93 Days Until Hawkeye Football: Jake Karchinski

Welcome back to our countdown of the Iowa Hawkeyes football season. Our next player preview is [another] redshirt freshman defensive end.

But first, a different kind of highlight from a past 93:

Jake Karchinski – RS Freshman
DePere, WI (West)
6’4”, 274 lbs
2020 Projection: Reserve defensive end

Karchinski was a 3-star defensive end out of high school in 2019 with offers from Syracuse, Western, Michigan, and the classic smattering of FCS schools, according to 247sports.

In his recruitment, Iowa locked him up well before he was named defensive player of the year in Wisconsin. In 2019, he accumulated 55 tackles, 8 sacks, and 18 tackles for loss as his team finished as the runner-up in the state. In his high school career, he tallied 173 tackles, 21 sacks, and 46 tackles for loss. The kid LIVED in the backfield.

In his highlights, he does not necessarily overwhelm linemen with a variety of moves but impresses with his power. He gets into the backfield, and stays there, in both the run and pass game.

He does so out of both a two-point and three-point stance and is quick to get his hands up to knock down passes. He also was a solid blocker and receiver as a tight end and could fill it up on the hardwood. Classic multi-dimensional Hawkeye.

If there’s one thing which sticks out about him, though, is his recruiting profile: he seems like the classic Wisconsin edge rusher in terms of size and skillset, yet never received an offer from the Badgers. Let’s hope he makes them pay in the coming years.

There’s no position on Iowa’s roster with more uncertainty than the defensive line. If Karchinski has developed well during quarantine and returns to campus in solid form, he’ll push for snaps as a backup lineman. With (at least) Chauncey Golston and Zach VanValkenburg departing after this season, the pathway to playing time opens up further for the redshirt freshman.