Iowa's offensive line hopes to retool, not rebuild, after losing Tyler Linderbaum to NFL

IOWA CITY — Iowa football's offensive line is well-aware of the questions surrounding the unit this spring. It's focused on improvement after a sub-par 2021 season, but it will have to do so without several major pieces — most notably future first-round NFL Draft pick Tyler Linderbaum. 

The Hawkeyes lost senior guard Kyler Schott to the draft, too, and veteran guard Cody Ince retired from football before spring practice began. On Tuesday, senior right tackle Jack Plumb fielded questions that mostly centered around replacing Linderbaum's presence on the field and, perhaps equally important, his voice within the room. 

Right now, it's still a work in progress. 

"Everyone's leading in their own way," Plumb said. "We don't have a one set leader right now. We're all just working and it's nice to hear everybody's voice. Everyone values everyone's opinion. It's a little different right now, but it's nice to see everyone talk and speak up." 

More:10 observations during Iowa football's open practice period

Iowa football's depth chart subject to change 

According to Iowa's initial spring practice depth chart, Plumb, who has nine career starts, is the No. 1 right tackle currently. Elsewhere, sophomores Connor Colby (11 starts) and Mason Richman (12 starts) are the No. 1s at right guard and left tackle, respectively, and junior Justin Britt (three starts) was listed at No. 1 left guard.

At center there's a committee of players vying for the job, all without any starts: redshirt freshman Michael Myslinski, sophomores Tyler Elsbury and Logan Jones, and senior Matt Fagan. 

Britt was held out of practice Tuesday and Myslinksi, one of the favorites for the center job, is out for all of spring practice due to injury, adding to the thinness along the line right now. Attrition both by departures from the program and injuries have created an open competition dynamic across the position group.

"We've got a lot of competition right now," Plumb said. "We're plugging guys in and out and seeing who's going to be the man at what spot. It's really competitive right now. Everyone wants to be the best. It's (starting offense against starting defense) right now and if you take a play off you're going to get exposed so we're going at it." 

More:Leistikow: Intensified focus on Brian Ferentz, Iowa quarterbacks as spring football begins

While there's an initial depth chart out, Plumb downplayed any notion that the lineup is set. That coincides with what head coach Kirk Ferentz said last week regarding the offensive line and Plumb also confirmed Ferentz's statement that multiple players will get looks at multiple positions. Everything from positions to lineups will remain fluid until Ferentz and offensive line coach George Barnett find the best group of five players. 

Offensive line coach George Barnett's second year with Iowa 

Plumb said it helps that this is Barnett's second year on staff. Barnett was hired last March and had to learn his players and Iowa's scheme on the fly during spring practice. 

Iowa's offensive line has emphasized communication in the early days of spring practice. With various lineup combinations working at different times, every lineman has to be in-sync in order to run plays effectively against the defense. 

"You can tell that this year we're ahead of where we were compared to last year," Plumb said. "At the start (of last spring practice), coach (Barnett) didn't say much because he didn't want to speak a different language than us and confuse us. We started off a little slow last spring but now we're on the same page, moving fast and I like the progress we're making." 

It'll take some time for Iowa to get a room of fully healthy offensive linemen. When it happens, Plumb, like Ferentz last week, is optimistic about the group's potential. Replacing key fixtures like Linderbaum and Schott won't be quick fixes. As a group, they've adopted one of Barnett's mantras as the method of improvement this spring. 

"Coach Barnett talks about 'improvement mindset,'" Plumb said. "He says focus on one thing in the run game and pass game every day at practice and get better at that one thing. Keep doing that every day, just keep getting better and stacking days." 

More:31 NFL teams scouted Iowa football's pro day. Here are 4 things that stood out.

Kennington Lloyd Smith III covers Iowa Hawkeyes football and men's basketball for the Des Moines Register. You can connect with Kennington on Twitter @SkinnyKenny_ or email him at ksmith@gannett.com.