2023 Iowa State Football Position Preview: Offensive Line

We’ve reached the last of our offensive previews as we take a look at the offensive line, a group that’s largely underperformed during the Matt Campbell era. Will we finally see them take a step forward under new position coach Ryan Clanton?

Departures

The lone departure off the 2022 starting offensive line is Trevor Downing. The former standout is currently in camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers and was one of the more dependable offensive linemen over the past few seasons for Iowa State. His departure does leave a hole at the most important position on the line, which is the center. Brady Peterson, a junior this season, looks to slide into that role and lead the offensive line in the middle.

New Guys

Let’s start with Ryan Clanton, who came over from Northern Iowa this offseason to coach the offensive line. During Clanton’s tenure in Cedar Falls, he helped produce two starting offensive linemen in Spencer Brown (Buffalo) and Trevor Penning (New Orleans). Both of these men embodied the mindset of tough, nasty, and physical, which is exactly the style that Ryan Clanton wants to bring to this Iowa State offensive line.

Now for some of the incoming guys from last year’s class. True freshman Trevor Buhr was widely regarded as a defensive line prospect by most schools, but Iowa State pursued him on the offensive line, and he ended up as the most highly-regarded lineman of the class.

Brendan Black and Aiden Gilmore round out the 2023 class for offensive linemen. Both are slated to play on the interior of the offensive line and bring some interesting traits to the group. These guys will take some time to develop, but should be a part of future starting offensive lines for Iowa State.

Leader Of The Pack

Tyler Miller, started at left tackle all of last season and is one guy that many think will be playing a ton of football at the next level. Miller did not have a great 2022 season, but it was revealed that he was playing through an arm injury most last season, which hampered his ability to block to that side. Miller will have to embody the physical play style and lead this group to success. If he doesn’t, it will be another long season for Iowa State offensively.

Best Of The Rest

Alongside Tyler Miller starting on the offensive line most likely will be Jarrow Hufford, the previously-mentioned Brady Peterson, four-year starter Darrell Simmons Jr, and Grant Treiber. Deylin Hasert, the redshirt freshman, is another name to keep tabs on. He has had a strong camp as of now and is very talented.

Make no mistake about it. The offensive success for Iowa State heavily weighs on the shoulders of the offensive line this season. With the youth and unknowns at a lot of other positions on the Iowa State offense, this group is going to have to make life easier for everyone else around them. Start with excellent and physical blocking up front and pair with the elimination of “margin” mistakes that plagued the group last season. They have the guys to be successful; it just needs to be done. Let’s see how it unfolds.