#97

Zach VanValkenburg

Senior defensive lineman for Iowa. 2021: 5.5 sacks, 15 tackles for loss, 58 tackles.

DL · Iowa · Sr. · #97

6′4″ · 267 lb · Zeeland, MI

CFB Index 49 · #188 of 370 edge rushersLow confidenceAll-ConferenceIowa 2021 alumnus

The story

4 defensive lineman for Iowa. 2021: 5.5 sacks, 15 tackles for loss, 58 tackles.

The record fills in as he plays.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Iowa, 9 sacks — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

20208 games

All-Big Tensecond

202113 games

All-Big Tensecond

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

Iowa

2019–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

3 honors · 1 category

🎖

ALL-BIG TEN · 2ND TEAM

All-Big Ten 2nd team (2021)

Coaching lineage · 2019–2021

1 coach

2019–2021

Kirk Ferentz

Iowa

Played his entire career under Kirk Ferentz.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Kirk Ferentz — 26-9 over that span.

2019Iowa10-3HC: Kirk Ferentz · Balanced

2020Iowa6-2HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-leaning

2021Iowa10-4HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

49Rotational starter #188 of 370?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles for loss (98th percentile). Strength: qb hurries (98th percentile). Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Tackles for loss#38 / 2743 · 98th pct

15.0

QB hurries#46 / 2743 · 98th pct

Sacks#122 / 2743 · 95th pct

5.5

Tackles#441 / 2743 · 84th pct

Solo tackles#590 / 2743 · 78th pct

Passes defended#1695 / 2743 · 19th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2021 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home8g	4.1	1.2	0.3	0.0
Road5g	3.4	0.5	0.2	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	3.4	0.9	0.2	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	4.3	1.1	0.3	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Kirk Ferentz

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

All-Conference

Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

49 · #188 of 370 edge rushers

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Iowa	58	30	15.0	5.5	--	--	--
2020	Iowa	30	14	8.5	3.5	--	--	--
2019	Iowa	6	2	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		94	46	23.5	9.0	--	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 11 · 2021

W 27–22

vs Minnesota

1 QB HUR · 3 TFL · 1 SACKS

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 5 at home.

With C. Jones — 2 rec · 106 yds · 1 TD · T. Taylor — 45 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 52 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 34-6vs Indiana	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 2	W 27-17@ Iowa State	6	5	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 3	W 30-7vs Kent State	4	0	1.5	1.5	—
Wk 4	W 24-14vs Colorado State	5	2	2.5	0.0	—	2.5 TFL
Wk 5	W 51-14@ Maryland	1	1	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 6	W 23-20vs Penn State	5	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 7	L 7-24vs Purdue	2	1	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 9	L 7-27@ Wisconsin	2	1	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 10	W 17-12@ Northwestern	3	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 11	W 27-22vs Minnesota	10	6	3.0	1.0	—	Season-high 10 tackles
Wk 12	W 33-23vs Illinois	4	2	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 13	W 28-21@ Nebraska	5	3	1.0	1.0	—
Wk 14	L 3-42vs Michigan	2	2	1.0	0.0	—
Total		50	26	12.5	3.5	—

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology