Higgins earns unanimous consensus, Johnson consensus All American status
The final meaningful All American team was released on Wednesday and it officially confirmed significant pieces of news for Jay Higgins and Kaleb Johnson. The Sporting News released their All American team and they are the fifth major outlet to include Higgins on their first team making him a unanimous consensus All American and Johnson reached consensus All American status as a member of the first team.
Higgins (6-foot-2, 232 pounds) was also honored as the Butkus-Fitzgerald Big Ten Linebacker of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten. He is the only player in the nation with 100+ tackles and four interceptions. His four picks are tied for the most amongst linebackers from a Power 4 conference. Higgins, who was a semifinalist for the Lombardi, Lott IMPACT and Butkus awards, has racked up 118 tackles — second most in the Big Ten, 13th-most nationally. The Indianapolis native has been a leader on an Iowa defense that is ninth nationally, allowing 17.1 points per game.
Johnson was also voted Ameche-Dayne Big Ten Running Back of the Year, first-team All-Big Ten and finalist for the Doak Walker Award. He posted school single-season records in points (138), total touchdowns (23) and rushing scores (21). Johnson (6-foot, 225 pounds) rushed for 1,537 yards in 12 games, sixth-most in the country and third-most in program history. The native of Hamilton, Ohio, scored at least one touchdown in all 12 regular season games — the longest stretch in school history. Johnson had seven games in 2024 with two or more rushing touchdowns, believed to be the most in a single season in program history. He declared for the NFL Draft earlier this month.
Kaden Wetjen was named second team All American by The Sporting News in their return man position. Wetjen was also tabbed a first-team All-American punt returner by FWAA yesterday, and was previously awarded the 2024 Rodgers-Dwight Return Specialist of the Year, first-team All-Big Ten and is a finalist for the Jet Award. He leads the nation with 888 combined kick return yards (next most is 674 yards). Wetjen (5-foot-10, 196 pounds) is second in the FBS in punt return yards (312) and sixth in kickoff return yards (576). The native of Williamsburg, Iowa, native had an 85-yard punt return for a score against Northwestern, the seventh-longest in school history.
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Iowa is the only school to have a consensus All-American each of the last six seasons. They have also had a pair of consensus All Americans in the two seasons. Last season it was Tory Taylor and Cooper DeJean. Iowa now has 33 consensus All-Americans in program history, including 18 in the Kirk Ferentz era and 12 over the last 11 seasons. The Hawkeyes have had multiple consensus All-Americans seven times in program history (1981, 1984, 2002, 2003, 2017, 2023 and 2024).
Here is the full list of consensus All Americans in Iowa Football history.
1. Lester Belding, 1919
2. Aubrey Devine, 1921
3. Gordon Locke, 1922
4. Nile Kinnick, 1939
5. Calvin Jones, 1954 & 1955
6. Alex Karras, 1957
7. Randy Duncan, 1958
8. Andre Tippett, 1981
9. Reggie Roby, 1981
10. Larry Station, 1984 & 1985
11. Chuck Long, 1985
12. Marv Cook, 1988
13. LeRoy Smith, 1991
14. Tim Dwight, 1997
15. Jared DeVries, 1998
16. Dallas Clark, 2002
17. Eric Steinbach, 2002
18. Robert Gallery, 2003
19. Nate Kaeding, 2003
20. Shonn Greene, 2008
21. Adrian Clayborn, 2010
22. Brandon Scherff, 2014
23. Desmond King, 2015
24. Josh Jackson, 2017
25. Josey Jewell, 2017
26. Keith Duncan, 2019
27. Daviyon Nixon, 2020
28. Tyler Linderbaum, 2021
29. Jack Campbell, 2022
30. Tory Taylor, 2023
31. Cooper DeJean, 2023
32. Jay Higgins, 2024
33. Kaleb Johnson, 2024
