By Tyler Devine

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Depth charts are always fluid in football, and that could not be more true when it comes to 18th-ranked Iowa’s offensive line rotation heading into its season opener against No. 17 Indiana on Saturday.

The only certainty is that preseason first-team All-American Tyler Linderbaum will be holding down the fort at center.

After that, there could be seven or eight different faces making appearances at different positions along Iowa’s line, according to first-year offensive line coach George Barnett.

“When you go to the guards and tackles, it’s just going to be a mix,” Barnett said. “It might be a certain guard depending on what we’re feeling the next couple days, or who rotates in. But at the tackle position, it’s the same names we went over a couple weeks ago.”

Junior Jack Plumb and and sophomore Nick DeJong are listed as the starters at the tackle positions, while sophomores Justin Britt and Cody Ince are listed as the starters at guard.

The 6-foot-4, 302-pound Britt is expected to make his first career start in place of injured senior Kyler Schott, who will miss an undisclosed amount of time due to a foot injury suffered while bailing hay on his family farm during a break in fall camp.

Head coach Kirk Ferentz had a tongue-in-cheek answer when asked Tuesday about the rotation along Iowa’s offensive line against Indiana.

“I’m not sure,” Ferentz said. “I really am not sure what it’s going to look like. I’m pretty sure Linderbaum will be playing center.”

Based on the answers from the two coaches, it seems likely that redshirt freshmen guards Tyler Elsbury and Josh Volk may make an appearance at guard at some point, and backup tackles Connor Colby and Mason Richman may also see some playing time.

Football coaches are always preaching consistency, which seems hard to achieve when there are players rotating in and out of the game.

However, Barnett said Wednesday that Iowa’s players have become accustomed to during fall camp and practice leading up to Saturday’s game.

“The cohesiveness is just repetition,” Barnett said. “It’s something you’ve got to rep and you’ve got to be cautious. You have to be careful of who and when and where and getting each guy the work at the positions he needs to get. And then get the combinations of guys together. The great thing with camp and the number of practices we’ve had has certainly lent itself to that.”