AJ Epenesa

Bordone said:
Dude is a middle linebacker playing DE. It's not really about hatin on the kid it's about the reality of the situation.
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Not an apples to apples comparison, but the situation reminds of Nate Meier. He struggled when he made the switch to DE his Junior yr and he received a lot of criticism . His Senior year he was solid and a beast by the end of the year. I am hoping you see something similar with Hesse. With that interception I give Hesse a pass for awhile.
 
AJ will slowly play more and more but he will be brought along slower than he would at most other programs. Which looks even worst to most fans because the competition he is trying to beat out is only average. That's not Hesse hate, it's just fact. Heat an average Big 10 player.

This will remind me of CJFed. He's too good to keep off the field completely and probably better than the guys playing over him, but he won't play as much as he should because he doesn't do everything perfect. Even tho his "not perfect" is probably better than the other guy's perfect.

Then there will always be the guys who say "it worked out great for CJ". I'm on the side that he was going to be where he is now no matter what, but we just lost a lot of production while he was here.
 
trj said:
Not an apples to apples comparison, but the situation reminds of Nate Meier. He struggled when he made the switch to DE his Junior yr and he received a lot of criticism . His Senior year he was solid and a beast by the end of the year. I am hoping you see something similar with Hesse. With that interception I give Hesse a pass for awhile.
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This is like the CJB debate all over again:
"We have to do what's in the best interest of the player..."

No, it's a team sport. And by the end of the season Epenesa will be more valuable. Epenesa will replace someone and they can become the "situational" player. I'm glad Hesse intercepted some balls and he is appreciated. But Epipen will be causing fumbles when he sacks the QB and deflecting passes with his long body that is able to air-jordan.
 
tksirius said:
Well, he better since he really isn't that good as a pass rusher. I hope he's ok with spelling AJ the 2nd half of this season and next season.
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Hesse was better rushing the passer as a true freshman when Ott went down. Hesse weighed less then and was faster. But the hawks always want to set the edge and stop the run first so you have to be able to do that.

ISU got the hawks into some unbalanced looks with 3 wideouts bunched to their right side. Then ISU went with that little option pitch to the left and they had numbers against Hesse and the lbkr was too far inside, that play worked well for ISU and I would expect some spread type teams to do the same thing.

Hesse made that great tip and pick 6 against Nebby in 2015 to start that victory off. Guy is a player and is very good.
 
Joshbrown said:
This is like the CJB debate all over again:
"We have to do what's in the best interest of the player..."

No, it's a team sport. And by the end of the season Epenesa will be more valuable. Epenesa will replace someone and they can become the "situational" player. I'm glad Hesse intercepted some balls and he is appreciated. But Epipen will be causing fumbles when he sacks the QB and deflecting passes with his long body that is able to air-jordan.
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I'm glad you're at practice during the week to make these important decisions. Because Norm Parker surely just doesn't know what's best for this team.
 
We will see plenty of AJ. Personally I like him rotating in on passing downs. Keeps him fresh, his sacks and pressure will gain him the respect and accolades he deserves and less risk of injury. Seems like a moot point to me. Next year he will never leave the field and you can all complain about how we are wearing him out.
 
Adam said:
We will see plenty of AJ. Personally I like him rotating in on passing downs. Keeps him fresh, his sacks and pressure will gain him the respect and accolades he deserves and less risk of injury. Seems like a moot point to me.
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Moot points usually get fewer replies.
 
I like the fact we have a two headed monster at DE. It allows us to keep them both fresh throughout the game and wear down that OT. It's a beautiful thing.
 
tksirius said:
Well, he better since he really isn't that good as a pass rusher. I hope he's ok with spelling AJ the 2nd half of this season and next season.
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Yeah, PH is the guy that would be demoted in favor of AJ. I will say that PH does a really good job in run defense, so perhaps he starts sliding inside a bit this season to get the idea, then puts on 15 lbs next season and spends time inside? Remember, we still have to find room for Golston. I have a feeling that cat will be good. Let's not forget about (Where for art thou) Romeo McNight and Brandon (Rhymin') Simon.
 
I'm not saying don't play the other D ends but I'd like to see role expand as the season goes on, as far as positions you can pick up on quickly I think you could argue DE is the easiest. We'll need him on more than 3rd down when we play the conference schedule...it would be extremely aggravating/not surprising to see KF only play him on 3rd and long situations because he's a freshman
 
This is definitely the youngest Iowa team (as far as players who see the field) that I can remember. Ferentz is putting guys out there based on talent and not experience which is refreshing. A guy like Marsette would NEVER have seen the field several years ago as a true freshman.
 
10 snaps the first game, 15 the second game. He's being gotten up to speed just fine, and will be playing consistently in the B1G season.

The only thing that bugs me about the DL rotation so far is the amount of snaps Brincks is getting. He has not shown much so far. I get that we need to be able to sub in someone for A Nelson sometimes, but that's what M Nelson and AJ Eppy are for. If AJ Eppy is only comfortable at RE, send one of the more experienced guys over there to LE and let the spot open up for AJ. Brincks should still see a few snaps in the rotation, but he had 19 last game. That's more than AJ, and Reiff, both of which have looked better than Brincks so far. Give 10 of those snaps to AJ, and all of a sudden he is at 25 snaps, which is about where you want him at the start of B1G play.
 
Stanzi said:
This is definitely the youngest Iowa team (as far as players who see the field) that I can remember. Ferentz is putting guys out there based on talent and not experience which is refreshing. A guy like Marsette would NEVER have seen the field several years ago as a true freshman.
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Except MVB played (and started a few games) as a true freshman. So did Jerminic Smith (due to injury, but jumped some more experienced to get the nod). Also James Daniels, Desmond King, Manny Rugamba...oh heck, I will just paste the image Jon posted.
DJdroaAUQAAHkZM.jpg:large
 
CP87 said:
Except MVB played (and started a few games) as a true freshman. So did Jerminic Smith (due to injury, but jumped some more experienced to get the nod). Also James Daniels, Desmond King, Manny Rugamba...oh heck, I will just paste the image Jon posted.
DJdroaAUQAAHkZM.jpg:large
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So essentially Dominique Douglas is the only Iowa true freshman WR to get more than a couple of token starts. My point stands. I expect Marsette to start all season based on what we saw Saturday. That would make him an outlier.
 
Stanzi said:
So essentially Dominique Douglas is the only Iowa true freshman WR to get more than a couple of token starts. My point stands. I expect Marsette to start all season based on what we saw Saturday. That would make him an outlier.
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But you said "never have seen the field." No big deal, I agree the coaches seem to be more willing to go young. Hopefully good times ahead.
 
CP87 said:
But you said "never have seen the field." No big deal, I agree the coaches seem to be more willing to go young. Hopefully good times ahead.
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That's fair, I can see where you're coming from. I'm hoping we will see Brandon Smith get more involved in the offense. He's the WR I'm most excited about.
 
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