.png)
Over the
past few days, the Big Ten Network has been publishing its all-decade team for
the Big Ten.
On
Monday, it was announced that former Iowa linebacker Josey Jewell made the cut, and other Hawkeye made the
list on Tuesday.
Former Iowa offensive lineman Brandon Scherff is the newest member of BTN's
all-decade team.
"To understand what
an unusual athlete Brandon Scherff was, you have to
go back to his high school days when Scherff first gathered a claim as a
6-foot-5, 270-pound quarterback," said BTN's Rick Pizzo. "Throwing
for more than 1,100 yards as a quarterback and even rushing for four
touchdowns. Scherff eventually switched to the offensive line, ultimately
earning a scholarship from his home state school, but that athleticism
continued to pay off."
During his time at Iowa, Scherff started out at guard, and then
moved over to left tackle after Riley Reiff graduated.
After his junior season, Reiff decided to come back to Iowa City for his senior
year. Scherff went on to
win the 2014 Outland Trophy, which is awarded to the best interior offensive
lineman in college football.
Scherff was selected by
the Washington Redskins with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.
Dan Parr of NFL.com said
that Scherff was the 2015 NFL Combine's strongest man after Scherff put up
insane hang clean numbers.
"It was Scherff's hang-clean numbers that had people talking
Thursday in Indy as the former Hawkeyes star took the podium," wrote
Parr. "He said his one-rep max in the lift is 480 pounds, and there's
evidence to back that up in this video from last summer of him doing three reps
at 443 pounds. The guy can
hang-clean about 100 pounds more than all-time mammoth offensive
lineman Aaron Gibson weighed during his playing days."
Over the course of his
career in the NFL, Scherff has become one of the most reliable offensive
linemen in the league.
Injuries have hindered his overall performance at times in the
league, but he has been
selected to three pro bowls and was franchise tagged by the Redskins this
offseason.
Scherff is scheduled to
make $15,030,000 this season while playing for the Washington
Redskins, which makes him the highest-paid former Hawkeye in the NFL.
"Brandon Scherff was one of my all-time all freaks guys
in terms of super warrior workout guy, but also as an all-around
athlete," said Fox Sports' Bruce
Feldman. "I think he's one of the ones that seems
like if you want to look back and say 'okay, we obviously know that Kirk Ferentz is a
brilliant offensive line guy and he's had a ton of success for a long time at
Iowa. I think Brandon Scherff really epitomizes
that. He was really just a dominant force for them."
