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It may feel like déjà vu all over again, but we are staring down the barrel of another national signing day. In years past, this would have been THE National Signing Day. However, you’ll recall that this year marked the beginning of a new era in college football recruiting with the institution of an early signing period back in December.
That period came and went with the Hawkeyes officially inking 18 commits in the class of 2018. Well, sort of. A pair of those commits (DJ Johnson and Julius Brents) have held their official announcement until this second signing period. So we’ll call it 16 in the Early Signing Period.
Since then, the Hawkeyes have added a commitment from Connecticut WR Nico Ragaini, who is already on campus and enrolled so will likely not be signing an NLI this period. In the last week, they’ve also added three more commitments from linebackers Logan Klemp and Jayden McDonald, as well as safety Kaevon Merriweather. All are expected to sign during this period.
Those four additions, along with the announcements from Brents and Johnson should take the class from 16 to 22, including Daviyon Nixon who originally signed in 2017 before spending a semester at Iowa Western and transferring to Iowa in January.
Here’s a look at the full class of 2018 and when they’ll sign.
Iowa Football Class of 2018 Commitments
| Name | Pos | Hometown | Ht | Wt | Stars | Commitment Date | Signing Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Pos | Hometown | Ht | Wt | Stars | Commitment Date | Signing Period |
| Jeff Jenkins | OL | Crystal Lake, IL | 6'4" | 272 | 3 | 1/22/2017 | Early |
| Dillon Doyle | LB | Iowa City, IA | 6'3" | 215 | 3 | 3/20/2017 | Early |
| Henry Geil | RB | Green Bay, WI | 6'0" | 211 | 3 | 4/23/2017 | Early |
| Tyrone Tracy Jr. | ATH | Indianapolis, IN | 6'0" | 187 | 3 | 4/29/2017 | Early |
| Tyler Linderbaum | DT | Solon, IA | 6'2" | 255 | 3 | 5/1/2017 | Early |
| Samson Evans | ATH | Crystal Lake, IL | 6'1" | 190 | 2 | 5/21/2017 | Early |
| Terry Roberts | DB | Erie, PA | 5'10" | 169 | 3 | 6/5/2017 | Early |
| Cody Ince | OL | Balsam Lake, WI | 6'5" | 260 | 3 | 6/19/2017 | Early |
| Jack Plumb | TE | Green Bay, WI | 6'8" | 245 | 3 | 6/26/2017 | Early |
| Noah Shannon | DT | Oswego, IL | 6'2" | 285 | 3 | 7/4/2017 | Early |
| DJ Johnson | DB | Indianapolis, IN | 6'0" | 170 | 3 | 8/22/2017 | Late* |
| Julius Brents | DB | Indianapolis, IN | 6'2" | 180 | 4 | 9/1/2017 | Late* |
| John Waggoner | DE | West Des Moines, IA | 6'5" | 245 | 4 | 12/5/2017 | Early |
| Calvin Lockett | WR | Largo, FL | 6'2" | 170 | 3 | 12/13/2017 | Early |
| Spencer Petras | QB | Kentfield, CA | 6'5" | 225 | 4 | 12/15/2017 | Early |
| Dallas Craddieth | DB | Florrisant, MO | 6'1" | 180 | 4 | 12/20/2017 | Early |
| Seth Benson | LB | Sioux Falls, SD | 6'1" | 210 | 2 | 12/21/2017 | Early |
| Nico Ragaini | WR | West Haven, CT | 6'0" | 190 | 3 | 1/8/2017 | NA |
| Logan Klemp | LB | Jewell, IA | 6'3" | 210 | 2 | 2/2/2018 | Late |
| Kaevon Merriweather | S | Belleville, MI | 6'2" | 195 | 2 | 2/2/2018 | Late |
| Jayden McDonald | LB | Suwanee, GA | 6'1" | 210 | 3 | 2/5/2018 | Late |
Geographically, this class is primarily based in the midwest, but the staff has found success in a lot of places, reeling in recruits in 11 states, including 4 from Iowa.
From a needs standpoint, this group has addressed every pressing need and then some. Defense rules the day with this group as there are 13 defensive commits compared to 9 on the offensive side of the ball. There are more defensive backs than any other position group. That makes some sense given the sheer volume of DBs typically used between defense and special teams.
Stay tuned to the National Signing Day Headquarters as we collect all the faxes. We’ll have updates throughout National Signing Day and a full recap once all the letters of intent are in.