2015-16 Depth Chart

[brozley]

Chad Greenway, Aaron Kampman, LeVar Woods, Mike Klingenborg, Pat Angerer, and James Morris called, they really think you have a strong argument about small town kids not being able to play LB in the B1G. Not saying any of the current guys will, but this crew was always gonna have some growing pains in year one. To further strengthen your argument, how did Alston work out this year?

The key part of this is not where they are from, but that there are many guys on the roster that have the talent to play at the next level.
The better teams have a bunch of guys on both sides of the ball, not to mention backups that will also make it in The League.

Not true today for the Hawk roster.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

Actually the two glaring spots we have to replace are DT & OT and both have 4 star kids competing for the position which we usually don't have. Darian Cooper, Jaleel Johnson and Faith Ekakite at DT were all 4 start. Ryan Ward who will compete for OT was a 4 star as well.

I know a heavy % of you are being smart ***** but if Iowa starts CJB and plays him all year we have a chance for 8-10 wins. I just wish Iowa had played him this year after the Pitt game, we probabaly have 9 wins and maybe the West.

There are some players that will be hard to replace at DT and OT but everything else can be improved. This year even with screwing up the QB position we still should have won Maryhland(that was more on the coaches than players) and Nebraska loss was unexcusable. That would have been 9 wins.

And 3 of the 4 players we lose (Scherrf, Donnal and Davis) will have long careers in the NFL and we still managed only 7 wins this season. Having 4 star kids replacing NFL talent should not be considered improvement until it is actually realized. On paper, I see our defense being no better than 2014 and our offense worse because we have to replace both OT's.

 

[cuihawk]

The key part of this is not where they are from, but that there are many guys on the roster that have the talent to play at the next level.
The better teams have a bunch of guys on both sides of the ball, not to mention backups that will also make it in The League.

Not true today for the Hawk roster.

I disagree King, Lomax, Ott, Blythe, CJB, Duzy, Smith all have NFL potential. Young guys need to step up and show theirs, particularly at DL where we have reason to believe there is actual talent in the waiting. Several additions by subtraction (Weismann and Lowdermilk gone...good hawks, just both playing out of position). There is hope for next year. If not for a complete mismanagement of the QB situation this year we wouldn't all be jumping off the cliff. Not saying things are great, but I'll stay the course. If it's JR again next year, and we have anything less than 8-9 wins, then tear it down and start over.

 

[hawkphan00]

Chad Greenway, Aaron Kampman, LeVar Woods, Mike Klingenborg, Pat Angerer, and James Morris called, they really think you have a strong argument about small town kids not being able to play LB in the B1G. Not saying any of the current guys will, but this crew was always gonna have some growing pains in year one. To further strengthen your argument, how did Alston work out this year?

How'd Bower and Jewell look Friday brah? Not sure what you saw but I saw terrible angles of pursuit, terrible tackling, lack of speed and just flat out of position. So you can bark all day long about Greenway and Angerer but those two aren't on our crap *** team right now are they? And James Morries was shielded by Kirsey and Hitch making plays all over the place hence Morris being on a practice squad right now.

 

[smhawk]

How'd Bower and Jewell look Friday brah? Not sure what you saw but I saw terrible angles of pursuit, terrible tackling, lack of speed and just flat out of position. So you can bark all day long about Greenway and Angerer but those two aren't on our crap *** team right now are they? And James Morries was shielded by Kirsey and Hitch making plays all over the place hence Morris being on a practice squad right now.

Have to agree with this guy. Their play doesn't seem in the same league as Kirksey and Hitchens. I could see the dbs and d-line showing improvement next year, but I'm still not confident than Iowa having a better than average Bigten defense.

Ferentz successful teams had outstanding offensive line play and solid defense. I think the line has been pretty average this season on run block. Some times you could say its the play calling, running up the middle seemed impossible this season. And I don't think you really can blame the RBs, look how good Cowboys' Murray looks when his line is geling.

 

[TychoBrahe]

Way too early . . .

