Brandon Snyder

JoeyLabasForPresident

JoeyLabasForPresident

Well-Known Member
https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/s...nee-surgeries-dui-finds-redemption/720581002/

So it looks like Brandon Snyder should be back with us week one this year. Here's to hoping he and Amani Hooker can both stay healthy and have great seasons.

From the Article:

Snyder’s full return would be a rocket boost for the 2018 Hawkeyes. He was essentially the quarterback of the secondary in 2016, when he started 13 games at free safety and led the Hawkeyes in forced fumbles (three), tied for the team lead in interceptions (three) and fumble recoveries (two) and ranked second to Josey Jewell in solo tackles (53).

“I plan to start and lead a team to the Big Ten championship,” Snyder says. “That’s the goal that’s been getting me through a lot of these hard days."

Get hyped. This defense could be good.
 
BrianFerentzForPresident said:
https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/s...nee-surgeries-dui-finds-redemption/720581002/

So it looks like Brandon Snyder should be back with us week one this year. Here's to hoping he and Amani Hooker can both stay healthy and have great seasons.

From the Article:

Snyder’s full return would be a rocket boost for the 2018 Hawkeyes. He was essentially the quarterback of the secondary in 2016, when he started 13 games at free safety and led the Hawkeyes in forced fumbles (three), tied for the team lead in interceptions (three) and fumble recoveries (two) and ranked second to Josey Jewell in solo tackles (53).

“I plan to start and lead a team to the Big Ten championship,” Snyder says. “That’s the goal that’s been getting me through a lot of these hard days."

Get hyped. This defense could be good.
Click to expand...
The defense will be pretty good considering they lose 3 starting linebackers & Jackson due to Phil, but I really wouldn't expect anything to get hyped over, especially early in the season.
 
tksirius said:
The defense will be pretty good considering they lose 3 starting linebackers & Jackson due to Phil, but I really wouldn't expect anything to get hyped over, especially early in the season.
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I seen somewhere Phil said he is not opposed to giving some pt to freshmen lb's.
I have paid a lot more attention to recruiting than I ever have and it looks like we could have a really good defense not just this year, but in the future as well. We have to get some meat in the NT spot. I know leverage and all that, but we need a few 310 pounders with a mean streak.
Basically if we get some wr production, winning the big is an obtainable goal.
 
tksirius said:
The defense will be pretty good considering they lose 3 starting linebackers & Jackson due to Phil, but I really wouldn't expect anything to get hyped over, especially early in the season.
Click to expand...
All 4 signed to NFL squads too. Has Iowa ever had the three outgoing starters and a CB on NFL rosters? I’m too lazy to dig into it but I’d think probably not.
 
Fryowa said:
All 4 signed to NFL squads too. Has Iowa ever had the three outgoing starters and a CB on NFL rosters? I’m too lazy to dig into it but I’d think probably not.
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Yeah that side of the ball is humming along pretty good. Almost reload status, which is absolutely wonderful. That's coaching but it is also character and leadership like Brandon is showing.
 
4thngoal said:
I seen somewhere Phil said he is not opposed to giving some pt to freshmen lb's.
I have paid a lot more attention to recruiting than I ever have and it looks like we could have a really good defense not just this year, but in the future as well. We have to get some meat in the NT spot. I know leverage and all that, but we need a few 310 pounders with a mean streak.
Basically if we get some wr production, winning the big is an obtainable goal.
Click to expand...
This is basically where I'm at, though I'm not convinced Brian can do with offense what Phil has done with defense. If he can this team will be at least good, and the next will be great.

tksirius said:
The defense will be pretty good considering they lose 3 starting linebackers & Jackson due to Phil, but I really wouldn't expect anything to get hyped over, especially early in the season.
Click to expand...

Young linebackers could cause trouble for sure, but I don't think it will be like the struggles the DBs not named Josh Jackson had last year. If Brandon plays as well or better than he did before his injuries (And they were serious, it's not a given, but I'm excited by his optimism) I think the DBs will see an overall improvement next year, and it might be a stark one. So many blown coverages on those guys last year, it was really rough at times. If Snyder had not injured himself again after the Illinois game he may have been enough to turn last year into a 9 or 10 win season. For Iowa great interceptions (Like Snyder's 90 yard pick six in that Illinois game) are what keeps them in close games. I think, just like with the OL, another year is going to do a lot for their consistency. And I'm confident that the DL will be great. Maybe better than 2009. Go watch the 09 Penn State game to see what I'm hoping for. Based on Phil's track record I think the LBs are going to be alright. We really just need one standout and I think the rest of the defense is going to be strong enough that they aren't going to leave us much to fuss about.
 
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Fryowa said:
All 4 signed to NFL squads too. Has Iowa ever had the three outgoing starters and a CB on NFL rosters? I’m too lazy to dig into it but I’d think probably not.
Click to expand...

