Former Iowa football DE predicts next Hawkeye DL stars

There's not a position group on Iowa's 2026 football roster that lost more production and experience than the defensive line.

All four starters from the end of the 2025 season have graduated, leaving behind big holes to fill. Aaron Graves, Max Llewellyn, Ethan Hurkett, and Jonah Pace were all highly-productive players who helped give the Hawkeyes a massive advantage in the trenches. With all of them now departed, there are a lot of questions about the future of the Hawkeyes' defensive line. But one former Hawk gave fans a reason to be optimistic about that room.

Llewellyn spoke to reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine on Wednesday, answering a variety of questions about his game, experiences, and NFL dreams. When asked about guys returning to Iowa whom he could see at the Combine in the future, Llewellyn gave a very exciting answer.

Iowa DE Max Llewellyn talks about his former teammates along the defensive line who could replace him and wind up at the NFL combine in the future. pic.twitter.com/CM0qjthOsd

— Scott Dochterman (@ScottDochterman) February 25, 2026

"I can't just pick one guy," Llewellyn said when asked about the next breakout star along Iowa's defensive line. "My boy Kenny Merrieweather, he's got some juice. The young guys, Joe Anderson, Chima [Chineke], basically the entire line. It's just such a good coached room, especially at Iowa. You know what you're going to get out of an Iowa player. A well-disciplined guy, a well-coached guy. It could really be anybody."

Merrieweather has the most returning experience on the defensive line, with 19 career games, 15 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a half sack as a Hawkeye. Anderson and Chineke are both redshirt freshmen who were four-star recruits in Iowa's 2024 class. Their potential is sky-high, and both should see an uptick in playing time next season. Another guy with extremely high upside in line for a bigger role in 2026 is Iose Epenesa.

A five-star recruit in Iowa's 2025 class, Epenesa is a crown-jewel legacy player for the Hawks, following in the footsteps of his father Eppy and brother A.J. He saw the field a bit in garbage time last season, picking up his first career tackle against Minnesota. It seems like he'll have a much bigger role in 2026. Llewellyn spoke more about Epenesa and his potential.

"Iose's done tremendous things," Llewellyn said. "He's shown a lot of high-level skill from a young guy that you don't typically see. Iose absolutely could be up here [at the Combine]."

While there's certainly a lot of unknowns when it comes to Iowa's defensive line in 2026, there's no doubt that the upside for that unit is real. Llewellyn would know better than most about what that room is returning next season, and his excitement about them should have Hawkeye fans confident in the defensive line to remain a dominant force for the foreseeable future.

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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Former Iowa football DE predicts next Hawkeye DL stars