We continue our look back at the Ferentz era of Iowa football this week by ranking the top twenty players on the offensive side of the ball.

Looking back at the past 19 seasons, it’s pretty amazing to see the level of talent that has made their home in Iowa City.

On the offensive side of the ball, there are multiple national award winners and All American players to choose from.

Trying to figure out how to rank these players was extremely difficult. One criteria that I’ve used is we stick to what the players did while they were an Iowa player and honors they received during that time impacted the ranking decisions. What they have done after Iowa was not a factor in our thought process.

A couple of thoughts on our conclusions.

The top five were easy to identify, but the order was challenging. I felt good about the top two in that order, but the rest of the top five was difficult to rank.

Ranking 5-10 was a challenge and I would bet there will be some who will be surprised that it includes Nate Kaeding and Drew Tate. My feeling in talking to people around the program over the years, Kaeding absolutely deserves to be there. Tate can be polarizing, but the numbers support his inclusion.

You could probably throw a blanket over the three running backs listed beyond Shonn Greene. I had the same issues when picking the All Ferentz era team. One of the harder decisions was leaving Albert Young off the top twenty list.

Everyone will have their own rankings and I’m sure most will have their own criteria and probably include other players who were not listed. These lists are meant to be fun and created a discussion, so we hope you enjoy it.

1. ROBERT GALLERY

I think if you try to identify the face of the Ferentz era on the offensive side of the ball, it has to be Robert Gallery. The value placed on the play of the offensive line cannot be understated and in terms of establishing the culture of Iowa football under Ferentz, Gallery is at the top of the list. Gallery played with a toughness and edge that is hard to duplicate and was the driving force for Iowa football in 2002 and 2003. He came back for his senior year and won the Outland Trophy and was a unanimous first team All American.

2. BRAD BANKS

In an era filled with great unexpected stories, few are better than the rise of Brad Banks. Heading into the 2002 season, he wasn’t on anyone’s preseason Heisman Trophy list. Yet, by the middle of October he was right in the thick of the race for college football’s most prized individual honor. In his senior year, Banks threw for 2,573 yards, 26 touchdowns, and just 5 interceptions. He rushed for 435 yards and scored five times on the ground. He was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy, won the Davey O’Brien Award, Chicago Tribune Silver Football, and was the first team All-American according to the Walter Camp Football Foundation.

3. SHONN GREENE

Like Banks, the Shonn Greene basically came out of nowhere from a national level of have the best season in Iowa football history running the football. At one point earlier in his career, Greene was even moved to safety during bowl prep. Thankfully that didn’t take and returned to running back. After missing the 2007 season due to academic issues, Greene came back to Iowa and worked himself back into shape for the 2008 year. In that season he rushed for 1,850 yards and 20 touchdowns. He rushed for over 100 yards in every game and averaged a stunning 6 yards per carry. Greene won the Doak Walker Award and was a unanimous first team All American.

4. BRANDON SCHERFF

If there’s a Robert Gallery 2.0 during the Ferentz era, it would certainly be Brandon Scherff. The native of Iowa arrived as a relatively lightly recruited player who participated in a variety of sports at the high school level. By his junior year, Scherff was regarded as one of the top offensive tackle prospects in the country, but like Gallery, he remained at Iowa for his senior year to chase the Outland Trophy. He won the award and was also named a unanimous first team All American.

5. DALLAS CLARK

As good as some of the other unexpected success stories have been during the Ferentz era, none tops the one authored by Dallas Clark. He wasn’t really recruited out of high school and walked on at Iowa. Played on special teams and was a reserve linebacker early on in his career. Then he switched to tight end in 2001 and as they say, the rest is history. In two years, Clark caught 81 passes for 1,281 yards and 8 touchdowns. In his junior year, he was named the recipient of the John Mackey Award and was a unanimous first team All American.