95 Days until Hawkeye Football: Cedrick Lattimore

We return from the three-day hiatus to talk about a senior defensive tackle who’s showed a lot of promise throughout his tenure!

Cedrick Lattimore – Senior
Redford, Michigan (East English Village)
6’5”, 295 lbs
2019 Projection: Starting defensive tackle

In 2016, Lattimore came to Iowa as a 3-star defensive end from Detroit, MI, according to 247sports. He picked the Hawkeyes over a collection of MAC-like schools alongside high school teammate, Chauncey Golston.

BHGP’s writeup at the time highlighted the need for defensive linemen in 2016 and he was forced into action as a true freshman by playing in six games. He forced a fumble on a sack against Illinois for his only statistics in the season.

His sophomore year was a solid step up, as he started in six games and recorded 19 tackles with a season-best three against Minnesota. It was around that time he moved into more of a reserve role, according to his Hawkeye Sports bio. Unclear why! The depth charts still had him as the starter throughout much of the 2017 season.

Last year got off to a bumpy start with a spring infraction carrying over to a suspension against Northern Illinois. He was never able to regain his starting spot after Sam Brincks proved effective throughout his senior year and Matt Nelson slid inside. Due to Iowa’s rotation along the defensive front, he had plenty of opportunities, though, and increased his tackles to 21 in his role. He recorded a sack and four tackles against UNI and tallied four more tackles against Northwestern.

There’s a bit of a “now or never” feel as Lattimore is all of a sudden a senior with one last bite at the apple. He’s certainly demonstrated enough ability throughout his career, but with uncertain depth along the defensive line, Iowa will require a consistency from him he hasn’t yet shown. If he puts it together, it could be a part of a special unit with Epenesa and Golston alongside him.