Well hello there, football recruits. How're you doing? It's been a while since one of you gave a verbal commitment to Iowa, so we're a little rusty on this whole process. Iowa added verbals from two Detroit prep players yesterday, Chauncey Golston and Cedrick Lattimore, their first verbal commitments since Toren Young, a Wisconsin running back, committed to Iowa back on January 25. Golston and Lattimore are not only both Detroit natives, they're high school teammates at East English Village Prep. In fact, they're not just teammates, they play the same position: defensive end.
Blessed to say I have committed to the university of Iowa!!! pic.twitter.com/4mc67lgjoJ
— CEDDY CED♠️ (@ACE_WM) May 18, 2015
Lattimore and Golston both play defensive end, which was a position of considerable need for Iowa in this recruiting class. Both of Iowa's projected starters in 2015 (Drew Ott and Nate Meier) will be seniors, as is rotation player Melvin "Bud" Spears. Iowa's depth beyond Ott and Meier is decidedly shaky; the most recent depth chart lists two redshirt freshmen (Matt Nelson and Parker Hesse) as backups and the only other real possibilities are another redshirt freshman (Terrence Harris) and a true freshman (Brady Reiff). Iowa has struggled to recruit (and retain) defensive ends in recent classes, which has left a lot of question marks behind Ott and Meier. It's rare for true freshmen linemen to play at Iowa, but Lattimore and Golston might be needed in the fall of 2016 -- likely not as starters, but possibly as rotation players to give the starters a rest.
Lattimore is a 3* recruit per 247 and Scout (unranked by Rivals and ESPN), while Golston is also a 3* recruit per 247 (unranked by Scout, Rivals, and ESPN). Lattimore had drawn more attention on the recruiting trail, with offers from Bowling Green, Ball State, and Miami (OH), while Golston had "interest" from Minnesota and Pittsburgh in addition to an offer from Iowa. Lattimore is the bigger of the two (6-6, 265 per 247), although Golston isn't small (6-5, 235) and has the frame to get bigger. Lattimore and Golston won't be the first lightly-recruited prospects from East English Village Prep to attend Iowa -- they'll be following in the footsteps of current Iowa standout Desmond King. We're certainly hoping they display the same talent at Iowa that King has for the last few years.
Lattimore displays some solid closing speed and certainly seems to enjoy hitting people, which is, uh, a rather desirable quality in a defensive end. He'll need to work on his technique, though -- most of his pass rush seems to come from just using his raw strength and speed to get around (or through) blockers. It's harder to get a read on Golston from his highlights -- many of them have him playing offense and blocking, which he presumably won't be doing at Iowa. Most of his defensive highlights involve him in run support, where he looks capable.
Welcome aboard, guys. We're just happy to have a few new recruits to talk about.