Welcome back to our countdown of the Iowa Hawkeyes football season. Our next is Chris Reames. First, we’ll take a look at a past 98, Anthony Nelson.
Nelson was a three-year starter for the Hawkeyes and accumulated 23 sacks, good for 7th on Iowa’s all-time list. After his junior season, he declared for the draft and was taken by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019’s 4th round. He resigned with them after a breakout fourth season where he started eight games and accumulated 46 tackles. He added 5.5 sacks and three forced fumbles.
Chris Reames – Senior
6’7”, 274 lbs.
Van Meter, Iowa (Van Meter)
2023 Projection: reserve defensive end
According to 247sports, 2019 product selected Iowa over Army, Eastern Michigan, and the normal gaggle of FCS schools we’ve come to expect from Hawkeye recruits. He came to Iowa City at a spindly 225 pounds on his 6’7” frame. At that size, he was often the biggest and most athletic guy on the field in high school and looked the part in recruiting film.
And while he’s slowly added muscle to his 6’7” frame to get to 275, he’s been unable to cement himself on the depth chart as injuries hampered his on-field development. Lukas Van Ness came and went while Joe Evans and Zach Van Valkenberg leveraged their extra seasons to hamper his upward mobility.
He’s been supplanted on the depth chart by younger guys (Max Llewellyn & Ethan Hurkett) but has seen the field in 12 games over the last two seasons. His most extended playing time came last season against Northwestern in a blowout win where he tallied two tackles.
One area where he could make an impact is on special teams replicating Van Ness’ length in punt & field goal defense. Otherwise, he could be the classic “next man in” if a couple defensive linemen ahead of him get dinged up.
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