Do we have the playmakers?

HawkeyeMHA

HawkeyeMHA

Well-Known Member
In the eight year span from 2002-2010 we/Iowa had four top ten finishes (three#8's and a #7). I believe there were only five other programs that had that many top 10 finishes in that time period. Exceptional run for our team. As I think about those seasons and what made us successful, clearly execution is a key to our success. It has been said over and over that Iowa teams often have "little margin of error" to be successful. I tend to believe that with a lot of our teams and at times we have been very efficient. This is what KF and his staff are exceptional at, executing and getting every last bit out of their players.

Behind execution, for me it comes down to playmakers, people that can make the plays when they have to. As I look towards the upcoming season I DO see playmakers. I see Hyde, Prater, Vandenberg, Morris, Daniels, Binns, Coker, Nielsen, Reiff, McMillan, Zusevics (spelling), McNutt, all as play-makers. Beyond that, I imagine we will even see additional playmakers that have not yet emerged (BJ Lowery perhaps, Keenan hopefully, Bernstein although many dont see that, he was a starter as a Sophomore before being injured), etc. I think when it comes down to it, these people WILL make plays for us next year. When I look at the group we may have a lot of playmakers that will step up and beat the guy across from them and make a play for us.

Looking back at our top 10 teams, I think when we have been at that level we have a second group of players that go beyond being a playmaker to being a dominant/dominating player. I think about players like Gallery, Sanders, Roth, Greenway, Banks, Clark, Bulaga (dominated in the GT bowl game), etc. This year I see potential dominating players in the likes of Reiff, maybe McNutt, Daniels perhaps, potentially Coker, and maybe Prater. I would also inlcude the O-Line as a unit as a dominant force if they live up to their potential.

So I think we have a good group of playmakers, and even some potentially dominating players (potentially). My discussion questions for everyone are what you see as the reasons for our top ten seasons and do you think we have those same things in this years team? Do you think will see dominating performances from some players this year? Do we have the Roth, Gallery, or Sanders on this years team?


Post ******: I am a Hawkeye fan and do this for fun as I wait for the upcoming season. If you want to be a d-bag and rip a thread, go to the cornholes site and do it there. Realize we are on the same team/ Hawkeye fans and I am throwing ideas out for discussion only. I am not a D1 coach and neither are you. Relax, it is discussion for fun.
 


I am totally with you on this post. I look at it the very same way as you do both on the coaching philosophy but on your out look on our potential from a players standpoint. The only thing that I can never get and maybe this is for another thread but the more potential our players have or the better we are forecasted to do, it always seem to fall apart. It is so baffling to me that the better we are on paper, the worse we do.

I really hope this is one of those years we can win it all because we took so many teams by surprise and because we have the talent to do it with.
 


Thanks much. I am thinking about another post here that talks about Iowa's pre-season prediction reversal (i.e. if we are supposed to do well, we often end up doing poorly and vice versa). My question with regards for this year is that most of us Hawk fans are now aware of this situation. I wonder if we can have a double effect? For example, this year we are not supposed to be good, so we all think "dont worry, we're not supposed to do well so we'll be just fine". Can their be a pre-season double reverse (did I just blow your mind?) Kidding. But really, in a season where we are not supposed to be good could we still have the fat-cat syndrome because we are under the radar and that usually means we'll have a good season.... God I hope our players arent thinking this... I hope they are approaching the season saying "I dont care what we are supposed to do, i am beating the guy across from me every single play".
 


My discussion questions for everyone are what you see as the reasons for our top ten seasons and do you think we have those same things in this years team?

2002, 2003, 2004, & 2009 all have one thing in common: great DLs. 2002 & 2004 had great QBs and 2009 had a good QB. So I would say the two most important factors for Iowa having a great season are having a good QB and DL.


Do you think will see dominating performances from some players this year?

I think McNutt could be dominant. IMO he's right up there with Early, Hughes, Dwight, & Brown as the best Iowa WR I have watched. He might leave as the best WR to ever play here. I think he's that good.

Do we have the Roth, Gallery, or Sanders on this years team?

Reiff is already a great player but I don't think if he'll be Gallary level (2003) dominant this year. But I expect 1st team All B10, possibly AA. I do believe this will be the last year we see Reiff in an Iowa uniform.

