four situations

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The Iowa Hawkeyes are approaching spring ball, which gets things rolling for the 2026 season, and unlike some previous years, the Hawkeyes are set to have an open competition at the quarterback position.

The battle between Jeremy Hecklinski and Hank Brown could string out over the summer and even into fall camp, as neither of them has played a ton of snaps for the Hawkeyes or Tim Lester’s offense. The lack of experience and the unknowns of who will start have Iowa near the bottom of the list in ESPN’s ranking of all Power Four quarterbacks for 2026.

65. Jeremy Hecklinski or Hank Brown, Iowa Hawkeyes

Combined 2025 stat line: 115 passing yards, one TD, one INT, 56.5% completion rate, 8.8 yards per completion

Iowa jumped from 69th to 37th in offensive SP+ in 2025 despite QB Mark Gronowski throwing for only 1,741 yards, so whoever wins the starting job in 2026 won’t exactly be asked to become the next Chuck Long. But while three of the Hawkeyes’ top four RBs return, the line will be less experienced, and new wideouts will have to emerge. This could be tricky, and neither Hecklinski (who started his career at Wake Forest) nor Brown (Auburn) have proven much. – Bill Connelly, ESPN

Neither of these two is going to be what Mark Gronowski was with his legs and mobility. Hecklinski is going to be a bit more of a gunslinging, high-energy type of quarterback who Lester could get on the move with his twitchiness.

Hank Brown stands much taller and is the prototypical quarterback who can play under center or out of the shotgun and throw it in the dropback passing type of offense.

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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire : ESPN tiers Iowa football QB battle among all Power Four situations

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