Boom - Deacon Hill

[Hawkfnntn]

I'd be curious to know if this was a surprise to the staff or if the staff politely nudged him out... We'll probably never find that out as neither side has a reason to do so. Regardless this is for the best. Had he stayed it coulda got toxic. I damn near had anxiety of thinking about him possibly having to play again.

It's not his fault the coaches kept putting him in there. I'd say it's not his fault the other QBs weren't as good as him but I refuse to think that was ever the case. I put it all on the coaches. It was pretty apparent after just a couple starts last yr that the guy stunk yet they kept putting him out there and never tried anything else. Labbas and Lainez both shoulda been getting reps in games last yr but staff did what they did.

Thankfully Hill did the graceful thing and made it easy on us. Hopefully he can find a place to still get his schooling paid for but I doubt a D1 school will end up playing him. I'll just be surprised if that ever happens.

 

[NorthKCHawk]

But you need at least SOME of them to hit, you cannot whiff on this many in a row.

For what it is worth, apparently Labas threw for 4 TDs and ran for 2 more in C Michigan 's spring game.

If the criticism from the post was that Iowa has been shit in recruiting and developing QBs under BF, no arguments from me.

I read it as calling out Iowa as having a lot of QBs transferring. My response was to note that every program has lots of back-up QBs transfer. Hell, some have their starters transfer......

 

[CP87]

Rumors fling that NW's QB is heading to IC.

I cant really remember much about him...should I get irrationally excited or irrationally upset?

 

[NorthKCHawk]

Yeah they'll have to grab a portal guy but I don't think there's a splash pickup out there number one, and number two, missing spring ball would in my opinion not leave enough time/reps for a new guy to pass Lainez. McNamara will likely start the year out, but I have almost zero confidence that he'll stay healthy.


Agreed, but even though it was just a single game, Lainez at least has had a sliver of exposure and shown he can move. I actually feel good that he's a Freshman. If Iowa can keep him out of the portal for a year we have the possibility of a three year starter if he works out. That's why seeing what he can do this year is so important. McNamara ain't the answer at all and it's imperative in my opinion that we at least see what ML can do before losing a guy to the portal.

Iowa is not a team that can rely on getting good prospects out of the portal...there's no draw for those kinds of players here. Anytime we can get a system guy and develop is going to be preferrable imo.

Don't disagree that Lainez should be #2 going into Fall Camp. He has earned that. But, we need a veteran portal QB to compete with him for the back up. While I am not quite as pessimistic about Cade as you, I certainly share that fear. So, assuming that Cade does go down, we need more than one QB with some experience playing at the college level.

Whether this transfer can get up to speed and surpass Lainez is an uphill climb, but we need another veteran body in the room for sure. Competition and depth are needed.

 

[NorthKCHawk]

I cant really remember much about him...should I get irrationally excited or irrationally upset?

Neither. He is fine. Would be a good back up QB if Cade goes down and Lainez isn't up to snuff. He has good size and some experience, so I will take him. Don't think we will do much better given that we are Iowa.

 

[NorthKCHawk]

People are biased thinking CM is a stud because 1) he came from Michigan, and 2) there was so much fanfare when he signed. Unwarranted. He was a miss and people need to get over it.

The question is whether he or Lainez is better and whether KF wants to admit it.

Man that is a skewed statement of fact. Um, he came from Michigan yes, but he also led his team for an entire season to a conference title, playing very very well. So, we have seen Cade perform at a very high level in the toughest of competitive environments. He was then beat out by a guy who will likely be a Top 10 Draft Pick. What about that does speak to a high level college QB that Iowa was able to recruit over?

Because the young man sustained a serious injury does not make him a miss. He was an incredible get that got hurt. Happens everyday in football. If he remains healthy next year, he is the starter. Not even a debate.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Rumors flying that NW's QB is heading to IC.

I'd seen Sullivan hopped in portal too but hadn't seen anything tying him to Iowa yet.. Unlike the kid from OSU that isn't in the portal yet but lots of folks seemed to assume would be. I wonder how fast Iowa will move on this whole thing. Portal closes the 30th I think I'd read. So clocks ticking

 

[Fryowa]

Man that is a skewed statement of fact. Um, he came from Michigan yes, but he also led his team for an entire season to a conference title, playing very very well. So, we have seen Cade perform at a very high level in the toughest of competitive environments. He was then beat out by a guy who will likely be a Top 10 Draft Pick. What about that does speak to a high level college QB that Iowa was able to recruit over?

