Are There 5 or 6 OL...

[Teddy]

that are better than anyone that played last season. Heard that KF said that, which would project that more or less every returning player has improved over last year. If KF did actually say that the line might actually be substantially better. That makes a wide world of difference in outlook. Thoughts?

 

[vegashawki]

Not to sound like a dick or negative d-bag, but not sure how they couldn’t have improved from last year… they were pretty bad. If they haven’t improved changes need to be made and new position coach is needed.

 

[Teddy]

Not to sound like a dick or negative d-bag, but not sure how they couldn’t have improved from last year… they were pretty bad. If they haven’t improved changes need to be made and new position coach is needed.

I think that is being very fair to Logan Jones. Logan did show some improvement over the last four games he could not possibly have played worse in the first 8 games.

We will see about Dunker but the only worse RT on the roster last year was Nick DeJong, who lacked every skill at tackle and Plumber came back. Hard to see how the RT could not be better with Dunker or Parker.

 

[NorthKCHawk]

Last year's OL was a MASH unit. Young, out of place, no depth. KF knows how to develop OL. The returners are now playing where they should be, and the unit goes 9 deep with guys having starting experience. They will be better. How much better is the question. RT remains the biggest concern. Hey Brian, how about scheming to protect your RT with a TE or back?????

 

[hawkinn3]

Last year's OL was a MASH unit. Young, out of place, no depth. KF knows how to develop OL. The returners are now playing where they should be, and the unit goes 9 deep with guys having starting experience. They will be better. How much better is the question. RT remains the biggest concern. Hey Brian, how about scheming to protect your RT with a TE or back?????

Since 2015 when Scherff was drafted the Hawkeyes have had only 6 OL drafted including Scherff and Donnal in 2015.

 

[NorthKCHawk]

Since 2015 when Scherff was drafted the Hawkeyes have had only 6 OL drafted including Scherff and Donnal in 2015.

Penn State has only had 5.
Minnesota has had 2.
Michigan, Wisconsin and Notre Dame have had 8.

Its not just quantity, but Wirfs is graded out as the best RT in pro football. Scherff was a Top 5 pick and has been an All-Pro. Lindy was the best graded center to come out in a decade.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

I have no doubt that they will be better. As others have pointed out, the question is "how much better," and whether the improvement will be sufficient to compete with the better teams in the conference.

The injury/youth argument is overall valid, but that by itself doesn't completely account for the poor play we have seen the last two years. I've stated before that Barnett needs to show that he's a quality coach and not just reliant upon expected player maturity. He had two seasons with Plumb, and he was a turnstile at tackle, and made repeated fundamental errors despite being a 6th year senior.

 

[Teddy]

I have no doubt that they will be better. As others have pointed out, the question is "how much better," and whether the improvement will be sufficient to compete with the better teams in the conference.

The injury/youth argument is overall valid, but that by itself doesn't completely account for the poor play we have seen the last two years. I've stated before that Barnett needs to show that he's a quality coach and not just reliant upon expected player maturity. He had two seasons with Plumber, and he was a turnstile at tackle, and made repeated fundamental errors despite being a 6th year senior.

Gotta agree there were some other factors. The statue QB required almost perfect pass blocking to be effective. A more mobile guy, like Labas could have turned some of holes that appeared in defenses when 5 or 6 defenders would be line up in a sprinters stance to just run into our backfield.

I'm kind of willing to take the weird confluence of lack of experience, lack of size and lack of depth for the last three seasons, but none of those appear in our top 5 or 6 lineman this season. Even RT has starter with game starting experience and a grad transfer that's almost as big with a ton of experience behind him. It better take something worse than being chased by wolves to explain bad line play in '23.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

that are better than anyone that played last season. Heard that KF said that, which would project that more or less every returning player has improved over last year. If KF did actually say that the line might actually be substantially better. That makes a wide world of difference in outlook. Thoughts?

The 5 starting Olineman on his latest 2 deep are the same exact dudes that started the bowl game against Kentucky... So unless the others are gonna rotate in or replace some of them the Oline hasn't changed one iota from the one that could barely put up 7 points and 200 yards against a bottom tier SEC team. We were 0/11 on 3rd downs and 0/2 on 4th. Had a month to prepare against them and couldn't muster squat jack.

So my expectations for this Oline are tempered quite a bit. I'm not from Missouri but they'll have to show me before I just predict any kind of drastic improvement. But I'm hoping for it.

 

[CP87]

The 5 starting Olineman on his latest 2 deep are the same exact dudes that started the bowl game against Kentucky... So unless the others are gonna rotate in or replace some of them the Oline hasn't changed one iota from the one that could barely put up 7 points and 200 yards against a bottom tier SEC team. We were 0/11 on 3rd downs and 0/2 on 4th. Had a month to prepare against them and couldn't muster squat jack.

So my expectations for this Oline are tempered quite a bit. I'm not from Missouri but they'll have to show me before I just predict any kind of drastic improvement. But I'm hoping for it.

Silver-lining? (you really have to squint)

Prior to the first pick-6, we had 2 effective drives (one TD, one TO on downs) to go along with two 3-and-outs, and we averaged 6.5 yds/play.

After going up 14-0 EVERYONE knew the game was over as long as Iowa didn't gift them points. From that point on, we averaged 3.3 yds/play.

Who am I kidding, it is hard to shine this turd. Here are the 5 drives after Nwankpa's pick-6 (12 min left in 2nd Q) through our first possession of the 4th (ignoring our 1 play drive going into the half):

3 and out (5 yds)
3 and out (9 yds)
3 and out (-4 yds)
3 and out (4 yds)
3 and out (8 yds)

Ignoring end of half, that is 5 drives, 0 first downs, 15 plays, 22 yards. Even assuming we are being ultra-conservative, that is not acceptable.

 

[Teddy]

KF's natural caution did bite us in the ass, but you cannot see the game/season plan as strictly crazy or lazy. They knew Petras and Padilla's limitations. They knew the injuries and the inexperience on the line. They knew the injuries and lack of depth at WR. The only way for Iowa to win was to avoid mistakes and win like in the 50s, I mean the actual 1950s.

I have hardly written a discovery above. Where I think a lot of fans don't realize the extent to which that caution dictated everything else that followed. Could you call a longer developing deep route very often? No, the line probably couldn't hold the pocket and the QB may never even see the primary receiver open. Or the primary receiver is just a walk on that cannot get open. He may not admit it but not playing Labas most of last season, certainly not after the Iowa State game, is probably the worst mistake of KF's tenure at Iowa. We already had the worst offense in the country why not shake it up a little? KF was let the caution overcome other reasonable alternatives, or at least possible alternatives.

The coaches appear to have much more confidence in in the players on this season. That should lead to a more aggressive and successful offense. That has been the talk and I guess we will see a little of the walk tomorrow.