Looking at the starting lineups and seniors/draft picks for the Stanzi years, plus 2007:

2007
6-6

Harold Dalton* JR DB
Bradley Fletcher JR DB (Drafted)
Charles Godfrey* SR DB
Brett Greenwood* SO DB
Adam Shada* SR DB
Devan Moylan SR DB
Tom Busch* SR LB
A.J. Edds* SO LB
Mike Humpal* SR LB
Mike Klinkenborg* SR LB
Bryon Gattas SR LB
Kenny Iwebema* SR DL
Mitch King* JR DL
Matt Kroul* JR DL
Bryan Mattison* SR DL
Anton Narinskiy JR DL
Daniel Olszta SR DL


2008
9-4

Bradley Fletcher* SR DB (Drafted)
Harold Dalton SR DB
Brett Greenwood* JR DB
Amari Spievey* SO DB
Tyler Sash* SO DB
A.J. Edds* JR LB
Pat Angerer* JR LB
Brett Morse* SO LB
Jeremiha Hunter* SO LB
Jared Oberland SR DL
Anton Narinskiy SR DL
Matt Kroul* SR DL
Mitch King* SR DL
Adrian Clayborn* SO DL
Christian Ballard* SO DL


2009
11-2

Brett Greenwood* JR DB
Shaun Prater* SO DB
Tyler Sash* SO DB
Amari Spievey* JR DB
Brett Morse* JR LB
Pat Angerer* SR LB (Drafted)
A.J. Edds* SR LB (Drafted)
Jeremiha Hunter* JR LB
Christian Ballard* JR DL
Broderick Binns* SO DL
Adrian Clayborn* JR DL
Karl Klug* JR DL


2010
8-5

Brett Greenwood* SR DB
Micah Hyde* SO DB
Shaun Prater* JR DB
Tyler Sash* JR DB (Drafted)
Brett Morse* SR LB
Jeremiha Hunter* SR LB
James Morris* FR LB
Tyler Nielsen* JR LB
Troy Johnson SR LB
Jeff Tarpinian SR LB
Christian Ballard* SR DL (Drafted)
Adrian Clayborn* SR DL (Drafted)
Mike Daniels* JR DL
Karl Klug* SR DL (Drafted)
 
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2017

LE............... 98 * Anthony Nelson 6-7 260 So.
LT ............... 96 ** Matt Nelson 6-8 285 Jr.
RT............... 99 ** Nathan Bazata 6-2 287 Sr.
RE .............. 40 ** Parker Hesse 6-3 257 Jr.
OLB ............ 44 *** Ben Niemann ^ 6-3 233 Sr.
MLB ........... 43 *** Josey Jewell 6-2 236 Sr. (Drafted)
WLB ........... 41 *** Bo Bower 6-1 235 Sr.
LC............... 15 ** Josh Jackson 6-1 192 J (Drafted)
SS............... 19 *** Miles Taylor ^ 5-10 203
FS............... 30 * Jake Gervase 6-1 210 Jr.
RC ................ Manny Rugamba ^ 6-0 185 So.
Other Seniors:
Miles Taylor SR DB
Bo Bower SR LB
Kevin Ward SR LB
Nathan Bazata SR DL
Jake Hulett SR DL
Daniel Gaffey SR DL
Jake Newborg SO DL

2018 Preliminary
LDE 98 Nelson, Anthony RS JR 90 Brincks, Sam SR
LT 95 Lattimore, Cedrick JR 57 Golston, Chauncey RS SO 66 Jacobus, Dalles RS SO
RT 96 Nelson, Matt RS SR 91 Reiff, Brady RS JR 53 Jansen, Garret RS JR
RDE 40 Hesse, Parker RS SR 94 Epenesa, A.J. SO
OLB 49 Niemann, Nick RS SO 35 Wade, Barrington RS SO
MLB 34 Welch, Kristian JR 48 Hockaday, Jack SR
WLB 31 Mends, Aaron RS SR 52 Jones, Amani JR
LCB 8 Hankins, Matt SO 3 Creamer, Trey RS FR 00 Johnson, D.J. FR
SS 27 Hooker, Amani JR 9 Stone, Geno SO 00 Cradieth, Dallas FR
FS 30 Gervase, Jake RS SR 37 Snyder, Brandon RS SR 00 Brents, Julius FR
RCB 11 Ojemudia, Michael RS JR 5 Rugamba, Emmanuel JR 4 Turner, Josh RS FR

So in 2008 we lost Bradley Fletcher (CB) Matt Kroul (DL, undrafted, played six games over 3 seasons as an OL with the Jets) and Mitch King (DE, 1× All-America (2008), 2× First team All-Big Ten (2007, 2008), 1× Freshman All-America (2005), played with a few NFL teams as an undrafted free agent). Lost half the starting DL and a CB, obvious 2009 was a nice reload.

In 2009 the only Defensive players that were seniors were Pat Angerer and A.J. Mends. Both were starting linebackers and both were drafted.

In 2010 We lost 3 senior DL to the draft 2 LB and a Safety.

