During his freshman season at Iowa, Aaron Mends briefly found himself in a position he didn’t think he’d play at all during his college career. The outside linebacker from Kansas City, Missouri, took reps on the other side of the ball, at fullback.

Mends, now back at a more natural spot as weak-side linebacker, would be the first to admit that experiment didn’t go as planned.

“I’m a stronger guy, so people think I can do a lot, but I didn’t weigh enough to be a Big Ten fullback,” Mends said. “It didn’t work out like we thought it would.”

It’s tough to blame Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz and his staff for giving it a shot. After all, it was planned to be a temporary move from the get-go, making it a low-risk situation.

It’s also a testament to Mends’ physical skills. No one in their right mind believes a 6-foot, 212-pound linebacker could actually succeed at that position, but Mends was lauded for his quickness and ability to hit coming out of high school. His coaches his coaches in Iowa City agreed, so the Hawkeyes took a try.

Now listed as weak side linebacker Cole Fisher’s co-backup with Bo Bower, it’s time for Mends to find his role. At minimum, those skills should give him a prominent role on special teams.

But, then again, his role could be more.

“Aaron Mends is a wild card,” Ferentz said. “How quickly he can learn to play in the system is probably the best way, which is what all young players have to learn. I’d say he’s further behind … because he hasn’t really had experience.”

In addition to Fisher and Bower, Mends is also behind Josey Jewell and Ben Niemann, all of whom (with the exception of Niemann) have at least one year of college experience on him.

So how does Mends get past that wild card role? How does he hone his craft and cement himself in the rotation?

As Ferentz said, the key is the mental game.

“When you’re a freshman, you don’t know what’s going on,” linebacker coach Jim Reid said. “It’s hard to hone in. You run some scout team, other people’s defenses. Then, when you get to do what you do here, Iowa defense, it’s not going to happen in four, five practices.”

To help get Mends and some of his other players up to speed, Reid isn’t afraid to let his players make mistakes, at least in camp and perhaps early in the season. He said he’d rather have them play fast and physical than fail to make a play because they think they’re doing something wrong. He sees it as his job to put them in the right place to be successful.

Reid said Mends takes full advantage of that. Again, he’s a physically gifted player, but to take that next step, he has to put in his time.

“I’m a lot less experienced than the rest of the players out there, so obviously, that’s an issue,” Mends said. “I haven’t played in a college football game yet. I just do my best to work as hard as I can, but we’re not going to be able to see what I can do until we’re out in the stadium.”

To what capacity Mends will be on the field and in what role is something we’re not sure of. But make no mistake: Mends will play a role for Iowa this season. It just won’t be at fullback.

“He’s a guy who you could be talking about by the end of the year no doubt,” Reid said. “He’s got a role, no question. How big a role?