Unlike the previous three defensive groups, Iowa’s bunch at safety is returning just Kaevon Merriweather and his seven career starts. He played a bunch last season but the positional alignment often saw Dane Belton get the start over him at safety while a third linebacker was on the field.
This group is no less deep than past iterations, though, and arguably as talented a bunch as you’ll see relative to the baseline talent level at the position. Yes, there is the classic Iowa-born-and-bred walk-on, but between a multi-year contributor and two elite recruits...the Hawkeyes have some choices.