Adrian Clayborn delivered and early Christmas present to the Hawkeye Nation on Monday when he told reporters that he would be staying at Iowa for his senior season. (video courtesy of Rob Howe of HawkeyeInsider.com)

There had been a lot of speculation amongst fans and reporters as to whether or not Clayborn would turn pro at the end of this season, one that was worthy of Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year consideration.

Defensive Coordinator Norm Parker met with the media last week, and he flat out said that he felt Clayborn needed another year before turning pro.  He wasn’t disparaging Clayborn’s abilities, rather, saying that Clayborn could get even better than what he showed on the field this year, which was an exponential leap from last year.

That’s not to say Clayborn was a slouch in 2008, but he really turned things up several notches this year and was an incredibly disruptive force.

Midyear, I brought up the ‘Clayborn to the NFL’ topic with people I know that have NFL connections.  Their thoughts were that he has NFL talent, but right now, they were not certain just where he would play in the league with regards to position, which might impact his ability to move into the first or second round.  The thought was if you were not going to go in one of those rounds, coming back for a senior year at Iowa and a chance to dominate on a team that will likely be a Top Ten preseason squad will be a great platform to audition for the league.

When you look at the losses Alabama & Florida will have on defense, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Iowa will have one of the five best defensive lines in all of college football next year.   Ndamukong Suh will depart from Nebraska and  Jared Odrick is gone from Penn State.

Iowa will have to replace Pat Angerer & A.J. Edds at linebacker which will be no easy task.  However, Iowa has as much depth at the linebacker position as they have had in the entire Kirk Ferentz era.  Case in point; Jeremiha Hunter was unable to play against Minnesota and his fill in, Troy Johnson, earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors.

At worst, Iowa is going to lose three starters off of this year’s National Top Ten defense, and that’s if Amari Spievey chooses to turn pro.  If he does, Jordan Bernstine will be healthy and in line to battle for that starting spot alongside Shawn Prater, who did a solid job this year.  Throw William Lowe and Micah Hyde into that competition, plus a few others, and the Hawks will just fine on the back end as safeties Tyler Sash and Brett Greenwood will also return, as will punter Ryan Donahue.

This may be a matter of personal preference, but I love knowing the Hawkeye front four will be fully intact to wreak havoc on offenses again next year, and I expect Christian Ballard to really make the kind of exponential strides that Clayborn made this year, as he will have had a full season of playing inside under his belt.  You can expect large improvements from Broderick Binns and Karl Klug as well, as those players get one year older, stronger, faster and wiser.

With the news of Clayborn’s return, the 2010 Iowa defensive line has a chance to be the best of the Ferentz era, which is saying a mouthful.

And the teams that come into Kinnick Stadium next year (Iowa State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Ohio State, plus a pair of cupcakes) will be facing an even great challenge with the Iowa faithful likely to be amped up at a fevered pitch with such an amazing defense playing in front of them week in and week out.

Now, if the Hawks can pull the trifecta and get all three back….look out.

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