Iowa football recruit Tyler Linderbaum selected to U.S. Army All-American Bowl

IOWA CITY, Ia. — For two consecutive seasons, the Iowa Hawkeyes will have a senior recruit at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Solon defensive tackle recruit Tyler Linderbaum was selected for the prestigious event and will be honored at his school this Friday, he told HawkCentral on Monday. Last year, current Hawkeye freshmen A.J. Epenesa and Tristan Wirfs also played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

A 6-foot-3, 270-pound athlete, Linderbaum committed to Iowa this past offseason over offers from Iowa State and Minnesota State-Mankato. Often facing double-teams, he's got 23.5 tackles, two solo tackles for loss and three fumble recoveries this year. 

Linderbaum doesn't look like your traditional nose tackle (or center, which he also plays for Solon). And he doesn't play traditionally, either. His speed, lateral quickness and athleticism bely his size and position. He excels in wrestling, baseball and throwing for the Spartans, and he certainly looks like a four-sport athlete on the football field.

"Where those (other defensive tackles) were kind of bulls in a china shop," Scout.com's Allen Trieu told HawkCentral in May, "(Linderbaum) is a little bit more on the athletic side. ... (He does) a lot of things you don’t often see on a defensive tackle’s highlight film."

Trieu told HawkCentral that Linderbaum, a three-star prospect, likely would've had a fourth star and more offers had he actively tried to enhance his recruitment through camps and more exposure.

But Linderbaum's a quintessential Hawkeye for life. Once he got the Iowa offer, that's all he needed.

"I knew (Iowa) was going to be tough to beat," Linderbaum said in August. "I grew up being a Hawkeye fan and going to their games, so I know when I got that offer, I was, like, 'Oh, that's going to be tough to beat.'"

The 2018 U.S. Army All-American Bowl will be played Jan. 6, 2018, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Matthew Bain covers preps, recruiting and the Hawkeyes for the Iowa City Press-Citizen, The Des Moines Register and HawkCentral. Contact him at mbain@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @MatthewBain_.