The countdown to kickoff continues, as does our preseason positional breakdown of the Iowa roster. Quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers are done. This week we look at the one position on the offense that Kirk Ferentz described in the spring as “pretty established”. The tight end room enters 2026 with real answers and a legitimate breakout star.
Setting the StageIowa’s tight end room finished the 2025 season with a moment that changed the trajectory of the position group. In the ReliaQuest Bowl against #14 Vanderbilt, redshirt freshman DJ Vonnahme caught seven passes for 146 yards and a touchdown — the second-most single-game receiving yards by a tight end in program history. It was the exclamation point on a stretch where 19 of his 29 season catches came in the final five games.
That trajectory matters heading into 2026. The Iowa passing offense finished 2025 where it’s been for years: near the bottom of the Big Ten and the country. Much of the second-half production came from Vonnahme’s late-season emergence. Now he’s the returning target leader in a group that also gets 5th-year Addison Ostrenga back from a season-ending Achilles injury, keeps senior blocker Zach Ortwerth around for another year and adds one of Iowa’s higher-rated recruits in years. If Tim Lester wants to lean more vertically this fall — and per his own comments, he does — the tight end room is where the middle-of-the-field answers are likely to come from.
Who We LostHayden Large is the only departure from a season ago, and it’s not a significant one in terms of the receiving production for this unit. Large was more of an H-back for the Hawkeyes after starting as a fullback. He finished the 2025 season with 8 catches for 52 yards, third among Iowa tight ends on the year. He’s now a Chicago Bear.
Who’s BackDJ Vonnahme (Jr., 6-4, 241) is the room’s centerpiece. The Breda, Iowa product finished 2025 with 29 receptions, 434 yards, and 3 touchdowns across 12 games and five starts, leading all Iowa pass-catchers in both categories. His bowl-game line — 7 catches for 146 yards — was the moment the coaching staff has referenced repeatedly this offseason as proof of what he can do when the offense gets him touches.
He enters 2026 with massive expectations as a pre-season All-American according to the Sporting News and is on the Mackey Award Watch List. He’s the clear top target among the tight ends and seems destined for greatness as a complete matchup nightmare.
Zach Ortwerth (Sr., 6-4, 247) enters 2026 as the #2 tight end partially by default. He played in 12 games a season ago and started four. He does the dirty work in the run game as Iowa’s zone-run scheme lives and dies on tight-end sift blocks and backside seals. In the passing game, Ortwerth finished 2025 with 76 yards on 9 catches with no TDs. He’s clearly behind the budding star in Vonnahme but is a very solid second option.
Addison Ostrenga (5th yr, 6-4, 249) is the biggest health story of the offseason. The Sun Prairie, Wisconsin native tore his Achilles against Iowa State in week 2 last year and finished the season with just one catch for eight yards.
Ferentz confirmed in May that the recovery has gone smoothly: “Everything’s really been really encouraging. No setbacks.” He is reportedly ahead of schedule and has been participating in fall camp, though was not a standout at the Kid’s Day open practice. If he is fully healthy in September, this is group becomes very deep and the personnel packages could get interesting.
Thomas Meyer (So., 6-4, 248) was a true freshman rotation piece in 2025 who earned enough spring buzz from teammates that his name keeps coming up in beat reports. Ostrenga on him this spring: “He’s been working his butt off. Did a great job last year as well as a freshman just learning the playbook.”
Mason Woods (RS Fr, 6-2, 230), the Coralville native and son of former Iowa special-teams coach LeVar Woods, gets described by Ostrenga as “a little bit more of a receiver style when he’s running routes.” That skill set is a specific fit for the flex-TE role Lester has run at every prior stop. Woods is a developmental piece to watch if we can keep him in Iowa City.
Michael Burt (Jr., 6-5, 252), Dylan Stecker (RS Fr, 6-4, 233), and Eli Johnson (So., 6-5, 250) round out the depth.
NewcomersThe freshman class brought in one tight end and it’s a good one. Luke Brewer (Fr., 6-4, 239) arrives from Norwalk, Iowa as a 247Sports Composite four-star. He was the #22 tight end nationally and the #6 in-state prospect in his class. Brewer chose Iowa over Tennessee, Miami (FL), Michigan, Notre Dame, Florida, and Iowa State. His senior high school line was 39 catches for 532 yards and 6 touchdowns, plus a team-leading 63.5 tackles and 8 tackles for loss as a defensive end. He was originally in the 2027 recruiting class before reclassifying to arrive a year early.
Brewer is a guy who would have projected as a redshirt this fall prior to the 5-in-5 ruling. It will be interesting to see how the staff handles a player of his caliber now given the depth at the position.
Projected Depth ChartRolePlayerClassNotesStarterDJ VonnahmeJr.Returning starter; ReliaQuest Bowl breakout; No. 1 target2nd/3rd StringAddison Ostrenga5th yrReturning from Achilles; route-running complement2nd/3rd StringZach OrtwerthSr.Senior blocker; zone-run backboneReserveThomas MeyerSo.Spring buzz; developmental targetReserveMason WoodsRS FrReceiver-style route runner; flex-TE candidateReserveMichael BurtJr.6-5 body-catch optionReserveDylan SteckerRS FrDevelopmentReserveEli JohnsonSo.DevelopmentReserveLuke BrewerFr.Four-star newcomer – does he get into the rotation?Key Questions Entering 2026- How does Ostrenga’s Achilles hold up under contact? Rehab reports have been positive. Fall camp is the first live-tackling test. If he’s cleared to full participation from Day 1, Iowa runs a very different 12-personnel package than if he’s brought back on a snap count through September.
- Can Vonnahme sustain the November-December production over 12 games? His 19-catch stretch across the final five games translated to roughly 100 yards per game. Prorated over a full season, that’s an 800+ yard year. Nobody in the Iowa TE room has produced that kind of season since T.J. Hockenson in 2018. The tape says the production is real; the fall-camp reps will tell us how the coaching staff plans to use him.
- How many TEs does Lester use? We’ve seen an uptick in 12 and 13 personnel in the NFL, including from Shanahan system disciples. Lester has been vocal this offseason about the flexibility of the system to fit the personnel and Iowa has immense depth at TE. But for once, it seems as though there are weapons at WR as well, so finding the balance in personnel groupings as the season progresses will be interesting to watch.
- Does Brewer play this year? With a healthy Vonnahme, Ostrenga and Ortwerth ahead of him and quality development pieces in the rotation, there’s not a need for Brewer in 2026. But if Ostrenga’s Achilles limits his September availability, that could change.
This is the most complete position group on the offense heading into 2026. Vonnahme is a genuine breakout star, Ostrenga is the kind of veteran complement that makes 12-personnel packages work at the Big Ten level, Ortwerth handles the trench work, and the developmental depth behind them has real ceiling.
The real question isn’t whether the tight end room can produce. It’s whether the passing offense as a whole can consistently get them the ball and what that looks like with an actual set of weapons in the WR room. That’s a scheme question, a quarterback question and an offensive line pass-protection question. It’s not a tight end question. The tight ends are ready.
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