Because the young man sustained a serious injury does not make him a miss. He was an incredible get that got hurt. Happens everyday in football. If he remains healthy next year, he is the starter. Not even a debate.

I get what you're saying, but that fantastic season was 3 years ago, and in those 3 years since he's played in a total of 8 games, been plagued by injuries, and last year in the games he did play in he was 51.1% with a 106.2 rating. How many guys have you seen in history come back from multiple injuries like that and get the job done?

Was part of his poor QB play due to his receivers and OL being sub par? Yep. But Marco Lainez has at least shown briefly that he can compensate for those shortcomings with his feet which CM and Hill can't. We haven't seen a guy who could scramble that well since CJB. I get that he had a hell of a year in '21, but it's getting long enough in the past that you have to ask yourself at what point is that still the thing that gives him the edge.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Man that is a skewed statement of fact. Um, he came from Michigan yes, but he also led his team for an entire season to a conference title, playing very very well. So, we have seen Cade perform at a very high level in the toughest of competitive environments. He was then beat out by a guy who will likely be a Top 10 Draft Pick. What about that does speak to a high level college QB that Iowa was able to recruit over?

Because the young man sustained a serious injury does not make him a miss. He was an incredible get that got hurt. Happens everyday in football. If he remains healthy next year, he is the starter. Not even a debate.

Yeah I agree with you and not Fry on this one... He wasn't a miss beyond just the injuries. Had he not ever gotten hurt he woulda made it pretty tough for Michigan to have moved on from and who knows what JJ McCarthys career ends up being had they stuck with Cade. The injury domino is what lead to JJ getting reps and he got Wally Pipped instead and here we are.

 

[NorthKCHawk]

I get what you're saying, but that fantastic season was 3 years ago, and in those 3 years since he's played in a total of 8 games, been plagued by injuries, and last year in the games he did play in he was 51.1% with a 106.2 rating. How many guys have you seen in history come back from multiple injuries like that and get the job done?

Was part of his poor QB play due to his receivers and OL being sub par? Yep. But Marco Lainez has at least shown briefly that he can compensate for those shortcomings with his feet which CM and Hill can't. We haven't seen a guy who could scramble that well since CJB. I get that he had a hell of a year in '21, but it's getting long enough in the past that you have to ask yourself at what point is that still the thing that gives him the edge.

None of that makes him a miss. He got injured in camp. He was literally playing on one leg during his limited time last season and not to mention he had the worst OC imaginable calling his plays. You can't use his play last year when he was injured to declare that Iowa "missed" in bringing him in. That's not supportable. If you want to argue he has a glass jaw, fine. I won't argue against that.

But, if he remains healthy, I will take the sample size I saw for an entire season at Michigan over a quarter of mop up duty that Lainez got in the bowl game where he was running for his life. And stop romanticizing, Lainez was not all that fantastic in the bowl. He may have looked better than Mount Hill, but a pile of dog shit taking the snaps at that point would have looked better.

 

[HuckFinn]

Too much? Eh I think he got exactly what was deserved

Come on. Stay classy.

 

[Fryowa]

None of that makes him a miss. He got injured in camp. He was literally playing on one leg during his limited time last season and not to mention he had the worst OC imaginable calling his plays. You can't use his play last year when he was injured to declare that Iowa "missed" in bringing him in. That's not supportable. If you want to argue he has a glass jaw, fine. I won't argue against that.

But, if he remains healthy, I will take the sample size I saw for an entire season at Michigan over a quarter of mop up duty that Lainez got in the bowl game where he was running for his life. And stop romanticizing, Lainez was not all that fantastic in the bowl. He may have looked better than Mount Hill, but a pile of dog shit taking the snaps at that point would have looked better.

I just know that I saw Lainez can scramble and move both away from trouble as well as vertically. You don't need to see 10 games to know that. Iowa hasn't had anyone with that ability in 7-8 years. McNamara can't. With our receivers and OL, being able to do that isn't optional IMO.

Look, I'm under no illusion that CM isn't going to be the starter come September unless he dings himself up in camp. I am however predicting that either CM is going to reinjure himself, or he's going to have the same performance he did last year trying to avoid DEs and linebackers with no open receivers and bum knees. I also stand by my opinion that CM was over-hyped.

 

[HuckFinn]

None of that makes him a miss. He got injured in camp. He was literally playing on one leg during his limited time last season and not to mention he had the worst OC imaginable calling his plays. You can't use his play last year when he was injured to declare that Iowa "missed" in bringing him in. That's not supportable. If you want to argue he has a glass jaw, fine. I won't argue against that.

