JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
My first real hard look at what Iowa's offense may shape up to be in 2011:
Bye Week Thoughts: 2011 Offense | Hawkeye Nation
Bye Week Thoughts: 2011 Offense | Hawkeye Nation
LOL! Jon is only taking a hard look at the 2011 O right now? I'm already converging on expectations for 2012 and staking out the prospects for 2013.
Anyhow, I have no doubt that Iowa will be set at the skill positions in 2011 ... and, what's impressive about that statement is that the 2011 season has a legit chance to boast a truly impressive Iowa OL ... one that could certainly make a run at being a Ferentz-era best. However, that said, if Reiff sticks around for the 2012 season ... I actually expect that the 2012 OL has the potential to be even BETTER and DEEPER. I'm always a little wary when seemingly our most promising depth on the OL are still only SOs. I'd rather have those guys be somewhat more battle-tested JRs before I annoint them.
A few other observations to make is that with Rogers currently getting a number of RB reps ... at least in practice, it looks like the coaches have been giving Gimm reps with the FBs again. I wonder what impact that will have on our depth at TE. Right now, as it stands, after Reisner graduates, our only experienced depth at TE will be Herman, CJ Fed, and Zach Derby. While I definitely think that they comprise a solid group ... I still have some concerns about that group. Not unlike this year, I really wouldn't be shocked if we were to see a TR FR TE again get to see quality reps for the 2nd year in a row. I'll be even more curious to see which quality TE ends up earning the honors. Of course, I'll be pretty excited if Vier's athleticism ends up translating well to TE ... the kid definitely has a pretty intriguing upside.
We need to temper the optimistic projections and understand attrition and injuries happen leading to unfullfilled expectations.
I'm normally one to agree w/ that mentality, but there are already too many pieces of the 2011 puzzle we know a lot about, in particular the OL (which as others have pointed out, will be very similar for 2012), and should have fairly good, young depth. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Boffelli make a push for a starting OG spot, as his development seems to be going well, and I think he's currently the #4 OG. (And Boffelli's also very valuable b/c he also plays center.) It's hard not getting enthusiastic for 2011's O, and I think many of us learned a lot about high expectations for players that haven't seen the field much (yes, I'm humbly referring to Jake Christiansen), and that's the significant difference for 2011 as opposed to most other years.
I am looking forward to his read on the defense.... we lose a lot and probably the biggest loss in college football in Norm Parker. A lot to be concerned about.
I'm going to treat tomorrow's article on the 2011 defense like I would a car accident on the side of the road. You don't want to look at it, and you know nothing good is going to come of it, but you still have to look.
Losing 5-6 starters on the defensive side, plus our defensive coordinator all in one year cannot mean good things for next year's defense. I know they are well coached and there are some very solid reserves, but with that type of loss we have to expect a pretty significant drop off from this year to next.
The good news is, I'm feeling much, much more confident about next year's offensive outlook. I guess I didn't piece it together that they will be returning the entire offensive line and probably eight starters overall.