Bruggeman's return to bolster line Rob Bruggeman was making a push to secure a starting position on Iowa's offensive line last April when the Hawkeyes entered the final week of spring workouts.
Four days before the team wrapped up offseason practices -- in a light workout where Iowa drilled without full pads -- Bruggeman sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament and the Hawkeyes lost one of their leading contenders for an interior job.
"Prior to his injury, Rob was right in the thick of things," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. "I think it would've been interesting to see how things would've gone if he would've been with us full speed last year, but it didn't work out."
Bruggeman missed the first 10 games of last season before returning in November, but the time lost apparently hasn't set the former walk-on from Cedar Rapids back too much. Bruggeman shared the No. 1 spot on Iowa's depth chart at center with two-year starter Rafael Eubanks entering this spring.
Ferentz said it's possible Bruggeman and Eubanks could get some work in at guard this spring as the Hawkeyes try to sort out their best five-man combination. "I think it's going to be a competitive spring for that group and way too early to say who's going to emerge as the starting five," Ferentz said. "We'll keep moving guys around until we get the best equation." Two possible players in that equation won't factor into the race this spring. Bryan Bulaga (shoulder) and Dace Richardson (knee) won't participate after undergoing surgeries. Richardson has been in the two-deep almost since his arrival at Iowa three years ago, but he sustained a knee injury in the 2006 Big Ten opener and hasn't fully recovered since. The recurring ailments sidelined him for the final seven games last year. "We're still a little bit iffy where it's at right now and I don't think he's going to be able to evaluate himself until about May or June, from what I'm hearing," Ferentz said. "We're going to keep our fingers crossed. He's an excellent football player, great guy, good teammate and we're sure hoping he can rejoin the team." Bulaga is on track to be ready for the opening of fall camp. He started the final five games of the season at left guard as a true freshman and could make the transition to left tackle in the fall. "He really got my attention last year with the way he was able to compete with third-, fourth- and fifth-year players and didn't look out of place at all," Ferentz said. "Not that he is a ready-made player or anything like that, but it's really unusual the way he was able to come in and compete the way he did." Iowa isn't short on experience up front. Eight offensive linemen on the current roster have started games for the Hawkeyes and two others have played significant snaps. "We're really counting on the offensive line to come on and improve," Ferentz said. "If you're going to focus on a group we talk about improving, a lot of those guys in that group got good game experience last year, a couple other guys didn't play a lot, but we expect them to be in the competition. "Outside of Dace -- who was probably one of our better guys going into the season last year -- everybody is back. We're really hoping they can make strides."
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