On defense I think Iowa has some good players but I don't see anyone dominating like a Roth, Clayborn (2009), Angerer, Greenway or Sanders. Morris someday maybe but probably not so soon.
 


Yes... very much dependent upon O-Line and D-Line play. Our O-Line definetly has the potential to dominate. I really like McMillan and Zusevics (spelling) and we all like Reiff. I think Ferentz is very heady, and Gettis is a good one to round out the group. In back-up roles I like VanSlotten and I'm sure their are more that we dont even know about. I hope hope hope we dont see what we saw out of our D-Line last year from our O-line this year. Last year the DLine was supposed to dominate and they under achieved. I really hope our DLine stays focused and doesn't buy into any pre-season hype. THey could be very good.

In terms of D-Line, Cole, Roth, Bab's, they were very very good. I like Binns this year (very long, quick) and I like Daniels. I wonder if Davis is too young, and the other Daniels a little under-sized? Morris is a future star. He makes plays, bottom line. Lots of people are talking about our D-backs but I think they will be very good. Hyde is very athletic, Prater is a great cover man, I have heard from some players that Lowery is someone to watch, and unlike a lot of people....I like Bernstein. He was starting as a sophomore before being injured. I would think as Senior he could have a good year if he was good enough to start as a Sophomore.

Here's to the season.
 


PS: Right on with McNutt. Huge, super-glue hands. Huge wing-span, long strides. BUT... can he make the plays with everyone's radar on him? Last year teams probably focused more on DJK, this year all eyes will be on him. Can he beat double, triple teams? I like his skills a lot, I hope he can.
 


HawkeyeMHA said:
But really, in a season where we are not supposed to be good could we still have the fat-cat syndrome because we are under the radar and that usually means we'll have a good season.... God I hope our players arent thinking this...
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I don't think we have to worry about that. There is a serious problem if they are thinking like that.
 


HawkeyeMHA said:
PS: Right on with McNutt. Huge, super-glue hands. Huge wing-span, long strides. BUT... can he make the plays with everyone's radar on him? Last year teams probably focused more on DJK, this year all eyes will be on him. Can he beat double, triple teams? I like his skills a lot, I hope he can.
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I think a lot of this depends also on how well Keenan Davis steps up and takes on a full time role this year. I think he has tremendous upside, and he needs to be an average to above average Big Ten receiver, if we want to be seriously good.

A potential playmaker IMHO:

#18 Micah Hyde

Why? He has absolutely phenomenal athleticism, and great ball skills. He knows how to play the ball well, and he is pretty good making open field tackles. He's a smart kid and should adapt, or has/is adapting well to the Safety position.
 


As I see it, the key to Iowa's best finishes is that Iowa had relatively few holes in their roster in those years ... and where they did have weaknesses, they were able to compensate some by either having a pretty dominant O or a pretty dominant D.

- '02: Pretty much the only relative weaknesses were our overall inexperience at CB and the early-season turnovers Banks had while he was getting used to being a regular starter. Iowa's weakness in pass D was compensated pretty nicely by have an absolutely terrific O.

- '03: This was a bit of an anomaly year. The D was really strong ... but even that unit had to overcome the adversity of dealing with a bunch of injuries on the DL. The record of this squad could have been better were it not for the injuries to Lewis, Mo Brown, and the guys on the DL (Babs and Clauss).

- '04: Very good passing game on O, poor running game, ... absolutely tremendous D. If the D weren't so good OR if Tate weren't so good at escaping tough spots ... the record wouldn't have been so good.

- '09: The primary issues were complete youth at RB and personnel continuity issues on the OL. Of course, the injury to Stanzi obviously was big too. Were it not for those issues ... this squad goes undefeated ... no questions asked.


What's interesting to ask is if there are any/many holes on the roster for the 2011 squad. To that end, I'd say that if the O can remain healthy ... I don't see any holes on the O-side of the roster. As for on D ... if Lowery/Castillo can play at a high level ... much like Hyde did in '09 .... then the secondary should be pretty well set. Furthermore, we'll need to see the LBs playing at a high level too. If that happens ... then the 2011 squad should definitely be capable of surprising a lot of sports fans out there.
 


I think Roth was an emotional leader on Defense. We need Daniels to be that guy this year. Banks and Greene were two guys who could always come up with yards when we needed it. This year it's up to Vandy and Coker. I also look to Morris to become the next Greenway.
 


