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Four Hawkeyes Named Preseason All-Americans by Athlon Sports

Apr 8, 2003
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IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa seniors Jack Campbell (linebacker) and Riley Moss (defensive back) were named first-team selections on the Athlon Sports preseason All-America teams announced Monday. Junior Tory Taylor (punter) was a second-team selection and senior Sam LaPorta (tight end) was a fourth-team selection.

Campbell (6-foot-5, 243-pounds) was a second-team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America and Phil Steele in 2021. In addition, he earned first-team All-Big Ten honors and was second in the Big Ten with 143 tackles – the fifth-most ever in a single season at Iowa. He earned Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors following a career-best performance with 18 tackles in Iowa’s 24-14 win over Colorado State. A native of Cedar Falls, Iowa, Campbell was the recipient of Iowa’s Roy Carver Most Valuable Player (Defense) award last season and served as a permanent team captain. He has also been named to the Athlon Sports 2022 preseason All-Big Ten First Team, and first-team on Phil Steele’s preseason All-America team.

Moss (6-1, 194)
was a first-team All-America selection by Sporting News a season ago and was voted the Tatum-Woodson Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year. Additionally, Moss was a first-team All-Big Ten selection by both league coaches and media and was a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award. The Ankeny, Iowa, native was a recipient of Iowa’s Team Hustle Award and is second all-time at Iowa in career interception return yards (239). Moss is one of three players in program history with three interception return touchdowns. He has been named to the Athlon Sports 2022 preseason All-Big Ten First Team, and the Phil Steele’s preseason All-America First Team.

Taylor
(6-4, 231) handled all of Iowa’s punting duties in 2021, averaging 46.1 yards on 80 punts – 39 of which were downed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. He was a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award and appeared on the weekly Ray’s 8 list three times throughout the season. The Melbourne, Australia, native was named Big Ten Co-Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance against Iowa State and was named honorable mention All-Big Ten by league coaches and media a season ago.

LaPorta (6-4, 249) was voted second-team All-Big Ten by Phil Steele and third-team by league coaches in 2021. The Highland, Illinois, native was named to the Mackey Award Preseason Watch List last season. As a junior LaPorta led the Hawkeyes in catches and yards, hauling in 53 receptions for 670 yards and three touchdowns. The Hawkeye tight end has been named to the Athlon Sports 2022 preseason All-Big Ten First Team, and third-team on Phil Steele’s preseason All-America team.

The Hawkeyes open the season with three straight nonconference home games, each featuring a different start time. The season-opener Sept. 3 against South Dakota State is slated for an 11 a.m. (CT) kickoff on FS1. The annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series game against Iowa State will follow on Sept. 10, with a 3 p.m. start time on BTN. Iowa’s final nonconference contest is an evening contest against Nevada beginning at 6:30 p.m. and being televised on BTN.

Questions concerning the purchase of 2022 football tickets, including general public, UI faculty/staff and UI student season tickets by current UI students, should be directed to the UI Athletics Ticket Office. The office telephone number is 1-800-IA-HAWKS and ticket information is available at hawkeyesports.com/footballtickets.

All tickets to 2022 home games will be mobile. Fans may access tickets via the Hawkeye Sports App, a link via email, or account login at hawkeyesports.com/myaccount. These tickets are optimized for display on your smartphone device and should not be printed. Fans can review additional information on mobile tickets by visiting hawkeyesports.com/mobiletickets.

The Hawkeye Sports app helps manage, purchase, download, transfer and scan tickets and parking. The app is located at https://hawkeyesports.com/mobileapp/.
 
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These are the three TEs in front of him in Athlon. LaPorta was third team in Phil Steele's magazine behind Bowers and Mayer.


1st team TE Brock Bowers, Georgia
2nd team TE Michael Mayer, Notre Dame
3rd team TE Brant Kuithe, Utah
 
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A quick stat look at least for reference has the Utah TE with almost identical stats, however he had 3 more TD's than Sam.

Wow, the Domer TE had 71 catches, must've been their #1 target and had 7 TD's.

And of course since GA won the title hard to argue with 1st place Bowers, 56 receptions for 882 and 13 TDs!

LaPorta maybe could be 3rd team, however other two are pretty good in their own right.
 
