Zach Lutmer open to playing three positions to help Iowa’s defense

CHICAGO — He’s the Hawkeye defender with enough versatility to make plays on the ball from anywhere on the field, and will be a weapon in Phil Parker’s defense this fall.

Zach Lutmer had a breakout campaign with Iowa last season, in which he started all 13 games, finished fourth on the team in tackles and earned All-Big Ten honors. With the Hawkeyes losing their top-three tacklers from 2025, Lutmer is expecting a bigger workload, and has no problem with lining up at multiple positions.

After all, Lutmer has played cornerback, safety and CASH in Parker’s system throughout his career, and it molded him into the Swiss Army Knife of the defense. Lutmer understands his value to the unit, and is willing to do whatever it takes to help the Hawkeyes succeed.

The Iowa native has the speed, and explosiveness to play corner on the outside. Like an elite safety, Lutmer possesses the instincts, and coverage skills to blanket an entire side of a field. Not to mention Lutmer is physical enough to creep up towards the line of scrimmage, and provide run support, which Parker requires to play the CASH position. At the end of the day,  Lutmer knows he can line up anywhere in the secondary, and excel on the gridiron.

“I’ve kind of been doing a little of both back there throughout the spring and the summer, to just to stay ready for whatever it entails,” Lutmer said. “Obviously if there are injuries, and I have to go back out and play corner, I’ll do that, but it’s kind of just a wait and see what happens in fall camp.”

Practice is looking promising in Lutmer’s eyes, with the way the younger defenders, and newcomers are flying around the ball. It’s no mystery that Iowa will be green along the defensive line, and more production will have to come from the linebackers and secondary.

The intensity remains high in fall camp, with several new faces competing for one of the top-two spots on the depth chart, and Lutmer likes how everyone is soaking up Parker’s scheme like a sponge.

“They’ve taken a ton of steps since the first day they got here, and grew a ton throughout the spring,” he said. “Every single day they learned probably three new things that they didn’t know before.”

Lutmer is just trying to lead by example, and has nothing to prove because his stats speak volumes. The 6-foot-1, 203-pounder posted a career-high, eight solo tackles at USC. Lutmer returned an interception 34 yards for a touchdown in the win over Minnesota. The former three-star prospect also picked off a pass against Indiana, and Michigan State.

Although Lutmer doesn’t have a preference of what position he plays, it still requires a different skill set every time.

“I would say that I’m pretty comfortable at CASH, and I’m actually really comfortable at safety, since I played there predominantly my first two years,” the 21-year old said. “It depends on what the call is, but if I’m able to play man-free, and just roam around, then I love playing safety, and if I’m able to blitz then I love CASH.”

At times Lutmer frustrates the offense in practice because he can call out the play to the rest of the defense before the snap. It’s not a sixth sense, despite always shocking his teammates, but Lutmer credits his ability to scan the field to all of the hard work he puts in. Regardless of the matter, Lutmer is confident that his knowledge, and football IQ is going to make him an elite defender in the black and gold.

“I’ve watched a ton of film, and something in my mind always tells me what the play is, so I’m able to communicate it, and it’s really weird.”