QB - CJB, Rudock
RB - Canzeri, Wadley, Daniels
FB - Stacked here - Cox, Plewa, Kenny
WR - Smith, Vandy, Hillyer, McCarron, Mitchell, Harris, Ghost of Willies
TE - Duzey, Kittle
OL- Boettger, Welsh, Blythe, Walsh, Ward
DT - Coop, Johnson, Faith, Bazata
DE - Ott, Meier, Nelson
OLB - Bower, Perry
MLB - Jewell, Perry
WLB - Spearman, Perry
CB - King, Mabin, Fleming, Draper
SS - Gair or Taylor
FS - Lomax

The good news is that a bunch of players return next year. The BAD news is that a bunch of players return next year.

Without naming names, there are players on this list who were not all that good this year, and I am wondering why anyone thinks they are likely to suddenly get good next year. With big losses at DT, and with the LB's likely still a weakness overall, I am not very optimistic on defense.

On offense, I think Boettger is going to be our next NFL left tackle, but losing both Donnall and Scherff is going to hurt. RB is still a big ?, and with the loss of Willies so is WR. Assuming CJB stays that position my be an upgrade (assuming).

I know I'm laying crepe all over the place, but let's be realistic: I don't see where the 2015 team is likely to be any better than the 2014 team, unless something else changes positively such as scheme/coaching, since the players don't seem to be much different talent-wise than this year's squad.

Oh--it may also say something that the position we are 'stacked' at is FB. Fullback, a position that is basically being phased out of college FB these days. Think about that.

 

[cuihawk]

How'd Bower and Jewell look Friday brah? Not sure what you saw but I saw terrible angles of pursuit, terrible tackling, lack of speed and just flat out of position. So you can bark all day long about Greenway and Angerer but those two aren't on our crap *** team right now are they? And James Morries was shielded by Kirsey and Hitch making plays all over the place hence Morris being on a practice squad right now.

Didn't say they looked good. Bower looked clueless, slow, weak...basically inept in every way. I said that an argument that LB's from small schools can't be successful in the B1G doesn't hold much water...which it doesn't, regardless of how Bower or Jewell played in a bowl game. BTW if we had 22 practice squad guys starting, that would do just fine. Now, proceed with your weak generalizations.

 

[hawkphan00]

All I'm saying is who the hell else recruited Jewell and Bower? I don't follow it close but I'm guessing it was us and some other directional Michigan team. It's time to stop the insanity and trying to make undersized, slow kids from 1 A schools start B1G Division 1 football games. For every Greenway that works we must recruit 45 others that don't. Instead of spending so much damn efforts in coaching up kids that aren't as physically gifted why not spend those efforts a bit more on recruiting a better athlete to start from? We want the same thing and that's to get better but starting Bower and Jewell next year is going to be a huge weakness for us and for that I'm not happy.

 

[Hawknick]

Adam Cox will be back next year. I could see John Kenny moving back to linebacker. He is a very tough hard nosed player, and having experience on both sides should help with his understanding of the position. Ben Niemann with another year and 25 pounds will also be a good player. I look forward to seeing what these guys do next year

 

[azhawkeyefan]

What about moving Nate Meier to middle linebacker? He came to Iowa as a RB, we know he's a good athlete. He's currently an undersized DE, but he would be a very solid MLB. Just a thought, considering our current crop of LBs resemble a middle of the road FCS squad.

 

[tm3308]

All I'm saying is who the hell else recruited Jewell and Bower? I don't follow it close but I'm guessing it was us and some other directional Michigan team. It's time to stop the insanity and trying to make undersized, slow kids from 1 A schools start B1G Division 1 football games. For every Greenway that works we must recruit 45 others that don't. Instead of spending so much damn efforts in coaching up kids that aren't as physically gifted why not spend those efforts a bit more on recruiting a better athlete to start from? We want the same thing and that's to get better but starting Bower and Jewell next year is going to be a huge weakness for us and for that I'm not happy.

No, all you're saying is we need "brothers" out there. We've had plenty of good (white) linebackers over the past decade come from smaller schools, as has already been pointed out to you. We've had some less than impressive "brothers" out there, too, including this year. The solution isn't to go get more black guys, it's to get better players, regardless of their skin color.

Obviously, it didn't work out well this year, and we need much stronger play from that position group next year. But it's worked well an awful lot of the time for us, so let's not pretend that this is some chronic issue that has plagued us for a decade.

