Breaking Down Hawkeyes’ Latest Depth Chart
- Thread starter RobHowe
- Start date
Nothing too major as far as the shuffling goes. The Oline shuffling is expected and just about normal for Iowa. That said I have a feeling that's not only the 5 that'll lineup week 1 but left to right how they will too. Too bad about Spencer Williams and Toks... What's the story with Nate Wieland? Leistikow on Hawk Central is writing that he's not on the roster now too. That one surprises me but he didn't have any reason for his not being on the roster.
WinOneThisCentury
Well-Known Member
I think Wirfs will end up at left tackle for the rest of his career. I rewatched the BTN game with BC and Wirfs looked pretty damn good at left tackle. He's really nimble for a guy that big. Colbert is the wild card at LB. He's a 234 pound converted safety who has been used to guarding people in space...and brings some serious athleticism. If he gets the system / assignments down...I think it will be hard to keep him off the field.
NikeHawk21
Well-Known Member
Seems to me we are really thin at:
-WR
-OL (especially inside)
-Interior DL
-LB
Can’t afford to have many injuries at those spots this year.
-WR
-OL (especially inside)
-Interior DL
-LB
Can’t afford to have many injuries at those spots this year.
MoseSchrute
Well-Known Member
For some reason I was thinking Mansell was a sophomore.
#1DieHardHawk
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I agree here. Wieland is a surprise. I really felt that he fit the Hawkeye mold, and would be another under-the-radar Iowa success story. It would be interesting to know the story there.
MikeyLikesIowa
Well-Known Member
I noticed that too. He redshirted last year, so I think that makes him a redshirt sophomore.
For sure. I thought with how up in the air our LB position is that he'd have as good a shot as any to work his way in the lineup if not alittle this yr maybe the next. Now didn't he have smaller school offers at QB? Maybe that's an itch he wants to scratch? I'll be curious to know he seemed like a talented home town kid that'd have been fun to root for.
AreWeThereYet
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure I would describe this lineup as particularly thin compared to other years.
OL - There is some question about how good the interior starters are going to be. This is Keegan Render's first year at center. Just how good will he be in that role. Banwart seems to be the best guard available with Levi Paulson dinged up this spring. Banwart is also probably the #2 center if Render goes down. Ross Reynolds has gradually made his way into a starter position. On the outside the starting tackles are obviously talented, but there are questions after that. Levi Paulson would ordinarily be the next man in at offensive guard or tackle but is dinged up. Is Kallenberger ready?
DL - On the inside. Hopefully Matt Nelson is fully recovered. Lattimore needs to step it up a notch. After that the backup DT's are on the smallish side Reiff, Golston, Jacobus. Not worried so much about defensive end.
LB - As we know three starters are gone from last year and Mends is out. Jones and Neimann seem to be fairly solid bets, with the third probably being Welsh. After that Hockaday, Wade, or Creamer. The possibility of using a safety at linebacker has also been discussed.
WR - Easley is dependable. After that there are a bunch of possibilities but no one is established, Smith and Groeneweg vying for the outside receiver. Rounding it out would be Smith-Marsette and Cooper, not including true freshman.
This is still a fairly young team, but I wouldn't say it is overly thin. I would say over-all better than average when compared to past depth.
Creamer is a 190 lb 2nd string corner atm. Maybe he'll be in on some nickel/dime packages. He's not a LB.
Lattimore I think will make a big step this year and will help us a ton. He reminds me of Christian Ballard a little. If he can be half that good and versatile...
With our TEs being as deep as they are (Beyer will get some run this year too) I think we won't need our WRs to be totally dominant. If Smith and Smith-Marsette can improve we have a nice mix of WR body types with Easley and Groeneweg being the slot guys.
AreWeThereYet
Well-Known Member
I got myself in the wrong row of the depth chart.
No problemo. After I wrote what I did I kinda wondered if that may have been what ya did.
AreWeThereYet
Well-Known Member
Groeneweg is listed at split out behind Smith. I think he is flexible enough to play either receiver spot, but I think his main spot right now is to back up Smith on the outside.
I think that Groenweg kid is even smaller than Easley. I would imagine he'd be of better use in the slot. But I'm sure they'll all be shuffled in and lined up all over just depending on the play call. I just want to see some more competent play from the position as a whole. Just the threat of a Smith-Marsette taking the top off the D or Brandon Smith winning back shoulder jump balls in the end zone would really be a boost to this offense. It'd really help the running game which is what we want to always establish obviously..
AreWeThereYet
Well-Known Member
Chauncey Golston has been getting some good comments from coaches and players. With Reiff suspended for the first game, I would look for Golston in the rotation at defensive tackle.
AreWeThereYet
Well-Known Member
Wirfs will likely serve at least a one game suspension. If Levi Paulsen were 100% healthy, I would say he would be the most likely candidate for right tackle. As things are, it looks like some combination of Ferguson and Kallenberger.
I do like the concept of having the next best guy being able to fill in at any spot. Plus it ought to give Kallen berger a chance to get his feet wet and show us what he can do.
ISU's defensive strength is the secondary, not their DL. They hardly breathed on Stanley last year, and I see no reason to think they'll be markedly better this season.
Plus Paulsen filled in for Jackson on that side during the Pinstripe Bowl and played well, so we certainly have options.
