My five most underrated Iowa football players since 1979
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – In all my years covering the Iowa football team, this was perhaps the most difficult project that I have ever faced and completed:
Picking the five most underrated Iowa players dating back to 1979, which covers the Hayden Fry and Kirk Ferentz coaching eras.
At first, it sounded like fun, but I’ll be honest, it started to wear on me because there were so many worthy candidates.
I changed my mind several times before finally settling on a top five, which consists of three players from the Kirk Ferentz era and two from the Hayden Fry era.
I gave serious consideration to putting running back Ladell Betts on the list because Betts gained some of the hardest yards in program history while running behind mostly overmatched offensive lines from 1998 to 2001. But he also made second-team All-Big Ten three times and is Iowa’s second all-time leading rusher with 3,686 rushing yards, and the current Iowa running back coach.
Whether a player made first, second, or third-team All-Big Ten was a big factor in compiling the list.
And when I say underrated, I’m talking from outside the program because I guarantee all five of these players, none of whom made any All-Big Ten teams, were widely respected and admired from within the program.
So, here are my five most underrated players in alphabetical order.
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George Davis, linebacker, 1983-86: Those who know my background might wonder if I’m being biased with this pick since George Davis and I both graduated from West Des Moines Dowling in 1982.
But trust me, that isn’t the case.
George Davis deserves to be on this list as a three-year starter who was given the nickname “bulldog” as a Hawkeye due to his toughness, strength and determination.
I asked both Chuck Long and former Iowa offensive coordinator Don Patterson if George deserved to be on this list, and they both said yes without hesitating.
George Davis for three seasons played alongside and in the immense shadow of Iowa All-America linebacker Larry Station, but George more than held his own as a tackling machine.
George finished his career with 330 tackles, which ranks 16th in program history. He had a career-high 20 tackles against Minnesota as a sophomore in 1984, including 18 solo stops.
His 18 solo stops rank first among all the Iowa players who have recorded at least 20 tackles in a game.
Station had 17 solo tackles in two games.
And yet, despite all his tackles, George Davis never made first or second-team All-Big Ten.
But he did make this list, and deservedly so.
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Christian Kirksey, linebacker, 2010-13: The St. Louis, Missouri native started 38 games for Iowa, was twice named a team captain and is ranked 17th in program history with 315 career tackles.
Kirksey played mostly the Leo position, which means it was harder for him to compile big tackling numbers because he often played in space as an outside linebacker.
In 2011, he started all 13 games for the Hawkeyes, recording 62 tackles, five tackles for loss, one sack, one interception, three pass break-ups and two forced fumbles.
In 2012, he was named a team captain and started all 12 games, recording 95 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and two quarterback sacks. He also returned two interceptions for touchdowns (one 68 yards vs. Minnesota and one 18 for yards against Indiana), had four recovered fumbles, two pass break-ups and one forced fumble.
In 2013, he again was named a team captain and would go on to start all 13 games at outside linebacker, finishing third on team with 104 tackles. He also had five tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks, two recovered fumbles, two forced fumbles, one interception and one pass break-up.
However, from an individual honor standpoint, the best Kirksey could do was Honorable Mention All-Big Ten as a senior.
He would go on to play for nine seasons in the NFL before retiring after the 2022 season with 778 career tackles.
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Logan Lee, defensive tackle, 2020-23: The Orion, Illinois native started 41 games for the Hawkeyes, but he never made higher than Honorable Mention All-Big Ten.
Lee was a model of consistency as a sophomore, junior and senior, finishing with 55, 48 and 54 tackles, respectively. He also had three sacks in each of those three seasons and finished with a career-high eight tackles for loss as a sophomore in 2021.
Lee excelled at absorbing blockers at the line of scrimmage, which helped pave the way for Iowa’s linebackers to make tackles.
He recorded a career-high 10 tackles (five solo, five assists), including a career-high 2.5 tackles for a loss of 18 yards and a career-high two quarterback sacks for 17 yards in 20-14 win over Purdue last season.
It is extremely rare for an Iowa defensive lineman to finish a game with double-digit tackles, so Lee’s performance against Purdue was spectacular.
He also excelled as a team leader throughout his career, mature beyond his years and the only player on the team that was married.
Lee was often overshadowed by the other standouts on the Iowa defensive line, but he was reliable, durable, fundamentally sound and tough.
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Nate Stanley, quarterback, 2016-19: I have a confession to make: when I first started the selection process, there was no way I thought Nate Stanley would make this list.
I think I held it against him that he played quarterback because he was always the center of attention as a Hawkeye.
But after watching how Iowa’s quarterbacks have struggled since Stanley last played for the Hawkeyes in 2019, I have gained an appreciation for how well he played behind center.
The Wisconsin native is ranked second in program history behind Chuck Long with 8,302 career passing yards and with 68 career touchdown passes.
Stanley finished 3-0 against both Iowa State and Nebraska as a starter, and he has the distinction of having thrown a career-high five touchdown passes in a stunning 55-24 victory over Ohio State in 2017.
But even with all those accomplishments, Stanley never even made third-team All-Big Ten.
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Tony Stewart, running back, 1987-90: The New Jersey native never made All-Big Ten despite finishing his career with 2,562 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns.
Stewart and Nick Bell formed a dynamic duo at running back for Iowa’s 1990 Big Ten championship team as they combined to rush for 1,853 yards with Bell providing the power and Stewart the finesse.
Stewart’s best season as a Hawkeye was 1988 when he rushed for 1,036 yards and scored eight touchdowns.
Stewart is one just 10 players in program history to rush for at last 2,500 yards. He is currently ranked eighth on Iowa’s all-time rushing list.
Stewart was highly recruited in high school, but he dealt with injuries early in his Iowa career.
Once he was healthy, Stewart showed why he was so coveted coming out of high school on the East Coast.
He was part of the New Jersey/New York recruiting pipeline that played a key role in Hayden Fry’s success in rebuilding the program and in sustaining success.