But, if he remains healthy, I will take the sample size I saw for an entire season at Michigan over a quarter of mop up duty that Lainez got in the bowl game where he was running for his life. And stop romanticizing, Lainez was not all that fantastic in the bowl. He may have looked better than Mount Hill, but a pile of dog shit taking the snaps at that point would have looked better.

Lainez has not shown pocket presence and has not thrown the ball all that well. Inexperienced QB’s often bail out and run rather than going through their reads. That is what I have observed short run. Yes. I get it. He has shown mobility and some speed.

 

[oldhawk12]

Maybe we can get a qb from…morehead St. too soon

 

[eyekwah]

One word to describe Deacon Hill as Iowa QB would be unremarkable. He was given the role by circumstances outside his control. You can find a lot of words to trash him, but all things considered he inherited a situation he didn't have the qualifications or an OC to be successful. Best of luck to him in the future wherever he goes.

 

[STILLBUSTER]

Lainez has not shown pocket presence and has not thrown the ball all that well. Inexperienced QB’s often bail out and run rather than going through their reads. That is what I have observed short run. Yes. I get it. He has shown mobility and some speed.

Sentence 1: True. Not a lot better but certainly not worse than Hill.

Sentence 2: True. Key word ... "Inexperienced", along with "Young", "Inadequately coached", "Limited Opportnities", "Opportunistic and Proactive" (considering Iowa's QB Coach, OL and WR units last year)

Sentence 3-4: See factors above and this is (probably will continue to be) crucial in Iowa's offense ... Until the rest improves, mobility and speed are essential to any sort of success when Iowa has the ball. If he simply had a system (and the green light) to "go" as needed, it would be a dramatic improvement over anything Hill was able to do when it (inevitably) broke down.

While of course not ideal in Kirk's system - and you certainly don't want him getting CJ level beat up - every time he tucks and runs, make sure you've coach-engrained him to hit the sidelines / slide and it will be yards further down the field than Hill was able to achieve between getting bulldozed or dropping the ball on the opponent's side of the field.

 

[Teddy]

Addition by subtraction. Did anyone here want to see what Hill brought to the table with a second season at the helm? I'm guessing that's a "no".

Marco was a good recruit. As noted above we know he's mobile. He gained more positive yards rushing (63) in than any of the starters over the last four seasons, and probably McNamara, Hill, Petras and Padillo collectively. He's in offense that provides opportunities for QB runs and we know he can do that. Passing, are we already writing a guy off that played one quarter at the end of a blowout loss? I'm sure he was a little wild and hadn't had much work with the guys around him, including the wide receivers. He will improve and I think we may have an offensive in place that highlights his skills. Plus, it would a very weird statistical probability that we have 5 consecutive years of bad QB play. That has never happened since Bob Comings was around-almost 50 years ago.

This negativity for the sake of negativity explains why people all over the Country think Iowa fans are idiotic. Iowa has 11 double digit winning seasons, 3 in the last 5 years. We caught a little ridicule over the terrible offensive play but wins are the only thing that count. We fired the bad OC and brought in a guy with a completely different and more modern looking offense. Tyler Elsberry should win the C job which is a big step us, I think. It looks like another year of outstanding defensive play is forthcoming.

Don't worry, be happy.

 

[Teddy]

Lainez has not shown pocket presence and has not thrown the ball all that well. Inexperienced QB’s often bail out and run rather than going through their reads. That is what I have observed short run. Yes. I get it. He has shown mobility and some speed.

Huck, I think its just too early to know what Marco can do, other than run.

Your premise is he didn't show those skills in the 4th quarter of a blowout loss-which really is all we know about Marco. Very small sample of plays. I'm sure the receivers weren't playing very hard and the average at best OL was probably not too excited. Basically the whole offense looked eager to just get it over with in the last two games.

Of course, the added benefit of the OC change. I don't think BF knew anything about QBs. There really can only be improvement.

 

[NCHawker]

I read this on the Internet: Tim Lester did offer Sullivan (Northwestern) out of high school when he was at Western Michigan.

 

[NorthKCHawk]

Lainez has not shown pocket presence and has not thrown the ball all that well. Inexperienced QB’s often bail out and run rather than going through their reads. That is what I have observed short run. Yes. I get it. He has shown mobility and some speed.

Ding ding ding.

Being mobile is great, but you also have to work through progressions and make accurate throws. I have never seen Lainez do those things at the college level. Maybe he can, but that is not what I saw in a very limited sample size.