Iowa lost a key piece of its secondary during practice on Thursday.
The Hawkeyes said on Friday that starting safety Brandon Snyder suffered a torn ACL in a special teams drill. Given the approximately nine-month recovery period for ACL injuries, he’s likely out for most, if not all, of the 2017 season.
Snyder started all 13 of Iowa’s games in 2016 and was the team’s third-leading tackler with 85 stops. A senior in 2017, he was set to be the defensive backfield’s leader as Iowa attempted to get back to the Big Ten Championship game.
Now, Iowa is looking for his replacement to start the season. From Hawkeye Report:
This spring, Snyder’s backup is Jake Gervase, a junior to be walk-on from Davenport, who earned a scholarship to start the winter semester. The Hawkeyes are going to get good use of that scholarship now as Gervase is potentially moving into the starting lineup at free safety.
Another option mentioned by Kirk Ferentz following the open practice in West Des Moines is sophomore to be Amani Hooker. The Minneapolis native has been competing with Taylor at strong safety this spring, but with the loss of Snyder, it’s quite possible that he could end up getting a long look at the free safety spot as well.
Snyder, an Iowa native, is a former walk-on himself. He emerged as a starter in 2016 after recording 11 tackles in 14 games in 2015.
For more Iowa news, visit HawkeyeReport.com.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
