Iowa football in the NFL: Week 4 recap

It was another week with some great performances in the NFL from former Hawkeyes.

While some former Iowa football players are dealing with injuries right now, like George Kittle and Noah Fant, there’s still a lot of top-tier talent playing in the league. And some of those players had big week four performances.

From a strong game on one of the best units in the NFL to great special teams play, it was another strong week for former Hawks in the NFL. Let’s take a deeper look at some of the best performances from week four of the NFL season for some former Iowa stars.

Cooper DeJean’s strong season continues

Cooper DeJean has been on a tear to start the 2025 season. After rotating in and out of the Philadelphia Eagles‘ defense as a rookie, DeJean has been a full-time starter this season and taken advantage. He had nine total tackles and two passes defended in the Eagles‘ 31-25 win over the Buccaneers on Saturday, and almost had an interception off a flea flicker.

It’s the third straight game that DeJean has led the Eagles in tackles. He has 31 total tackles and three passes defended so far in four games and has really excelled this season. He’s looking like a future star in the NFL and one of the steals of the 2024 NFL Draft. What a start to 2025 for DeJean.

Punting is winning for Tory Taylor

Chicago Bears fans have been waiting for Tory Taylor to have a breakout game this season, and that happened on Sunday. Taylor had three punts for 148 yards, with an absolute beauty of a 62-yarder that pinned the Raiders at their own two-yard line. The punt changed the momentum of the game, and the Bears came back to win 25-24.

It’s been a tough start to his sophomore campaign for Taylor, but this game can hopefully be a confidence booster for him. Field position is massive in the NFL, and the Bears really need Taylor to help them win that battle in the future. As Iowa fans know, punting is winning in football. And when he’s at his best, there’s almost no one better than Taylor at doing just that.

Riley Moss rises to the occasion

While the final stat line (two tackles) doesn’t jump off the page for Moss, he was instrumental in the Denver Broncos‘ 28-3 victory over the Bengals on Monday Night Football. He had the difficult matchup of going up against Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase all night long. And after a slow start, he had a great night.

Higgins caught two passes for 25 yards on the first drive against Moss. He only caught one pass for seven yards the rest of the night. Chase only had five receptions for 23 yards, being guarded by Moss and Pat Surtain II. There were a lot of trade rumors surrounding Moss this offseason, but he’s proving to be a very valuable piece of the Broncos defense in 2025. And this performance was another example of that.

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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa football in the NFL: Week 4 recap

Iowa football in the NFL: Week 4 recap

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