By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Down the stretch of last season, Kaleb Brown was probably the best wide receiver on the Iowa football team.

So, it was reasonable to assume that the Chicago native would help lead the transition under new offensive coordinator Tim Lester.

But after four games, it just hasn’t happened.

Brown has been used sparingly in three games and only has one catch for 18 yards

He was suspended for the season opener against Illinois State after being charged with drunken driving in late June, and he seems to have been playing catch up ever since.

“Kaleb’s coming along,” Lester said Tuesday. “Kaleb is still feeling out some of the timing of some of the routes. And once he does, we know he can make plays.”

Iowa is 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten and features an emerging star in junior running back Kaleb Johnson, who has rushed for 685 yards and scored nine touchdowns in 3 1/2 games.

Johnson was withheld from the first half of the season opener against Illinois State for an undisclosed reason, and yet still leads the nation in rushing yards.

Iowa is averaging 250.2 rushing yards per game, but the passing game has sputtered, especially the downfield passing game.

Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara only passed for 62 yards in this past Saturday’s 31-14 victory at Minnesota, and he was held to just 19 passing yards in the second half of the 20-19 loss to Iowa State on Sept. 7 at Kinnick Stadium.

Brown would seem to be a likely option to help jumpstart the downfield passing game, but right now he is struggling to get on the field.

Lester explained why when asked about Brown’s limited role on Tuesday.

“He’s really just getting to understand the timing of the game,” Lester said of Brown, who played running back in high school. “We’ve had him targeted a couple times and he just hasn’t ran the route quite like we needed him to.”

Brown played his freshman season for Ohio State in 2022 before transferring to Iowa.

He played receiver for the Buckeyes, but only had one catch for five yards.

“Today was probably his best day, Lester said of Brown’s performance in Tuesday’s practice. “He’s rally starting to get into it. We’ve got to find ways to get him the ball.

“But he has to understand, in order to be one of our; I’d like to build this thing where we have seven, eight, nine, ten guys that can run a route and catch a ball. And he needs to be one of those guys. But he has to continue to work on all the little things and the technique and the details because the passing game, if he takes one step too many, that ball is out. I need the ball out of the quarterback’s hand before the receiver is looking at it.

“So, we better know exactly what you’re going to do. If you’re going to take those two extra steps, it’s going to look like we don’t know what we’re doing. So that’s his main issue.”

Brown’s play in the second half of last season was one of the few bright spots for the Iowa offense. He finished the 2023 season with 22 catches for 215 yards, and he had a career-high seven catches for 71 receiving yards against Illinois in the 11th game.

But instead of picking up where he left off last season, Brown has mostly been a non-factor in the passing game under Lester, who replaced Brian Ferentz as the offensive coordinator.

Iowa has received a boost at receiver from Northwestern transfer Jacob Gill, who leads the team with 13 catches for 145 yards and one touchdown.

Williamsburg native Kaden Wetjen, who came to Iowa as a walk-on, is also playing a bigger role at wide receiver in addition to handling punt returns.

The emergence of true freshman receiver Reece Vander Zee is another factor that could be impacting how much Brown plays.

Lester has seen flashes of Brown’s talent and the skills that made Brown a coveted recruit in high school.

Lester said Brown’s ability to “puncture vertical” comes natural.

“We have a couple thing to get him the ball,” Lester said. “But he just really has to work on his fundamentals, and really all the young wideouts need to work on that, too. But his fundamentals, when he gets it right, we need him to continue to get better as he goes.”

“So, I’m excited because I do see hand-wise, the guy makes one-handed catches in practice all the time. He’s blocking really physically right now, which I’m really proud of. So we’ve got to continue to grow his role in the offense without a doubt.”