Terry Roberts

Pos: DB

Hometown: Erie, Pennsylvania

Ht: 5’10”

Wt: 169

Stars: 3

Other Offers: Duquesne

Commitment Post: Hawkeyes Land Terry Roberts

The city of Erie, Pennsylvania has a reputation to uphold. It’s a town known for its hard-working, blue-collar people. And its football. Defensive back Terry Roberts brings both of those reputations with him from Erie to Iowa City in the class of 2018.

Roberts also looks to follow in a long line of Erie products making an impact at Iowa. He attended the same Cathedral Prep High School that produced the likes of Ed Hinkel and legendary Bob Sanders. He’s also mentored by former Hawkeye and Erie-native Jovon Johnson. Today, he made his plan to follow their path official, signing his national letter of intent to play for Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Roberts is an intriguing prospect. He was under recruited and looks to be one of the diamond in the rough type recruits that Iowa has built its recent success upon. His only other listed offer is from Duquesne, but that has more to do with his early commitment to Iowa than his talent level.

At Cathedral, he contributed in all phases of the game as they went 14-0 in his senior year with their second consecutive state championship. He was utilized as a deep threat at wide receiver showing good speed on the outside and an ability to go up and get the ball. His size likely limits his potential to play offense at the next level, but the skillset will be quite handy as a defensive back.

On the defensive side of the ball, he has the speed and quickness to keep up with opposing receivers at the corner position. He was largely avoided during his senior year, but when he was thrown at he should good break on the ball and good instincts. He’s a willing tackler and brings explosiveness in the return game as well.

During his senior season, Roberts finished with 1,236 yards and 16 touchdowns on 42 catches (29.4 YPC) at wide receiver. On defense, he had 23 tackles and 5 interceptions.

He’s one of three defensive back commits in the class of 2018, joining Indianapolis-natives DJ Johnson and Julius Brents. Brents projects as a safety while Roberts and Johnson look to stick at the corner position.

Roberts is the only player in this class from the state of Pennsylvania, but as mentioned above, he’s certainly not unfamiliar with Iowa. His high school ties with Sanders and Hinkel and the mentorship from Johnson helped him feel at ease with the Hawkeye family and could help to further the pipeline to the talent-rich area.

Here’s a look at the full list of commitments in the class of 2018.

As a reminder, everything you need to know about the early signing period and Iowa’s class of 2018 can be found on our EARLY SIGNING PERIOD HEADQUARTERS.