 

[kirby]

Chad Greenway, Aaron Kampman, LeVar Woods, Mike Klingenborg, Pat Angerer, and James Morris called, they really think you have a strong argument about small town kids not being able to play LB in the B1G. Not saying any of the current guys will, but this crew was always gonna have some growing pains in year one. To further strengthen your argument, how did Alston work out this year?

One of the problems w/ KF recently, IMO, is that he keeps looking for "the next" ________. I think he sees some Ed Hinkel in Matt VB. I really don't see it. I think Matt can be adequate, but certainly no Ed H, and I don't get why he got reps in front of Willies. KF puts a lot of emphasis on character and it has impacted (negatively) his recruiting. Would he go after a Fred Barr again? How about Jermelle Lewis? Mo Brown? It seems like he has limited himself so much to "character recruits" from small towns that there is a serious talent gap right now. ISU is out-recruiting Iowa. This year. Iowa lost a OLineman to a directional Mich school last yr. That just should never happen. Iowa will start two walk-on Off Tackles next year, yet IOwa is OLine-U? Iowa puts guys in the NFL like crazy...not just in the NFL...in the NFL's 1st round!!! The Hawks should never lose a tackle to a directional Mich. school or ISU.

 

[tm3308]

Heres the secret. Look at the 2012 registers 1A and 2A all Iowa teams and that's who were trotting out against the B1G teams. Go get em boys...

You're really not all that bright, are you?

 

[deanvogs]

No, all you're saying is we need "brothers" out there. We've had plenty of good (white) linebackers over the past decade come from smaller schools, as has already been pointed out to you. We've had some less than impressive "brothers" out there, too, including this year. The solution isn't to go get more black guys, it's to get better players, regardless of their skin color.

Obviously, it didn't work out well this year, and we need much stronger play from that position group next year. But it's worked well an awful lot of the time for us, so let's not pretend that this is some chronic issue that has plagued us for a decade.

Don't waste your time with 00, as that is his IQ.

 

[PCHawk]

White linebackers are fine. I would prefer a black secondary though. Just like I would prefer a 4 star over a 3 star. It my no means guarantees they will be better. It's just a percentage thing.

 

[Knight78]

Heres the secret. Look at the 2012 registers 1A and 2A all Iowa teams and that's who were trotting out against the B1G teams. Go get em boys...

Funny you talk about that... Kansas St starting QB was an Iowa 1A all state player from Council Bluffs St. Albert HS. Went to Kansas St via Iowa Western CC.

 

[Knight78]

This post is a joke, right? We just came off a miserable season and had a pathetic attempt at a bowl game. So lets start planning on next year. better get a bunch of gold paint to cover the big hawk turd.

So rather than talk about what we can do to change next year, you want to complain about what can't be changed from the past season? Really?

 

[HawkinGoferLand]

I just hope our depth chart doesn't include Greg Davis at OC

 

[Knight78]

Have to agree with this guy. Their play doesn't seem in the same league as Kirksey and Hitchens. I could see the dbs and d-line showing improvement next year, but I'm still not confident than Iowa having a better than average Bigten defense.

Ferentz successful teams had outstanding offensive line play and solid defense. I think the line has been pretty average this season on run block. Some times you could say its the play calling, running up the middle seemed impossible this season. And I don't think you really can blame the RBs, look how good Cowboys' Murray looks when his line is geling.

I'd have to add a "YET", as in "Their play doesn't seem in the same league as Kirksey and Hitchens yet." Both Kirksey and Hitchens had their issues early in their careers at Iowa, and I don't recall either of them playing much as freshmen. Unfortunately, Bower and Jewell have been pressed into playing time this year instead of being solely special teams players. Let's give them until the end of next season before we completely write them off... or maybe we should wait until they are juniors?

 

[pekurhawk]

So rather than talk about what we can do to change next year, you want to complain about what can't be changed from the past season? Really?

Thanks dude, you woke me up, now I'm going to donate 50K to the program and spend the next 7 months dreaming about how great things are going to be next year. Then in November we will start all over again. Keep working hard, there are plays to be made out there.
By the way, are you interested in Cubs world series tickets?