Iowa Football Recruiting: Hawkeyes Land Commitment from 3-Star Wisconsin DE Jake Karchinski

Iowa football recruiting has been on a roll of late. Last week we saw a pair of commits, including Kansas City WR Desmond Hutson and Ohio LB Jestin Jacobs. We keep saying things are going to continue heating up as the summer temps rise and that rang true again today as the Hawkeyes added their ninth commitment in the class of 2019.

This time it’s Wisconsin defensive end Jake Karchinski.

Karchinski, you’ll recall, is the prospect at the center of the now infamous Twitter debacle of Iowa State QB Coach Jim Hofher, who accidentally (presumably) tweeted some criticism publicly rather than via direct message. Hofher expressed that he was underwhelmed with Karchinski, but at the same time seemed to concede that they had been considering him as a recruit but wouldn’t need to now that Iowa had offered.

While Hofher may not have been impressed, plenty of others were as Karchinski garnered 14 offers before making his commitment. While most are from non-power 5 schools (most of the MAC has offered), Iowa was joined on that front by Syracuse. It’s also worth noting that Wisconsin has sniffed around and given Karchinski is from the state, they may be someone to watch between now and signing day.

As far as how he fits, Karchinski is projected as a defensive end at Iowa despite showing quite a bit of versatility in his high school film. He lines up at tight end and linebacker, as well as defensive end for West De Pere. He shows good explosiveness and quickness for an end and is physical at 245 lbs. He’ll be a prime suspect for Doyle to add some bulk and make him a force along the defensive line.

As previously mentioned, Karchinski is the 9th commitment in the class of 2019. He’s the first defensive lineman in a class I would expect to include 2-3. He’s also the first recruit in the class from the state of Wisconsin, where offensive line coach Tim Polasek has established a nice little pipeline of guys overlooked by the Badgers. The 2018 class included a trio from the state - Cody Ince and Jack Plumb along the OL and RB commit Henry Geil. Here’s to hoping Karchinski is another in a long line of Wisconsinites to don the black and gold that continues for many years.

Welcome aboard Jake Karchinski!

Jake Karchinski, DE

Hometown: De Pere, WI (West De Pere)
Height: 6’5”
Weight: 245
Stars: 3