Iowa Football Recruiting: Iowa Western DE Jackson Filer Commits to Hawkeyes as PWO

Jan 6, 2023 - 9:53 PM

With the availability of immediately eligible transfers via the portal, the world of college football recruiting truly never sleeps. While the early signing period is over and we’re more than a month out from the second signing day for prep athletes, we’ve entered a quiet period for transfers.

While that seems like activity would be slowing, all it really means is coaching staffs are not permitted to visit prospects off campus. Thus, the Iowa coaching staff has a handful of their top remaining transfer targets in Iowa City this weekend.

One such target was Iowa Western CC defensive end Jackson Filer. The former West Des Moines Dowling product had a sensational season in Council Bluffs and has garnered attention from several programs across the country. But on Friday, he put his recruitment to an end, announcing his intentions to attend the University of Iowa beginning in January as a preferred walk-on.

Filer is a major addition as a walk on having chosen Iowa over several scholarship offers from mid-major programs such as Coastal Carolina, Louisiana Tech, Hawaii, Toledo, Charlotte, UAB and Ball State, as well as some lower tier schools.

At 6’3” and 230 pounds, Filer has a great frame, but is undersized for a high-major defensive end which is really the only reason for a lack of offers from power five schools. Frankly, the lack of offers is quite short-sighted as Filer is a tremendous athlete with a high-end motor and the kind of burst off the edge coaches dream off in a pass rusher.

The son of former Hawkeye Rodney Filer, who played FB under Hayden Fry in the late-90s before signing with the Chargers as an UDFA and ultimately playing 13 seasons in the Arena League (where he is now a strength and conditioning coach for the Iowa Barnstormers), Filer left the Reivers as the school’s all-time leader in sacks. In his third year in the program (after a redshirt in his first season), Filer was named not only a JUCO All-American, but also the NJCAA Defensive Player of the year after amassing 56 tackles, including a ridiculous 28 TFL and an outrageous 15.5 sacks.

A full qualifier and December graduate from Iowa Western, Filer is a January enrollee with three years to play two for the Hawkeyes. He will be in Iowa City for spring practice and figures to be a plug and play edge rusher in passing situations this fall and may be able to grow into an even larger role if he can add some bulk to hold up in the run game.

Filer was joined in Iowa City on his visit by former Saginaw Valley State offensive tackle Daijon Parker, who previously committed to Virginia, as well as Stanford offensive tackle Walter Rouse and Dordt University tight end Hayden Large. The Hawkeyes will look to continue expanding their transfer haul as the weekend progresses.

Welcome aboard Jackson Filer!

Jackson Filer, DE
Ht: 6’3”
Wt: 230 lbs
Hometown: West Des Moines, IA (Dowling, Iowa Western CC)
Stars: 247 Sports - NR; Rivals - 3