Hawkeyes Losing Another Player to NFL Draft

It's a fact that Iowa builds offensive linemen who play in the National Football League. Another one has decided to forego his final year of eligibility to try his hand at the next level. This time he's a native of Eastern Iowa and Linn County.

Iowa offensive linemen Kyler Schott, a native of Coggon and North Linn High School, announced his intention this morning to enter the 2022 NFL draft. Schott, a team captain each of the last two years is #64 above, preparing to lead Iowa onto the field at the Big Ten Championship game last month.

On Twitter Tuesday morning, Schott thanked the coaching staff for their help making him the player and man he is today and how that he grew up as a Hawkeye and always dreamed of playing in the black & gold. He went on to thank the coaches saying, in part,

... who helped this small-town kid get such a great opportunity to play D1 (Division 1) football. Finally, I can't say thank you enough to my family for all the love and support they've shown me in my journey.

You can see the full post from Schott below the photo gallery of the Best Iowa Football Photos of the 2021 Season at the end of this story.

Schott joined the Iowa football program in 2017 as a walk-on. He redshirted that season.

During the 2019 season, Schott started six games at right guard for the Hawkeyes.

In 2020, Schott was Honorable Mention All-Big Ten by both league coaches and the media, despite missing 3 games due to illness.

During the 2021 season, he missed fall camp and Iowa's first four games due to a broken foot he sustained while helping his family bale hay over the summer, according to 247 Sports. He was still named 2nd team All-Big Ten by the league's coaches.

Schott's 2022 season would have been his sixth in Iowa City. The extra season of eligibility for players was added last year due to the COVID pandemic. Instead, he's bound for the next level.

Tyler Linderbaum, a Solon native and Iowa's starting center, has not yet announced whether he'll return to Iowa City next fall. If he decides to forgo his senior year, he's widely regarded as a first-round draft choice.