So 2008-2009 was similar to 2017-2018, and 2010-2011 was worse. The defense had some struggles in 2011.

But when you look at 2007-2008, things are a lot better. Despite losing seven starters, 2008 was a solid year, with Iowa giving up 27 points to Illinois, and holding everyone else under 23. Bradley Fletcher was also drafted, though the site I used didn't have him listed as a starter, and it's too late for me to care to look into that.

So anyway to answer your question, for the seasons I looked at, I think we'd both take losing one DB and all three linebackers to 3 DBs, 3 LBs, and 2 DLs. It would be worth looking into why there are 4 LBs listed as starters though.

2010 Saw a CB, two LBs, and a DL on NFL rosters for sure. Not sure if there were any other undrafted free agents.
 
BrianFerentzForPresident said:
At the very least we’re in position that we can have a rotation if the offense isn’t on the field enough.
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I just wouldn't pencil in Snyder as a starter. I'm not saying that's what you're saying, but in general. I don't think I could understand the logic of starting a kid with 2 knew injuries in a little over a years time, over a young and healthy and promising player. I think that would be a case of SR favoritism. But if Snyder IS better than any other kid we have, then I think we're in trouble.

Hooker is solid and starts the rest of his career.
 
When Snyder first got significant playing time he made a lot of mistakes and he whiffed on a lot of tackles. But as time progressed, he got better, by the end of the '16 season he was solid. That being said, given the state of football right now, having a big safety that likes to blow people up I am not sure that is what you are looking for. Having a mature and experienced safety in this scheme probably trumps that, however.

I am ok with a Hooker/Snyder combo as starters. The light bulb was was coming on for Snyder before the injuries and Hooker has a huge upside.
 
I don’t think Snyder plays the first game (DUI), but what a bonus it will be to have a QB for the defense back there, especially after the departure of the Outlaw.

He may be more valuable back there getting the LBs and DBs into the correct alignments than he is making tackles. But he has proven to be pretty good at making tackles and making picks.

I suppose it comes at the expense of Gervase and Stone, but I think they get some playing time as well.
 
Lumberman said:
I don’t think Snyder plays the first game (DUI), but what a bonus it will be to have a QB for the defense back there, especially after the departure of the Outlaw.

He may be more valuable back there getting the LBs and DBs into the correct alignments than he is making tackles. But he has proven to be pretty good at making tackles and making picks.

I suppose it comes at the expense of Gervase and Stone, but I think they get some playing time as well.
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You can't be making mistakes all the time, but best guy plays. Regardless Snyder is showing excellent leadership and focus, that's good for everyone.
Should be a pretty good battle for pt and that's a good thing.
 
If Snyder truly is 100% going into fall camp.....maybe he's the one they use at the hybrid LB position they've been talking about off and on since spring ball. He could play the outside LB spotand they could move Nick Niemann to WILL. Then put Hooker and Gervase/Stone at the safety spots and I'd be good with that. I think I'd like that lineup better than having Christian Welch in there....
 
I’m a NW Iowa resident and a fan of Snyder, but I say Gervase is the guy. He got thrown to the wolves a couple years ago when Snyder got hurt and rose to the occasion.

Snyder is a guy who makes “splash plays,” but people don’t stop and realize that he misses more tackles than he makes. His tackling style is to fly in horizontal at Mach 3 with his head down and knock guys over with his forearms. As a result of not pursuing and not wrapping guys up he whiffs a ton.

Snyder basically picks a spot he thinks the runner is going to be in at the time of impact and flies in like a missle. That works in high school and JUCO, not in big kid football. The only person who’s really ever made that work was Troy Polamalu and, well...Snyder ain’t that. Gervase has a little bit of linebacker in him in that he will pursue with his eyes and go wrap up and make a tackle.

Snyder needs to realize that you don’t have to kill a guy every play...you miss too much like that. He’s not as good as a Bob Sanders, not even close, and all you need to do in a lot of cases is wrap someone up and slow the play down enough to get LB help finishing it off.

Gervase does play that way and he’s got a hardcore positive attitude too. Snyder seems to let the rhetoric and faith talk get in the way. Let your playing do the talking, and let staying out of trouble be what restores your reputation, not apologies.
 
Fryowa said:
All 4 signed to NFL squads too. Has Iowa ever had the three outgoing starters and a CB on NFL rosters? I’m too lazy to dig into it but I’d think probably not.
Click to expand...

I would guess the 2013 Iowa team would be the obvious place to start looking.

3 starting senior LB's - Morris, Hitchens and Kirksey.

Plus senior DB's BJ Lowery and Tanner Miller.

Pretty sure all 5 seniors were signed to NFL squads, although not sure how many actually played.

Plus Iowa had a freshman DB starting by the name of Desmond King.
 
One thing to keep in mind is that they very well may get Brandon, Geno & Amani all out there at the same time within some packages. They mentioned wanting to use a safety as a hybrid linebacker in passing situations, right? Amani or Brandon would be a perfect option there, IMO.
 
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