Four Iowa Hawkeyes named to midseason All-American teams
The Iowa Hawkeyes sit at 6-1 with a strong grip on the Big Ten West. Their road to 6-1 hasn’t been a smooth road trip. Instead, it’s been one with bumps, some stall outs, and a few blown tires. That’ll happen, though, and the Hawkeyes have responded to each one of those and found ways to keep on pushing.
The Hawkeyes’ success has been on the backs of their defense, special teams, and a rushing offense that has seemed to find some new life as of lately on the legs of Kaleb Johnson and Leshon Williams behind a confident offensive line.
While it has been the epitome of a team effort to get to this point, there are always a few who are carrying more weight on their shoulders and performing at an extremely high level. The Iowa Hawkeyes have four of those players.
Those four are cornerback Cooper DeJean, punter Tory Taylor, linebacker Jay Higgins, and CASH Sebastian Castro. Their efforts have them littered across midseason All-American teams from USA TODAY Sports, Sporting News, Fox, the Associated Press, The Athletic (subscription required), CBS, and ESPN.
Take a look below at where each of the four have been honored by outlets nationally.
Jay Higgins
USA TODAY Sports First Team
Sporting News First Team
Fox First Team
Associated Press Second Team
2023 Stats: 87 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 interception, 4 pass breakups
Sebastian Castro
Associated Press Second Team
2023 Stats: 30 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 6 pass breakups, 3 interceptions, 1 interception return for a touchdown
Cooper DeJean
USA TODAY Sports First Team
Associated Press First Team
The Athletic First Team
Fox First Team
ESPN First Team
2023 Stats: 36 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 5 pass breakups, 2 interceptions
Tory Taylor
USA TODAY Sports
Associated Press First Team
Sporting News First Team
The Athletic First Team
Fox First Team
CBS Sports First Team
ESPN First Team
2023 Stats: 48.3 yards per punt, 17 punts downed inside the 20, longest punt of 62 yards
Takeaways
It’s hard to argue any of these names. They have all been standouts for Iowa this year every time they step on the field.
Sebastian Castro had his coming out party against Wisconsin and was arguably the best player on the field that entire afternoon. He pairs with Jay Higgins who is currently second in the entire NCAA in tackles. The Hawkeyes are fortified in the run game and underneath passing.
Cooper DeJean is doing Cooper DeJean things once again this year. Sure, there are only two interceptions to his credit but that can undoubtedly be due to teams simply avoiding throwing at him. Teams don’t dare test him and give him the chance to get the ball in his hands as he has shown us nothing but pure playmaking ability when he touches it.
Tory Taylor is the best punter in America. He is Iowa’s MVP. He is so much more than the joke of a punter winning games. He truly is a weapon that can be counted upon to flip the field and set the Iowa defense up for success. Tory Taylor isn’t just one of the most important players to Iowa, but to any team in America.
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