Sounds right to me except LaPorta isn't a fourth-teamer.
Honestly, I don't know enough about the other guys to say. Sam's had a good career, but still some inconsistency as well. Just being a three year starter at TE at Iowa gets you a lot of cred. Just being on the list means he's in position for post season awards and a good draft spot, IF he has the kind of season that we'd all expect he'll have.
 
Honestly, I don't know enough about the other guys to say. Sam's had a good career, but still some inconsistency as well. Just being a three year starter at TE at Iowa gets you a lot of cred. Just being on the list means he's in position for post season awards and a good draft spot, IF he has the kind of season that we'd all expect he'll have.
I agree. I'd like to see more consistency as well, but we've seen a lot of greatness at the TE position making us somewhat jaded. When you're preceeded by the likes of Hock, Fant and Kittle it can be tough to measure up.
 
I agree. I'd like to see more consistency as well, but we've seen a lot of greatness at the TE position making us somewhat jaded. When you're proceeded by the likes of Hock, Fant and Kittle it can be tough to measure up.
For sure. Sam got an early start as we had a couple of year lapse in TE recruiting, and so he saw the field as a frosh. Kittle is an amazing story. Came is as a skinny WR and did bubkas for two years. Then after a coming to Jesus meeting with the captain he put his head down and got to work. Unfortunately we never really got to see his A game, because even as a senior he was hurt quite often. What he's done in the league is amazing and unexpected. Fant was a freak athlete, like we've never had at Iowa. All around as far as skill, (and production while at Iowa) as both WR and blocker, I'd probably rate Hock the top guy. Moeaki was special as well, but another guy who couldn't stay on the field. Your right we've been a bit spoiled but the system certainly lends itself to that success. Playing TE at Iowa for KF is kind if like being a stretch 4 in mens basketball for Fran.
 
I agree. I'd like to see more consistency as well, but we've seen a lot of greatness at the TE position making us somewhat jaded. When you're preceeded by the likes of Hock, Fant and Kittle it can be tough to measure up.

Absolutely and to further that note, per the difficulty & the measuring up. Kittle was hurt a lot in Iowa city & Fant had a handful of mind boggling drops from time to time himself!
 
For sure. Sam got an early start as we had a couple of year lapse in TE recruiting, and so he saw the field as a frosh. Kittle is an amazing story. Came is as a skinny WR and did bubkas for two years. Then after a coming to Jesus meeting with the captain he put his head down and got to work. Unfortunately we never really got to see his A game, because even as a senior he was hurt quite often. What he's done in the league is amazing and unexpected. Fant was a freak athlete, like we've never had at Iowa. All around as far as skill, (and production while at Iowa) as both WR and blocker, I'd probably rate Hock the top guy. Moeaki was special as well, but another guy who couldn't stay on the field. Your right we've been a bit spoiled but the system certainly lends itself to that success. Playing TE at Iowa for KF is kind if like being a stretch 4 in mens basketball for Fran.
Every full time TE starter under Kirk has seen some NFL, with guys like Dallas Clark and George Kittle as superstars. Brandon Myers, not even the first team TE, although he became one, had a seven-year NFL career. My kid's a four- or five-star TE I'm thinking 3 years at Iowa then off to the first round.
 
For sure. Sam got an early start as we had a couple of year lapse in TE recruiting, and so he saw the field as a frosh. Kittle is an amazing story. Came is as a skinny WR and did bubkas for two years. Then after a coming to Jesus meeting with the captain he put his head down and got to work. Unfortunately we never really got to see his A game, because even as a senior he was hurt quite often. What he's done in the league is amazing and unexpected. Fant was a freak athlete, like we've never had at Iowa. All around as far as skill, (and production while at Iowa) as both WR and blocker, I'd probably rate Hock the top guy. Moeaki was special as well, but another guy who couldn't stay on the field. Your right we've been a bit spoiled but the system certainly lends itself to that success. Playing TE at Iowa for KF is kind if like being a stretch 4 in mens basketball for Fran.
I wouldn’t say there was a big lapse in recruiting. No one would have predicted Hock leaving with two years of eligibility. Sam might have been redshirted if Hock had stayed.
 
Yeah, Bowers and Mayer are the top two without question.
Not sure why you’re getting laugh reacted. Bowers is an absolute monster and was a freshman. The Georgia TE coach is recruiting the best TEs every year and their offense is gearing more towards TE play too.
 
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