Bernstine was NOT starting as a sophomore. He and Prater were listed as co-starters in Spring, but all the talk was that Prater had passed him and that was the case coming out of Spring camp and from that point forward.

I really don't mean to rip on your thread, but you stated that incorrect fact twice.
 


It's a under the radar year so it only makes sense to have some under the radar playmakers. Here are my top 3 under the radar potential playmakers:

3. If McNutt is drawing double and triple coverage then the short out man is going to be in single coverage or open. Potential playmaker #3 runs routes like Hinkle and carries himself in traffic like Moeaki. Lots of third down conversions for my third choice Steven Staggs.

2. On those rare occasions when Stormin' Norman decides to send a blitz I think we will see #19 playing corner. My #2 potential playmaker just explodes off the line. It will be a foot race to the opposing QB between Mike Daniels and my second choice B.J. Lowery

1. When the Hawkeyes need to chew up some clock they are going to depend on some great OL play. My #1 potential playmaker is the perfect guy to take advantage of what looks to be a great OL. He is a patient runner with good vision and has demonstrated the ability to block when required. Giving Coker some time to catch his breath is my first choice Jason White.

These three guys have the potential to change the outcome of games. The ability to keep a key drive going or make a critical stop is what it takes to win close games. As the Hawks seem to have a penchant for being in close games these days my playmakers will have to deliver in these kind of situations.
 
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The OP asked if Iowa has (enough) playmakers this year. This year won't be any different than any other year at Iowa. IMO, Iowa usually doesn't.
Many fans pride Iowa's program on not having a lot of playmakers, yet still winning games - as if having a great athlete is somehow bad. Ask OldDude about that.

When the Iowa gets the most out of its recruits comment is spoken (and it's spoken by many people) I'm not sure what kind of compliment it is.

Is it a gushing compliment about Iowa's program or is it a backhanded compliment?

If you buy into the philosophy that the Hawkeye football program is the greatest, it's a baldfaced compliment.
If you want to compare Iowa's football program to most every other school's football program it's a backhanded compliment - for the lack of athletes, Iowa sure has a good record year end and year out.
 


Depth. Its always a question of depth, at Iowa. Injuries occur every year. Are we deep enough to overcome them, at the spots they rear their unwanted heads? Thats the most important question.
I wont mention the names of any players, for fear of jinxing them. But I'm sure you guys can figure out what players we can least afford to lose, and where depth might be an issue.
 


gohawks71 said:
...The only thing that I can never get and maybe this is for another thread but the more potential our players have or the better we are forecasted to do, it always seem to fall apart. It is so baffling to me that the better we are on paper, the worse we do.../QUOTE]

Here's an answer.

Ferentz's philosophy is to play a team game, so how good Iowa becomes depends on how well the players play as a team. No one can forecast how Iowa will play as a team.

No one can look at individual "stars" and accurately predict how well Iowa plays as a team.

As a matter of fact when Ferentz says there's no margin for error in the team's success, he's referring to the players meshing as a team. Athletes aren't showcased.
To Ferentz, it's preferrable there be no margin of error.
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I have a hard time seeing where our speed is going to come from. I know we never have elite speed but it seems to be a little worse than usual this year. Its always nice to have that one burner who can keep defenses honest.
 


Yeah, that's something I hadn't even thought about for this year. McNutt has deceptive speed with his long strides, I dont know who else has any real speed...
 


HawkeyeMHA said:
Yeah, that's something I hadn't even thought about for this year. McNutt has deceptive speed with his long strides, I dont know who else has any real speed...
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You didn't see Coker basically outrun everyone else on the field on his long Insight run? He's not slow, and I don't think Davis is either.
 


Coker has decent speed and i'm a huge fan of coker. I wouldn't say he has college football elite speed by any means (remember he is 230lbs). Do you know his 40 time? I didn't say he was slow either so back off and quit reading into something I did not say.
 


And he probably didn't "outrun everyone on the field" either if you are going to not only read into what is not in a post and nit pick on top of it.. He had a hole and he took it to pay-dirt, but I would bet there are plenty of people on most college football teams with the speed of Coker. I see people like Dwight, D Robinson, as elite, game changing speed. My point was that I dont see one of those players on our team this year, that when you say their name you automatically think speed.
 


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