Iowa Football: A look at the Hawkeyes’ five commits in the 2025 class
Iowa football is off to a great start in the 2025 class.
The Hawkeyes have five commitments in this class, with three coming on the offensive side of the ball, and two coming on defense.
Iowa wants to continue to add to this class over the next couple of months, but the foundation is there at this point, and the Hawkeyes are hoping they can continue to grow at a good rate.
Per 247Sports, Iowa’s 2025 class is ranked No. 19 overall nationally and No. 5 in the Big Ten.
Today, we’ll take a look at the five commitments in the 2025 class for Iowa, and what their additions mean to the class at this point.
High School: Pleasant Valley (Bettendorf, Iowa)
Commit Date: July 1, 2023
Stars: 3-stars
Position Rank: No. 74
Recruitment: VanWetzinga had a quick recruitment. The two-way standout picked up an offer from Iowa following a strong camp performance in June, and then committed to the Hawkeyes a few weeks later. He also had strong interest from Illinois and Wisconsin, but the Hawkeyes were the only one to offer, and he didn’t see any reason to drag out his recruitment.
Outlook: VanWetzinga camped at Iowa as a defensive and offensive lineman, but the Hawkeyes likely project him to play on the offensive line. VanWetzinga seems to be the perfect mold for the Hawkeyes to play on the interior of the offensive line, specifically the center position. VanWetzinga has the ideal frame to play center, with the right amount of toughness and moxie. He is a physical, hard-nosed football player who plays with great pad level. Iowa has Logan Jones and Tyler Elsbury as upperclassmen at the center position, while Leighton Jones is in the mix coming off his freshman campaign, along with the potential for Josh Janowski, an early enrollee in the 2024 class, to play guard or center in the future.
LB BURKE GAUTCHER
High School: Sycamore (Sycamore, Ill.)
Commit Date: Oct. 15, 2023
Stars: 3-stars
Position Rank: No. 23 athlete
Recruitment: Gautcher saw his recruitment take off this summer, but three schools seemed to emerge from the pack. Iowa, Illinois, and Minnesota were all making a major push for Gautcher, though it seemed that the Illini and Hawkeyes were the ones who had the most traction with him. Gautcher took a fall visit to Iowa City, and then committed to the Hawkeyes a few weeks later. Iowa linebackers coach Seth Wallace played a major role in this recruitment, and the fact that Iowa has produced the amount of linebackers it has in recent years was key for Gautcher, too.
Outlook: Gautcher is a high school safety and quarterback. There are shades of Cooper DeJean with how he plays the quarterback position, although he’s not the open field athlete that DeJean was in high school. Still, there are a lot of qualities that make Gautcher an intriguing addition for Iowa at the linebacker position, and the Hawkeyes were thrilled with getting his commitment early in the process. Gautcher will need some time to mold as a linebacker in college, but the athletic qualities bring a lot of optimism, along with his ability to play in the open field. Iowa has a number of talented young linebackers coming up, especially in the 2024 class with Cam Buffington, Derek Weisskopf, and Preston Ries. Gautcher could be a factor with that group, and could project to any three of the linebacker positions.
QB JIMMY SULLIVAN
TE THOMAS MEYER
High School: Clear Lake (Clear Lake, Iowa)
Commit Date: Feb. 4, 2024
Stars: 4-stars
Position Rank: No. 10 tight end
Recruitment: Meyer picked Iowa following a junior day visit to Iowa City earlier this month. The Hawkeyes were always a top school for Meyer, but that visit to Iowa City sealed the deal. Meyer was also heavily considering Iowa State, while offers from Texas A&M, Duke, Miami (FL), Missouri, and a number of other power-five programs and Big Ten schools came for him. It came down to Iowa and Iowa State, but the Hawkeyes were able to win out.
Outlook: Meyer was a must-get for Iowa in this class. The Hawkeyes have missed out on numerous top tight end targets from the state of Iowa in previous classes, so keeping a prospect like Meyer in-state was important. Meyer joins a loaded tight end room in Iowa City that is full with a lot of talent, though Meyer have the highest ceiling of the bunch. Meyer has great size for the position with athletic traits that will help raise his ceiling as a prospect. He’s going to a program that knows the tight end position better than anyone, and that’ll help his stock and long-term development a lot, too.
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