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Next up on our countdown to the start of the Hawkeye football season is a pair of underclassmen, one from each side of the ball.
Tommy Kujawa- RS SO
Greendale, Wisconsin (Greendale)
6’3”, 230 lbs
2019 Projection: Reserve Tight End
Logan Klemp- RS FR
Jewell, Iowa (South Hamilton)
6’3”, 210 lbs
2019 Projection: Reserve Linebacker
Kujawa is the nephew of former Hawkeye fullback Paul Kujawa. Kujawa chose a preferred walk-on role for the Hawkeyes over a similar offer from Arkansas and scholarship offers from schools such as Northern Illinois and Illinois State.
As a senior at Greendale High School, Kujawa was used all over the field on the offensive side of the ball. He racked up nearly 1,000 all-purpose yards despite missing four games with injuries.
His video shows a potentially strong catch radius, and with two years under his belt with Coach Doyle, and the chance to learn from some historically great Iowa tight ends, Kujawa should have the chance to accumulate his first collegiate stats this season.
Klemp has only been in the program for one year so it’s likely that he won’t see any action this season. Klemp signed with Iowa after playing 1A football in Iowa with South Hamilton. Playing on both sides of the ball, Klemp had over 100 tackles from the linebacker position and rushed for over 1,000 yards on offense to earn the Iowa 1A Player of the Year award.
Klemp was a two-star recruit from Jewell, Iowa and was set to walk-on at Iowa over opportunities at many smaller schools. However, a late offer from Iowa got him his scholarship.
While a two-star ranking brings angst to the Michigans and Nebraskas of the world, Iowa has a long history of being able to identify under-recruited players and turning them into useful or even outstanding Big Ten athletes.
While 2019 might not be the year for Klemp to see the field as a linebacker due to the returning depth and the 4-2-5 defensive formation that Iowa now prefers, a shot or two on special teams is certainly not out of the question for Klemp due to his combination of strength and speed.