IOWA CITY — North Dakota State offensive line transfer Cade Bould has announced he will commit to Iowa State football. This was announced after Boldo participated in the Iowa team's practice at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday.
After redshirting infrequently in the 2022 season, Boldo started 12 games as a center for North Dakota State last season and was named a Phil Steele FCS Second Team Freshman All-American. He will arrive at Iowa with three seasons of college eligibility remaining.
Bordo attended Southeast Polk High School outside Des Moines, where he became teammates with current Iowa State safety Xavier Nwankpa.
According to 247Sports, he is rated as a three-star prospect in the transfer portal.
The Hawkeyes' O-line was a major flaw in 2021 and 2022, becoming one of the biggest problems in a struggling offense. Although that unit made meaningful progress last season. Iowa State averaged 115.9 rushing yards per game in 2023, compared to 94.8 yards per game last season. He also allowed 2.29 sacks per game last season, compared to 2.92 the season before.
Still, this unit leaves a lot of room for improvement. Iowa returns most of the key pieces of its offensive line from last season, and it will be disappointing if that unit can't continue its upward trajectory this fall. The only key player Iowa lost from last season's unit was Rusty Fess, who proved to be a valuable addition from the transfer portal in his only season with the Hawkeyes.
Iowa was trying to get some attention in the transfer portal this offseason, and at one point it looked like it was going to happen. The Hawkeyes acquired Kaedin Proctor, a transfer from the Alabama offensive line, but his time as a Hawkeye didn't last long and he has since left the program.
Bold isn't the flashy addition that Proctor was, but he could still be valuable in the long term, if not the short term.
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