2014

NCHawker

NCHawker

Well-Known Member
Anyone think the offense will be improved over 2013? Why.

What about the QB position, think this guy will imrove much or has he peaked, Can Bethard pass him up - I hope so. I'm tiered of seeing passed thrown late or without zip.

Will the WR's rise to the level of average for big time conference play?

Think we'll see a ton of Weisman left again this year or more diverse attack?
 
After watching Iowa lose another close game tonight, and then thinking about the number of times Iowa has lost football games they "should have" won, I feel if I say something positive about next season, it would end up just like Lucy pulling the football away again.
 
Jake will start. Interested to see if Shimonek can compete with Beathard. The offense will be better than last year. Hopefully less Weisman and more Daniels/Canzeri. Not much drop off at TE, just a different style, more vertical threat. O-line should be fantastic barring injuries. The WR position has a large pool of kids to pick from, and Shumpert's stone hands will be gone. I thinks someone steps up out of that group. Young talent. Plus KMM could be beastly this year. I hope JR can take a step up. Correct some bad decisions, and have some confidence to throw hard. Beathard proved to be a ways behind Jake at the end of last year. In year three of the Greg Davis era, can the offensive package finally come together against this ultra-weak schedule?

D-fence- Linebacker??????????????????????????????????????????? Only the staff has any idea what we have here. Even they only have an opinion, because there is not much to go by. This position may determine the outcome of the season. Tanner miller should be easy to replace, I hope. King is a stud, who will be worthy to play opposite him. Big Carl Davis should shine, and the line will look better than last year. Second biggest question is, whom will step up at DE? Some think Matt Nelson could compete right away, and we still have hopes for the Juco kid. We also have a couple other kids on the team that want that PT at DE, so look for someone to make a big jump.
 
In over 4000 posts you haven't figured this out? The offense is THE SAME every year. We will have another season of competent - not compelling QB play
 
NCHawker said:
how did Bethard prove to be so far behind Rudock?
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I wouldn't say Beathard was way behind; but he seemed behind in his grasp of the offense, and decision making.
IMO, I think Beathard relies on his athleticism and strong arm too much. He went for the deep ball far too often (and it didn't provide enough results), as opposed to dumping off or going for a medium/short range target.
He does have some great upside tho.

It'll be interesting to see how JR learns from seeing himself on film. He is very smart and could cut out many of his mistakes.
 
NCHawker said:
Anyone think the offense will be improved over 2013? Why.

What about the QB position, think this guy will imrove much or has he peaked, Can Bethard pass him up - I hope so. I'm tiered of seeing passed thrown late or without zip.

Will the WR's rise to the level of average for big time conference play?

Think we'll see a ton of Weisman left again this year or more diverse attack?
Click to expand...

I am hoping for a lot more Bball games but it is time to start thinking spring practice. I will put in my two cents and maybe a dime more.

As far as Jake R. we will have to see how his knee, legs and injuries heal. He is the front runner and he can get just a little more strength and zip on the ball that will be a big plus. I thought he played pretty well all year. We have had a lot of good QBs who lost in Ames and he played well on the road. He needs to cut down on what were not a ton of mistakes from last year.

I think Duzey, hamilton, coble, kittle can be almost like big pretty fast wide receivers. KMM and TSmith give us two good starters.

I hope GD uses the running game formula he had with Purdue, Mich, and Nebby at the end of last year. It might be more canzeri and daniels but weisman doing some short yardage and more straight ahead pounding. I thought those last few games we had a great mix of canzeri with quick hitters, Bullock making some big runs to the edges, and weisman pounding it.

If players beat out Rudock, Weisman, and some other starters that means we have a good situation.
 
The O should be better just based on more experience if nouthing else. Im just hoping the D doesn't have much of a drop off
 
uihawk82 said:
I am hoping for a lot more Bball games but it is time to start thinking spring practice. I will put in my two cents and maybe a dime more.

As far as Jake R. we will have to see how his knee, legs and injuries heal. He is the front runner and he can get just a little more strength and zip on the ball that will be a big plus. I thought he played pretty well all year. We have had a lot of good QBs who lost in Ames and he played well on the road. He needs to cut down on what were not a ton of mistakes from last year.

I think Duzey, hamilton, coble, kittle can be almost like big pretty fast wide receivers. KMM and TSmith give us two good starters.

I hope GD uses the running game formula he had with Purdue, Mich, and Nebby at the end of last year. It might be more canzeri and daniels but weisman doing some short yardage and more straight ahead pounding. I thought those last few games we had a great mix of canzeri with quick hitters, Bullock making some big runs to the edges, and weisman pounding it.

If players beat out Rudock, Weisman, and some other starters that means we have a good situation.
Click to expand...

I agree with your assessment of JR. Although with the athleticism of Beathard; if he'd get a better handle of the offense and take some check downs/intermediate throws (a opposed to the long ball all the time), he could be a huge threat for us.

As for the running game... I don't care what the formula is. If it works go with it. If it needs to change from game to game, so be it. Case and point... The Hebrew Hammer pounding the rock vs ISU. The Hammer/Bullock combo vs OSU. Or the Canzeri shake and bake vs our hated rival (Purdue). Whatever works, go with it. No cookie cutter for the season, please and thank you.

