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Ethan Hurkett returning for one more year

On3 imageby:Tom Kakert•12/16/24•

HawkeyeReport

Ethan Hurkett hurry
The Iowa defense chased, but rarely wrangled the UCLA Bruins in Friday's night's road defeat. (Photo Credit: Dennis Scheidt - @webcentrick on Twitter)

Last week the Iowa offense received good news with the return of Logan Jones to help to anchor his position group in 2025. On Monday there was a bit of good news on the defensive side of the ball.

Per Todd Brommelkamp of the Todd Brommelkamp Show on 1600 ESPN Radio in Cedar Rapids, he spoke with Ethan Hurkett earlier today for an interview on his show and the veteran defensive end announced that he would be returning for one more season.

Hurkett had a Covid year at his disposal and has decided that he will use it and spend another season in the Black and Gold.

The 6-foot-3 and 260 pound defensive end from Cedar Rapids graduated from Xavier High School and joined the Iowa program in the fall of 2020. He did not play that season and redshirted.

In the 2021 season, Hurkett had impressed the Iowa coaches and was working his way up the depth chart before he tore his ACL early in the season. In 2022, he was in the two deeps and played in every game, compiling 15 tackles, including 2 for loss with one sack.

In the 2023 season, Hurkett really started to emerge as a significant contributor to the Hawkeye defense. While he didn’t start any games, he played 526 snaps according to Pro Football Focus, which was the fifth most among the defensive lineman that season. Overall, he logged 55 tackles, including 6 for loss.

This season he moved into the starting lineup for the Hawkeyes at defensive end. Hurkett played the second most snaps among the defensive lineman on the Iowa roster. He has been credited with 55 tackles in 12 games. He made a huge leap in impact plays with 11 tackles for loss, including 6.5 of those being quarterback sacks.

With Yahya Black and Deontae Craig moving on to chase their NFL dreams after the Music City Bowl, the Iowa defensive line will be anchored by Hurkett at defensive end along with emerging star Max Llewellyn, who has had a breakout campaign in the last month of the season. Also returning along the defensive line is tackle Aaron Graves, who is wrapping up his junior year.

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