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Reece Vander Zee injury update: Iowa WR reportedly suffers 'freak foot injury,' expected to miss around one month

Untitled design (2)by: Sam Gillenwater08/28/25samdg_33
Iowa WR Reece Vander Zee
Joseph Cress | For the Register | USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Iowa’s Reece Vander Zee is set to reportedly miss about the first month of this season, per Matt Zenitz at CBS Sports. That’s after suffering “a freak foot injury yesterday” going into the Hawkeyes’ season opener this weekend.

Vander Zee is the second-leading receiver back this season for Iowa, behind only Jacob Gill. That’s after catching 14 passes last year for 176 yards and three touchdowns, with the three receiving scores leading the Hawkeyes, in nine games as a true freshman.

Most of that came in the Hawkeyes’ 40-0 opening win over Illinois State, where he caught five passes, two of those for touchdowns, for 66 receiving yards. However, he’d miss several games last season, too, due to injury.

Vander Zee, a native of Rock Rapids, was an all-around athlete playing Central Lyon. He was a Top 1,000 recruit there as a three-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting cycle. He was also rated as a Top 150 receiver and a Top 10 player out of the state of Iowa. That’s according to the Rivals’ Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He then arrived last offseason as part of a Top-30 recruiting class for the Hawkeyes in ’24.

With this injury, the Hawkeyes will have to rely on some newfound depth in their receiving corps, as well as their tight end unit, in the passing game. That starts with Gill but also includes names like Seth Anderson, Kaden Wetjen, KJ Parker, and a transfer in Sam Phillips (Chattanooga).

This is not an ideal situation for the Hawkeyes’ offense, as they’re two days away from their opener against Albany, before playing No. 22 Iowa State next weekend in Ames for the CyHawk. They’ll have to make do, though, until Vander Zee can return, likely towards the start of their conference schedule in the Big Ten around the end of September or so.

Hawkeye Report Podcast previews Albany

The season opener for Iowa is rapidly approaching. With that, Hawkeye Report previewed one final look at the first game upcoming against Albany on Saturday afternoon at Kinnick Stadium. Tom Kakert and Matt Randazzo dove into all the latest news and the storylines that Hawkeye fans will need to follow this weekend.