And I'll add Powell to your receiver list of threats.
 
With the easiest schedule in the B1G, Iowa should do alright this year. Both lines should be bigger and better. There is some experience at LB to replace the three that were lost. As stated King is on the path to be a one of the best CB's Iowa has produced. However, most of the criticisms are valid concerns. WR, Safety, CB opposite King. But again the easy schedule should make Iowa seem better than they are. JR had a good freshman outing but how much upside does he have is the question. And at the college level, solid QB play is a must have.

I am looking forward to see how the lines have improved. Scherff 315 pounds last year....320 or more this year? If he has a good year he should be a solid 1st round NFL pick. Carl Davis 315 pounds...Looking for a much better outing and better production in the running game. This will make Jake's job easier. Keeping the defense on the bench leads to wins.
 
HawkeyeDenis said:
With the easiest schedule in the B1G, Iowa should do alright this year. Both lines should be bigger and better. There is some experience at LB to replace the three that were lost. As stated King is on the path to be a one of the best CB's Iowa has produced. However, most of the criticisms are valid concerns. WR, Safety, CB opposite King. But again the easy schedule should make Iowa seem better than they are. JR had a good freshman outing but how much upside does he have is the question. And at the college level, solid QB play is a must have.

I am looking forward to see how the lines have improved. Scherff 315 pounds last year....320 or more this year? If he has a good year he should be a solid 1st round NFL pick. Carl Davis 315 pounds...Looking for a much better outing and better production in the running game. This will make Jake's job easier. Keeping the defense on the bench leads to wins.
Click to expand...

I can't resist. I going to take a run at kicking the football. Iowa's line on both side will be quite good, I believe. The RBs and WRs are back, another year in the program can only be a positive. Losing CJF will hurt, but Duzey and Hamilton seem ready to step in. QB competition is good, keeps both guys sharp. Jake probably will get the nod, but having a capable Beathard ready to go will be nice. My concern in the LBs - I don't think their play this past year can be overstated. The LBs corp in 2010 got thinned out and it hurt Iowa that year. The new guys won't be at the level of last year's trio, but they need to be good.
 
Good stuff in this thread! I think you guys pretty well nailed down the strengths and the questions that have to be answered.
 
If Rudock can stay healthy, the offense will definitely be better. You have to remember, he wasn't the same QB after he got hurt. If you go back to the first 7-8 games, he extended drives with his feet and was more mobile in the pocket and getting out of it. After the Wisconsin game, that was all over. He just couldn't move like he did early in the year.

The offensive line should be a major strength and if guys on the outside progress (WR), well, our offense should be much more difficult to defend. My issue is at RB. You need a playmaker there. Someone who puts pressure on the defense to defend him because they don't want him in space. That's not Mark Weisman. I think Weisman could be a great fullback, but he isn't creating anything unless he gets a head of steam going, then he's only creating guys bouncing off him. Against the top tier defenses, you don't get a path to the second level very often, unless you hit the hole quickly or make a cut when the opening presents itself. Great running backs don't require the offensive line to create gaping holes, they just need guys occupied so they can make something happen. Only Canzeri showed that ability last year. I think unless one of the freshman (M. Smith) or Daniels shows he can do it...let Canzeri get 20 touches a game.

Our defense will be fine...it make take a little time for a few of the LB's to get their bearings, but we have talent there. Austin is ready and was last year, Perry looks the part now, and Spearman could be special. Reid and Lavar will have the Spring and Fall to get these guys ready on the outside. I think they are up to it. The improvement in our LB core in one year with these guys are the helm was remarkable. I think they get these guys ready. Our DL will be do what they do...stop the run...and my guess is that Ott and LTP get in the backfield more often too. The best thing about what Parker has done is that he has the defense multiple on 2nd and 3rd and long. Spearman goes to DE, Meier at DE, and a safety or corner at one of the LB's. We don't sit back anymore. I like it. Any d coordinator will tell you he would rather have an experienced D-line and an inexperienced LB core, rather than the other way around. We are going to be good on D again.

I honestly believe they have a shot to run the table up to Wisconsin...I really do. It's not because they are all world, but they will be good and the schedule sets up nicely for us.
 
There's a lot to like about this team. Add in the weak schedule and I'm going to say 10 wins.. If they have more, I'd say most of it will be on the new LBs not missing a beat from last year. That's a really tall order to put on LBs with little to no pt at this level though. One pass rusher and one receiver stepping up would make this team drastically better.

If they end up doing worse than this.. It'll most likely be because I miscalculated the o-line and d-line play and the WRs aren't getting any separation again. Although, I do think the WR position will be stronger this year, and they will definitely have some help from the TEs. It'll be interesting if GD refines the TE sets we saw a bit last year.
 
One thing we shouldn't overlook is that we had an unusually good year injury-wise (despite the troubles JR had). I'd love to think we can do this twice, as we had more than our share year after year after year prior to that. But I would be worried about our depth if the injuries start to add up, especially at positions like linebacker, where we'll probably be OK, but only if we can keep the starters on the field.
 
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