87 days until kickoff - #87 Noah Fant

[Blair Sanderson]

Incoming freshman TE Noah Fant will wear #87 for the Hawkeyes this year.

Here's the Q&A we ran with Fant a couple weeks ago.

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Ready to report: Noah Fant
Blair Sanderson | Editor

Noah Fant is making the move to Iowa City on June 12.
HawkeyeReport.com

With the recruiting process and his high school career behind him, tight end Noah Fant is ready to make the move to college at the University of Iowa next month. We caught up with the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Fant, who will wear #87 for the Hawkeyes, to talk about his upcoming freshman year and much more.

Q: When do you make the move to Iowa City?

FANT: June 12 is my move in date.

Q: What are you looking forward to in starting workouts with the team?

FANT: I'm looking forward to building my body to where it needs to be for me to be effective next season. Through all the recruiting, I haven't seen a better strength staff so I'm excited to get to work. With that, I'm also excited to get to know my teammates and become a part of the family.

Q: What are your goals for your freshman year? Are you hoping to play or expecting to redshirt?

FANT: I'm looking to play freshman year.

Q: What will it mean to you to walk out of the tunnel at Kinnick Stadium for the first time?

FANT: It will be a great experience. So much support and so many proud Hawkeye fans come to the games that it really makes it a special experience.

Q: When you look back at everything, what was it about Iowa that made it the right place for you?

FANT: Still to this day I feel that Iowa not only runs their program with current players as family, but also does recruiting the same way. Me and my family loved every visit because they knew everyone by name and were looking forward to everyone coming down. I had a big family and sometimes they were more excited for everyone to come down than I was. It's not easy to travel with that many people.

Not only that, but the history at the tight end position made the program something I couldn't pass up on. Academic were also huge considering I want to be an orthopedic surgeon. Iowa's med school is one of the best and a great place to attend considering what I want to go into.

As a senior, Fant finished the season with 46 catches for 570 yards and 10 touchdowns on offense to go along with 20 tackles and 3.5 sacks on defense for Omaha South.

See highlights from his senior year in the video below.

 

[Herkmeister]

Noah is gonna be a great one at Iowa. I predict he sees the field this season.

 

[nu2u]

Noah is gonna be a great one at Iowa. I predict he sees the field this season.

I'm not so sure about immediate playing time at TE. Do you think he will make it to 3/4 on the depth chart as a freshman? As we have seen so often in past years, at TE a lot will depend upon his blocking skills.

We know that Kittle is a sure starter. Outsey and Pekar have game experience even though they are not entrenched by any means.. If healthy, Jon Wisnieski is primed to make a strong push for playing time - he will definitely be someone to watch at pre-season camp IMO. Nate Vejvoda is a bit underrated I think but don't know much about where he stands right now.

I was very impressed with what fellow incoming classmate T.J. Hockenson accomplished even though it was at small school program. After reading about Shaun Beyer at the Iowa HS State track meet I pulled up his highlite video and watched it for the first time -- wow, really impressed with his athleticism and can't believe he did not get more widely noticed. Fant has some pretty strong competition within his class IMO.

Nevertheless, it looks like Fant has some unique talent and I agree that he has all the tools to have a very good career at Iowa.

 

[Herkmeister]

I'm not so sure about immediate playing time at TE. Do you think he will make it to 3/4 on the depth chart as a freshman? As we have seen so often in past years, at TE a lot will depend upon his blocking skills.

We know that Kittle is a sure starter. Outsey and Pekar have game experience even though they are not entrenched by any means.. If healthy, Jon Wisnieski is primed to make a strong push for playing time - he will definitely be someone to watch at pre-season camp IMO. Nate Vejvoda is a bit underrated I think but don't know much about where he stands right now.

I was very impressed with what fellow incoming classmate T.J. Hockenson accomplished even though it was at small school program. After reading about Shaun Beyer at the Iowa HS State track meet I pulled up his highlite video and watched it for the first time -- wow, really impressed with his athleticism and can't believe he did not get more widely noticed. Fant has some pretty strong competition within his class IMO.

Nevertheless, it looks like Fant has some unique talent and I agree that he has all the tools to have a very good career at Iowa.

I'm assuming his brain is way above average. That's part of my prediction.

 

[unoHawkeye]

Based on the fact that Ferentz likes to particularly develop blockers (OLine) for a year or two before they see the field (there are exceptions of course- ex. Daniels) and that Noah is pretty undersized in terms of muscle, I don't think he plays offensively or defensively this year.

However, Fant is very athletic. He's got an amazingly quick first step off the line of scrimmage, often lined up and played receiver for South, and had great footwork as well. He was also a multisport athlete as he was starting for South's basketball team his junior year when they made the state championship. So I wouldn't be surprised to see him play special teams immediately, because he's a fantastic athlete, but I think it'll take a year or two to get him strong enough to play TE.

 

[Herkmeister]

Based on the fact that Ferentz likes to particularly develop blockers (OLine) for a year or two before they see the field (there are exceptions of course- ex. Daniels) and that Noah is pretty undersized in terms of muscle, I don't think he plays offensively or defensively this year.

However, Fant is very athletic. He's got an amazingly quick first step off the line of scrimmage, often lined up and played receiver for South, and had great footwork as well. He was also a multisport athlete as he was starting for South's basketball team his junior year when they made the state championship. So I wouldn't be surprised to see him play special teams immediately, because he's a fantastic athlete, but I think it'll take a year or two to get him strong enough to play TE.

Agreed. And some on HR think we might be touched short of TE's.

 

[Hawk68]

All things considered, he should redshirt.

 

[TKingpin]

I really liked the way he blocked his guys and kept after them 10 - 15 yards down the field. Tells me he likes to block and could maybe get a grasp on it sooner than most.

I love seeing a "man among boys" out there and he definitely was. There should be great competition at TE behind Kittle.