Athlon's way too early '11 predictions

[hawkfan1319]

lol Michigan St. will totally beat us this year .....like they do every year right ?

 

[hawkfaninTX]

am i missing something? why does it list as dan persa gone?

 

[JonDMiller]

Here are my thoughts on Athlon's picks

Athlon Low on Hawks for 2011 | Hawkeye Nation

 

[JonDMiller]

I dont think they are looking at schedules at all. PSU #2? MSU #1? No and no

 

[treychase]

I rolled my eyes when I saw MSU listed at No 1, then I quit reading when Michigan was listed No 3.

I think they let untrained monkeys draw from a hat.

I wish publications like this would just state upfront....we have no clue and we're not even going to attempt to do any work whatsoever. Because that is their reality.

 

[tweeterhawk]

Stanzi was arguably one of the best quarter backs in the country. Vandenberg proved he can play against Ohio State but the shoes he has to fill are a lot bigger than some people want to admit.

I liked Ricky a lot but thought he had a just above mediocre year. Good, not great. I'm excited by the prospects of a new quarterback. If its Vandenberg, I think he'll surprise a lot of people. If it's someone else, that means someone else really shone in spring ball.

I don't see QB play being the big issue for us next year.

 

[Ronco]

First, you cite history on offense but fail to mention history on defense. Iowa reloads on that side of the ball. They'll be no worse than average on that side of the ball if history is any indicator.

Second, you fail to include the schedule as a big factor.

Third, The losses on the d-line are completely overblown. We return two starters for four positions. This isn't a complete rebuild job that some make it out to be.

Also, their research should show how teams with a bunch of close losses from the prior year that return almost it's entire offensive line tend to see increases in their win totals.

In reality it all falls in JVB. If he's JC bad Iowa will be lucky to get to a bowl game. If he's average Iowa will be playing on Jan 1st (Outback or Gator) If he's above average Iowa has a shot to win the division and get to the conference title game.

Ahhhhhh Clark, you just epitomized paragraph one of my post: ".......as fans we have a tendency to gloss over our weaknesses and to greatly exaggerate our strengths. When it comes to the other teams we're up against we do just the opposite."

 

[hawkfan1319]

Michigan has no coach and a whole new scheme coming in more than likely with their new coach. NW will lose a couple they shouldn't and we will lose to Nw. It will come down to Nebby , Us, and Michigan St.

 

[JonDMiller]

I liked Ricky a lot but thought he had a just above mediocre year. Good, not great.

25 TD and 4 INT in regular season..just the third Iowa QB in history to top 3000 yards for a season...highest QB rating for Hawkeye QB all time for a season...

Wow. Tough crowd if this was 'just above mediocre'.

Statistically, it was one of the top five seasons in Iowa football history

 

[HawkPhreek]

IMO Iowa success is pretty simple can Iowa run the ball? I think yes think O Line will be good possibly great. Can Iowa get pressure with front four, this a BIG ?.

 

[hawkfaninTX]

i know it means very little to the current discussion, but what did i miss for athlon to say persa is going to not be there next year? is it complications with his achilles? give up playing? i thought he had another year?

 

[JonDMiller]

Persa does have another year.

 

[hawkfaninTX]

Persa does have another year.

thanks

 

[iowafincity]

25 TD and 4 INT in regular season..just the third Iowa QB in history to top 3000 yards for a season...highest QB rating for Hawkeye QB all time for a season...

Wow. Tough crowd if this was 'just above mediocre'.

Statistically, it was one of the top five seasons in Iowa football history

stats dont mean much jon, (im prety sure at 1 point in the season the chargers were 1 in offense and defense and still had a losing record) all I care about is W and L's, I love ricky but ill take his season the year before this year, he won games at the end. Mich St and played well in the 4th quarter against indiana when he had to, this year he played well yes, but when he really had to step up he didnt.

 

[Mac50702]

IMO Iowa success is pretty simple can Iowa run the ball? I think yes think O Line will be good possibly great. Can Iowa get pressure with front four, this a BIG ?.

Can we keep AIHRBG out of our backfield?

 

[Mac50702]

Persa does have another year.

Is he gonna heal from that injury?

 

[tweeterhawk]

25 TD and 4 INT in regular season..just the third Iowa QB in history to top 3000 yards for a season...highest QB rating for Hawkeye QB all time for a season...

Wow. Tough crowd if this was 'just above mediocre'.

Statistically, it was one of the top five seasons in Iowa football history

stats dont mean much jon, (im prety sure at 1 point in the season the chargers were 1 in offense and defense and still had a losing record) all I care about is W and L's, I love ricky but ill take his season the year before this year, he won games at the end. Mich St and played well in the 4th quarter against indiana when he had to, this year he played well yes, but when he really had to step up he didnt.

There were times this year when Ricky's play contributed to potential game-winning or game-preserving drives stalling and ultimately failing. And honest-to-goodness, did Iowa have a two-minute drill this year, at least one that the staff trusted Ricky to run?

The offense didn't do enough in certain games to keep opposing gunslinger QBs or power RBs off the field at the end of games, leading to some L's that should have been W's. Is that KF's/KOK's fault? Ricky's? The entire team's?

Fairly or not, some of the responsibility falls on the quarterback.

 

[spudhawk]

No matter how well JVB plays he won't come close to the production of Stanzi this year and there is more to the position than completing passes. Stanzi should get some of the credit for the rushing attack and he also did a nice job all season of making checks at the line in both phases.

Personally I think Iowa's division will be up for grabs. I don't see Michigan trending up, Nebraska will be losing a veteran and talented secondary, and Northwestern suffers the least amount of losses of any team in our division. If Persa recovers and gets the entire fall camp then they should be the favorite.

 

[cibula11]

Those are some horrible predictions. NO WAY will Iowa finish that low. I'd bet all that I have on that.

 

[tm3308]

No matter how well JVB plays he won't come close to the production of Stanzi this year and there is more to the position than completing passes. Stanzi should get some of the credit for the rushing attack and he also did a nice job all season of making checks at the line in both phases.

Personally I think Iowa's division will be up for grabs. I don't see Michigan trending up, Nebraska will be losing a veteran and talented secondary, and Northwestern suffers the least amount of losses of any team in our division. If Persa recovers and gets the entire fall camp then they should be the favorite.

I think that sentence sums the other poster's thoughts nicely. Stanzi was statistically MUCH better this year, and JVB would have a tough time matching those numbers. But many people would have taken last year's Stanzi. The one that you just knew would find a way to win, someway, somehow. We didn't have that this year, and it showed at the end of each of our losses. There's more to quarterbacking than completing passes. Ricky was the epitome of that each of the last two years: last year because his leadership at the end of games was the trump card, and this year because he seemed to lose his "mojo".