Kaleb Brown’s inability to crack Iowa’s thin rotation at receiver failed opportunity for both sides
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Chicago natives Leshon Williams and Kaleb Brown are both leaving the Iowa football team in search of more playing time, or so it would seem.
Neither has played much this season as Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz pointed out on Tuesday while addressing their decisions to enter the transfer portal.
Williams led Iowa in rushing last season with 821 yards, but he has been hampered by injuries since the spring, and has appeared briefly in just three games and has 21 rushing yards on 11 carries.
His absence created an opportunity for Kaleb Johnson, who has since become a rising star as one of the nation’s leading rushers.
Brown, who played well down the stretch of last season, was expected to make an impact at wide receiver for new offensive coordinator Tim Lester, but it just never happened for reasons on and off the field.
Brown was charged with drunken driving and with using fake ID in June and was suspended for the season opener against Illinois State. He had one catch for 18 yards while appearing briefly in three games this season.
“I think I used this line before a while ago, you can’t lose what you didn’t have,” Kirk Ferentz said. “If somebody really hasn’t been playing, it’s not like you’re losing a lot of contribution, if that makes any sense. I don’t know what the stats are on either player we’re talking about this season. If Leshon had left last November, that would have been impactful because he was right in the thick of it and he was our best option and was playing very well, too. I want to compliment him.
“It’s really not the case now, and I talked about the injuries. That’s affected him greatly, really since April. I feel bad anytime a player can’t do what they want to do that way.
“But the bottom line is it’s, not to be callous, but if a player is really not playing, it’s not like you lose anything that way.”
Brown showed flashes of his explosiveness last season, and it was assumed that the 5-foot-10, 200-pounder would continue to improve under Lester.
However, in addition to his one-game suspension, Brown also apparently struggled with some of his route running.
He reportedly ran his route improperly on the one snap that he played in Iowa’s 31-14 Minnesota victory on Sept. 21 in Minneapolis.
“Kaleb’s coming along,” Lester said during the bye week. “Kaleb is still feeling out some of the timing of some of the routes. And once he does, we know he can make plays.”
Brown, a former four-star recruit, transferred to Iowa from Ohio State last summer.
He had appeared briefly in five games for the Buckeyes during the 2022 season.
But instead of Brown leading the way at receiver this season, Iowa has turned two two receivers that didn’t even join the team until this past June.
Northwestern transfer Jacob Gill has been a pleasant surprise as he leads the team with 169 receiving yards on 16 receptions, while Reece Vander Zee, a true freshman from Rock Rapids, leads the team with two touchdown catches.
Kirk Ferentz was asked Tuesday what it takes for a wide receiver to get on the field and why it has worked for Gill and Vander Zee, but not for Brown.
“I don’t want to talk about players that aren’t here, but I can talk about Jacob Gill, a guy who did get here in June; he’s come in and worked hard,” Kirk Ferentz said. “He was not a household name at his last school. He’s tremendously attentive, very detailed in his work, his preparation, and he practices every day and practices hard.
“So there’s a lot of value in that, and that’s true at every position. Just being reliable, dependable so the quarterback can really count on you to be there, and I flash back to a couple weeks ago, that Minnesota game, the one touchdown to the left that Kaleb (Johnson) broke out, Gill is in there blocking, knocks over two guys. The little dirty stuff like that or the dirty work that maybe some players don’t want to do, he’s willing to do it.”
As for Vander Zee, Kirk Ferentz said:
“Then Reece is a different discussion because he’s a kid who just got out of high school basically five months ago, four months ago, and unfortunately for him, he had some injury issues in the summer. He’s limited on what he could do.
“But once we got going in camp, same thing, he’s just very attentive, very detailed, works hard. You’ve seen him compete for the ball out there. He has tremendous upside. He has a great attitude. I’m not saying somebody else didn’t. I’m just talking about those two individuals that were really focused on the details.”
Kirk Ferentz never came right out and said that Brown has struggled to do the same things that have helped to get Gill and Vander Zee on the field, but what Kirk Ferentz said Tuesday sure gave that impression.
Especially in the wake of what Tim Lester said about Brown a few weeks ago.
Fans, meanwhile, are confused because they’ve seen Brown’s explosiveness and wonder why he couldn’t crack Iowa’s thin rotation at receiver. They might be asking was it really worth losing a player with Brown’s talent over the little things?
Fans see an offense that continues to struggle with making explosive plays downfield in the passing game, and now one of the most athletic receivers on the team is moving on, probably because he can’t crack the rotation.
It’s just sort of a head scratcher, and a failed opportunity for both sides. It’s also unfortunate because both sides would seem to have needed each other.