Dominic Alvis: Next in Line of "High Motor" Iowa Hawkeye Defensive Tackles

On July 28, the Hawkeyes released their pre-camp depth chart.

Most of what is on the two-deep was expected, and besides, there will be a lot of shuffling between now and September 3, when Iowa opens its season against Tennessee Tech.

In fact, if this season is like I think it's going to be—and as Kirk Ferentz has also predicted—then it will be a lot like 2008, and there will  be depth chart shuffling between September 3 and the Big Ten opener at Penn State on October 8.

Nonetheless, the biggest surprise on the opening depth chart had to be sophomore Dominic Alvis at starting defensive tackle alongside senior Mike Daniels.

Before going too in-depth about how this might shake out for the Hawks, let's just look at the route Alvis took to get to this point—a route that is familiar to Hawkeye defensive tackles.

Alvis came to the Hawks from Logan, Iowa. He was a 6'4", 225-pound defensive end prospect whose only FBS offer was from Iowa. Officially, he was the last recruit of the 2009 class, though, in truth, he signed on to become a Hawkeye much earlier.

The original plan was for him to grayshirt, meaning he would pay his own way for his first semester on campus, and wouldn't be allowed to contribute to the football team in his first season in Iowa City. Then, he would get a full ride in his second semester, at which point he would begin to participate in team-related activities.

However, due to peripheral issues, a spot opened up, and Alvis was given a scholarship for his first semester on campus. Not surprisingly, he redshirted.

When 2010 rolled around, Dominic Alvis was a name that Hawkeyes' defensive coordinator Norm Parker spoke glowingly of, and when the season began, Alvis was indeed the backup strong-side defensive end. 

He made his first splash against Iowa State, where he recorded his first tackle and sack. He also got some playing time against Ball State. Then he got injured and missed the rest of the season.

By the time spring practices began in 2011, Alvis was back and had taken over the backup strong-side end duties behind Broderick Binns. Due to what little I had seen of him and what Parker said, I felt that Alvis would be worked into the rotation, but I didn't foresee a move to the inside of the line.

In light of Hawkeye history, I should have foreseen it, because Alvis is reminiscent of a number of past Hawkeye defensive tackles.

An Iowa defensive tackle under Kirk Ferentz is not your typical defensive tackle. He doesn't weigh 320 pounds and he cannot transition to swallowing up blockers in a 3-4 defense.

Karl Klug, Mitch King, Matt Kroul, Jonathan Babineaux; the same adjectives always pop up alongside these names: small, quick, high motor, active, disruptive, versatile.

In fact, in a recent press conference, Kirk Ferentz compared Alvis to Klug, noting, "There are parallels between the two guys. He is a guy that can do it mentally and physically." Moreover, senior defensive tackle Mike Daniels made the same comparison.

Currently, Alvis is listed at 240 pounds, which is about the same weight Mitch King was in his redshirt freshman year, when he became a starting defensive tackle.

Presumably, Iowa strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle will want Alvis to get into the 270 weight range, which was where King was when he graduated.

Again, things could change between now and September 3. The weight issue might be too much to overcome, or one of the other defensive tackle hopefuls might push Alvis out of his spot. Or maybe the coaches will feel that Alvis' speed would be best utilized off the edge. 

Either way, expect to hear Alvis' name mentioned a lot over the next few years, just like Klug, King and Babineaux before him.