North Dakota OL transfer Cade Borud commits to Iowa football

IOWA CITY — North Dakota offensive line transfer Cade Borud has committed to Iowa football, he announced. This comes after Borud was in attendance for Iowa's practice at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday.

After appearing sparingly and redshirting the 2022 season, Borud started 12 games at center last season for North Dakota and was named a Phil Steele FCS Second Team Freshman All-American. He will arrive at Iowa with three seasons of college eligibility remaining.

Borud attended Southeast Polk High School outside of Des Moines, where he was teammates with current Iowa safety Xavier Nwankpa.

He is rated as a 3-star transfer portal prospect, according to 247Sports.

The Hawkeyes' O-line was a major deficiency in 2021 and 2022, becoming one of the biggest issues in a sinking offense. But that unit did make meaningful strides last season. Iowa averaged 115.9 rushing yards per game in 2023 compared to 94.8 the season prior. It also gave up 2.29 sacks per game last season versus 2.92 the season before.

Still, that unit has plenty of room to improve. Iowa is returning most key parts of last season's offensive line, which means it would be a disappointment if that unit is unable to continue its upward trajectory this fall. The only main contributor Iowa lost from last season's unit is Rusty Feth, who proved to be a valuable addition from the transfer portal in his only season with the Hawkeyes.

Iowa tried to make a splash in the transfer portal this offseason and briefly, it looked like it did. The Hawkeyes landed the commitment of Alabama offensive line transfer Kadyn Proctor, but his time being a Hawkeye didn't last long as he has since left the program.

Borud isn't the flashy addition that Proctor was, but he could still be of value in the long-term, if not short-term, too.

Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com