After splitting his first six NFL seasons with the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks, former Iowa football star tight end and 2019 first-round pick Noah Fant led the Cincinnati Bengals (1-0) in receptions during their Week 1 victory over the Cleveland Browns (0-1) at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio.

During the former Hawkeye’s Cincinnati debut on Sunday, Fant recorded four receptions on five targets for a total of 26 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Joe Burrow on third-and-goal in the second quarter, which gave the Bengals a 14-7 lead at the time.

Fant signed a one-year, $2,750,000 contract with the Bengals, including a $1 million signing bonus , per Spotrac.

While Cincinnati certainly has a plethora of offensive options, with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins highlighting the talented receiver room, Fant should be able to carve out a productive year in the Queen City for a Bengals squad dependent on its explosive offense to carry the team.

Yes, the Iowa Hawkeyes got the win in Week 1 with a 34-7 victory over the UAlbany Great Danes, but it’s time to peel back the onion and look at what went into the score with the good, the bad, and the ugly.

It was a game that Iowa was expected to win handily, as the final score suggests, but doesn’t tell the full story, as the Hawkeyes trailed 7-3 at one point, which caused some blood pressures to rise. Within the 60 minutes, the Hawkeyes saw swings of positives to build upon and negatives to learn from.

As Iowa moves to 1-0 on the year, let’s dig into the report card from the Week 1 showing.

Offense

Offense Grade: C+

The offense is really a tale of two different aspects. Let’s start with the bad. The passing game was abysmal, to be blunt. It was nonexistent and posed no threat. Mark Gronowski was 8/15 for 44 yards. The silver lining, if any, is that he found the endzone with a fourth-and-goal completion to Kaden Wetjen and did not have any turnovers.

On the ground, Iowa was dominant. The Hawkeyes ran the ball 53 times for 310 yards. Xavier Williams led the way, going for 122 yards on just 11 carries with a score. TJ Washington Jr added 69 yards, while Jaziun Patterson poured in 47 yards. Kamari Moulton did exit the game early and is something to monitor the rest of the week.

Defense

Defense Grade: A-

Aside from allowing UAlbany to put together one strong drive, the Iowa defense was its usual suffocating self. On the day, they held the Great Danes to 177 yards of total offense and just two yards per rush. This unit is still settling in, but this builds confidence.

What is most impressive is how the unit performed out of the halftime break. In the second half, Iowa allowed just 30 total yards of offense to UAlbany. They emphatically slammed the door shut on any upset bid.

Special Teams

Special Teams Grade: A+

This was the star unit of the night. LeVar Woods’ group showed up in midseason form and played a huge part in this game. Rhys Dakin averaged 50 yards on his two punts, with a long of 53 yards. He is a true weapon for Iowa in the field position game.

Drew Stevens was perfect on the day with four extra points and two field goals. His 55-yard field goal hit the net behind the goal posts and could have hit from 70. He is going to change games for Iowa this year with the power he has.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Just days before national Democrats gather for their annual summer meeting, Iowa’s state party officials on Thursday said it was a mistake for the party to have abandoned Iowa in the 2024 early nominating calendar and opened up the possibility of going rogue the next time around.

In 2022, President Joe Biden ordered a shake-up of the 2024 election calendar, moving South Carolina’s primary ahead of contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. The move forced Iowa Democrats to ditch the five-decade, first-in-the-nation caucus where community members publicly signal their support for a candidate, a process that was plagued with problems in 2020.

The state party’s criticism came with an open threat of defying the national party’s orders in 2028 as Iowa Democrats look to bring the once-competitive Midwestern state back on the radar of a party questioning its values, direction and future leaders.

“It was a big mistake in the Biden calendar to know that Iowa Republicans are going first here in this state and that, as Democrats, we sat and watched all this attention and the millions of dollars being spent in the state without those kinds of resources to push back on the Republican agenda,” said Rita Hart, state party chair. “That did not help us here in Iowa and it did not help us long term for the national Democratic cause.”

Hart said that would be reflected in her own response to the state party’s new survey, designed to solicit feedback from Democrats across the state on the priorities for 2028, including on the tradeoffs of the traditional caucus process and potential threats from the Democratic National Committee.

Officials in the traditionally four early-voting states — and many others — are readying themselves to campaign for top billing, even though it’s likely still two years before the Democratic National Committee actually solidifies the order. Iowa Democrats said Thursday that Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, might unveil the process for states to make their 2028 pitch at next week’s biannual meetings.

Democratic officials said they expect to have preliminary conversations next week.

But Iowa’s Scott Brennan will no longer be a member of the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, which deals with the nominating process. That leaves Iowa without a seat at the table for the first time for the better part of 25 years, Brennan said.

Brennan, former state party chair, said Iowans are “rule followers by nature” but reiterated Thursday that last cycle’s process was not fair as he conveyed his own wishes for 2028: “Full speed ahead and damn the DNC.”

Last year, Iowa Democrats held caucuses eight days before any other state’s contest, as is required by Iowa law. But Democratic voters had cast their 2024 presidential preference ballots by mail, with results released that March on Super Tuesday alongside other states.

Meanwhile, New Hampshire rebelled in 2024, holding an unsanctioned primary in January, but the DNC ultimately dropped its threat to not seat the state’s national convention delegates.

Abhi Rahman, deputy communications director for the DNC, described Hart and Iowa’s DNC members as “fierce advocates” whose voices will be heard.

“The DNC is committed to running a fair, transparent, and rigorous process for the 2028 primary calendar,” Rahman said in a statement. “All states will have an opportunity to participate.”

Even as the Iowa Democratic Party considers going forward with a first-in-the-nation contest once again, it will still come with logistical questions. The survey includes questions on how the party should handle issues of inclusion and accessibility for the process, which has historically required participants to be registered with the party and physically present, sometimes for hours, in the evening during the heart of the Midwest winter.

While Hart said the survey is designed to better understand Iowa Democrats’ values to guide their approach to 2028, she suggested there are “too many moving pieces” to say now how that approach will look.

For now, 2028 prospects are making visits to the historically early states, including Iowa. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz reemerged after the 2024 election loss with a town hall in Des Moines in March; Biden’s Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who performed well in the 2020 Iowa caucuses, stopped by a VoteVets Action Fund gathering in May; and Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona spoke to hundreds in eastern Iowa earlier this month.

Brennan seemed to suggest Iowa Democrats’ future is simple.

“The fact of the matter is is that Iowa law requires that we be a caucus,” he said, “and I think we intend to be a caucus.”

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Associated Press writer Steve Peoples in New York contributed reporting.

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