Iowa Hawkeyes recruit Tyler Endres enters junior season at Norwalk with more still to show

NORWALK, Ia. — Dozens of gold helmets shuffle through the warm air at Warrior Stadium, all bouncing, rising and falling with the respective drill. One stands out above the rest, belonging to the 6-foot-6, 285-pound behemoth wearing No. 79.

“He’s pretty hard to miss,” Norwalk football coach Paul Patterson cracked.

That behemoth is Tyler Endres, a junior offensive lineman with some of the most-sterling credentials in Iowa. He enters the 2017 season having already pledged his commitment to the Hawkeyes, and is perhaps the most well-known of the 15 key returners for the Norwalk football team.

The Warrior offense has ranked inside the top 10 in Class 3A for total offense during each of the last three seasons. Norwalk is primed to do so again this fall with the return of Grant Garner, the team’s leading rusher, and Drew Rosonke and Shane Hochstetler, the top two receivers from last season.

Endres’ blocking ability has played a role in the success, giving his quarterback time in the pocket while blasting open holes for the run game. His skills earned him a four-star rating from 247Sports, where he’s ranked among the top 30 nationally at his position.

“He's obviously a big, physical kid,” said Allen Trieu, the Midwest Football Recruiting Manager for Scout. “At this point in time, he's obviously one of the best recruits in the state. He's in the conversation to be the number one player in Iowa come signing day for 2019.”

The scary thing is, Endres thinks he can be even better, too.

“I want to finish my blocks better in my run blocking,” Endres said. “Feel like my pass blocking is a little better than my run blocking. I just need to work on getting faster and stronger and get my endurance up.”

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That’s good news for both Norwalk and Iowa — the former because he still has two more seasons before he heads to Iowa City; the latter because his addition pushed the Hawkeyes’ 2019 recruiting class into the top 10 nationally, per 247Sports, alongside Logan Lee, Ezra Miller and Larry Tracy.

Signing day for 2019 players is still a long ways out, of course, but Endres appears to be a hard commit to the Hawkeyes. He grew up a fan, and took multiple visits before pledging to coach Kirk Ferentz back in June.

With his future set, Trieu expects Endres to continue to make strides as he adds more muscle and refines his technique.

“As far as comparisons to other kids in the Midwest, I think all of that will depend on the progression he shows this year as a junior,” Trieu said. “You want to see a guy who's committed to a Big Ten school dominate his competition. That's what we want to see out of him this year.

“To be honest with you, we want to see a highlight tape full of opposing players on the ground. We want to see him dominate as much as possible.”

It doesn't hurt that Norwalk runs a spread offense that mixes in some run, helping to make Endres a more well-rounded lineman. Most high school programs center their offenses on running the ball, Trieu said, but learning to pass block will help Endres' chances of seeing the field quicker once he gets to Iowa.

“For big guys, the thing he can improve on is flexibility and quickness,” Trieu said. “Sometimes people think with offensive linemen, you just want the biggest, strongest guy. Size and strength, that'll come, but being able to move around at that size is the most important thing.”

As Endres continues to evolve, he hopes to help the Warriors maintain their high level of excellence on the field. Norwalk is a combined 20-4 with two playoff appearances the last two years, including a trip to the 3A state title game in 2015. In that time, the Warriors' offensive production exploded to the tune of 35 points per game.

A large part of that was because of quarterback Brady Brandsfield, who compiled 11,359 total offensive yards between 2013 and 2016 — the most ever for a career in state history. Now that Brandsfield has graduated, Norwalk will have a new face behind center, making Endres’ job all the more crucial.

“Cooper Beving and Max Sutcliffe are the two fighting for the position right now,” Endres said. “It’s going to be huge to make sure we get the job done up front so whoever it is will feel comfortable back there. We just need to work and get better and do our jobs.”

The Warriors hope to improve on their first-round exit from 2016. Norwalk got bounced by Webster City, the eventual 3A state finalist. It’s a position Endres and company are familiar with, and wouldn’t mind experiencing again this fall.

“We’ve been preparing very well,” he said. “We just have to keep working and show up every day and give it 100 percent. Just have to keep fighting.”

Cody Goodwin covers high school sports, college basketball recruiting and Drake athletics for The Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.