DE Log Jam

[Hawkfnntn]

I also schooled him. He got a double dose of schooling.


He weighs 270. You think ballooning up from 270 to 300 is hard for a 6-5 guy?

I do agree that he should stay at DE if possible.

Did you read what I wrote? There's no guarantee he'd naturally balloon up to 300ish in time. I bet he could if he tried. I'm pretty sure he could if he wanted to. He's got the frame for it. But that doesn't mean he wants to. He might want to just maintain right where he is or maybe get to 280ish and call that good. Whens the last time we had a DE that could just dominate the line? Clayborn as good as he was disappeared for stretches of time. I see AJ as wanting to be as close to a JJ Watt clone as he can get. I don't think he got up to 300 till late in his college career if not the pros. He played in the 270s in college when he was most dominant if I remember right. Now don't get me wrong Watt is a freak. He's just a physical athletic freak in a lot of ways and AJ isn't close to that yet. I just think AJ wants to play similarly to him and that's where the bar is set.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

I'd like to see Epenesa at DE, but he came in at 6-5, 270? He'll have to stay on the Tommy Lasorda slim fast plan to stay at that weight. AJ will bat an eye and be 300 lbs. His future is at DT...and he will be amazing. You often see power at that position, but AJ's athleticism combined with his superior power will make him a gap plugger and sack threat on every snap.

Then having Golston, Simon, Waggoner coming off the edges? Could be something special.

I've heard that M. Nelson (whichever Nelson is #96) is sliding inside. I also heard that AJ could start off inside (get both DT and DE resp), also. It'd be tough to sit Hesse or A. Nelson to get reps for AJ and Gholston. It would be less hard to get AJ some reps inside and allow Gholston more reps at DE. I also think AJ could take a huge leap forward for next season by playing inside and learning hand-fighting and how to deal with leverage. Imaging AJ having the hand-fighting skills of a DT and the burst and bend of a DE? WOW! To me, it just makes sense.

 

[thefizz]

Outstanding depth on D-line (I figure excess DEs will be pulled inside if needed)

TE - amazing depth

QB - I know Boyle and Cook will never play QB, but imo they would produce if called upon. Add those names to Stanley; Weigers; Peyton Manziel. At the minimum we have adequate game managers.

Defensive backfield - because of the stellar haul last Feb. I think Iowa sits well.

LB - Mends can't even make the 2 deeps. Either he is being punished for something or we have depth here.

O-line. Well they did win an award last year and the two incoming freshmen were both All-Americans.

WR - problem area. Will the transfers help? We'll find out.

Fullback - a position of strength nearly every year. 2017 seems no different.

Running Back - even without DMX, nice depth. But is AIRBHG watching?

Kickers - Duncan is an ace. Have the rest of them improved since January?

Punter - Question mark.

Returners - no Tim Dwight here but my gut says someone will surprise us in the fall.

Iowa has the horses. It's the jockeys who worry me.

TE: I don't think we have amazing depth at TE. We have some young guys that have potential, but I'm not ready to say we definitively have amazing depth.

OL: The OL should be a strength, but this unit wasn't exactly stellar at pass blocking. If they don't improve in this area...

QB: ... adequate will be the best we can expect out of the QB's. The upside here to me is that one of these guys performs at a 2008 Ricky Stanzi type of level. Good enough to make a few plays, but isn't quite consistent enough to put the entire offense on. And before we wax poetic about 2008 Stanzi, he completed less than 60% of his throws and only threw more than 25 times once in 2008. He was exactly what the Hawks needed him to be without being spectacular. That's what our highest realistic expectation should be in this area for 2017.

LB: Mends is athletic. That's all we know. Maybe he gets himself in really bad positions. Maybe he isn't a sure tackler. Maybe he is even worse in coverage than the other LB's. Him not being on the 2 deeps could be more of a reflection of Mends than the quality of players on our 2 deeps at LB. If Jewell or Nieman get hurt, we would see a large drop off between them and the next guy in.

 

[thefizz]

If you told me Iowa was guaranteed to have a DE logjam every season, I'd do a ceremonial naked man dance around 8 burning scarecrows with various Big 10 QB's faces on them in my back yard at the end of every August. I'd be more than happy for the Hawkeyes to have this "problem"

 

[IndianaHawk]

Hope your wrong about AJ... The kid is athletic and explosive. I think he's also got the NFL on his mind. If you want to get drafted higher and make the most moola you play DE... He's said he wants to stay there coming in. There's no guarantee he'd naturally balloon up to 300ish in time. I bet he could if he tried. But the dude wouldn't be nearly as athletic or fast as he is so I look for him to stay at DE and force the coaches to make a decision in regards to how much you play him.. If he's better than Hesse (he's bigger faster stronger day 1 but better is still subjective)then I'd like to see him out there more.

Sounds like his speed and strength are his greatest assets. Why would he risk that by putting on unnecessary weight?

 

[IndianaHawk]

If you told me Iowa was guaranteed to have a DE logjam every season, I'd do a ceremonial naked man dance around 8 burning scarecrows with various Big 10 QB's faces on them in my back yard at the end of every August. I'd be more than happy for the Hawkeyes to have this "problem"

That isn't something we can unsee.

 

[Joshbrown]

Sounds like his speed and strength are his greatest assets. Why would he risk that by putting on unnecessary weight?

I dare you to repeat this sentiment regarding Wadley/KF.

I dare you.

 

[IndianaHawk]

I dare you to repeat this sentiment regarding Wadley/KF.

I dare you.

Does Wadley weight 270?

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Apparently NDSU also has better horses . . . fewer by 20 . . . but better.

BTW, KIrk does have a winning record against Michigan. Remember the horse named Rudock we cast off and they gobbled up to lead them to a Citrus bowl victory?

I'll say it again, IOWA HAS THE HORSES TO BEAT EVERY TEAM NOT IN THE BLUE BLOOD CATEGORY.

SO WHY THE **** DO WE KEEP LOSING TO TEAMS WITH LESS TALENTED HORSES????

Crappy jockeys . . . well, one crappy jockey, who plays not to lose rather than playing to win.

The jockey reference is old. Beating-a-dead-horse old.

 

[CP87]

Hope your wrong about AJ... The kid is athletic and explosive. I think he's also got the NFL on his mind. If you want to get drafted higher and make the most moola you play DE... He's said he wants to stay there coming in. There's no guarantee he'd naturally balloon up to 300ish in time. I bet he could if he tried. But the dude wouldn't be nearly as athletic or fast as he is so I look for him to stay at DE and force the coaches to make a decision in regards to how much you play him.. If he's better than Hesse (he's bigger faster stronger day 1 but better is still subjective)then I'd like to see him out there more.

Regarding the bolded portion of the quote, I am not necessarily sure if that is true. According to this analysis (with kind of a weird way of looking at things), interior DL is the 2nd most valued position in the NFL draft (just behind CB). And if we compare the 2017 cap hit numbers between DE and DT, they come out pretty similar (top 5 DE average $15.16 mil, top 5 DT average $15.15 mil; top 20 DE average $10.55 mil, top 20 DT average $10.26 mil).

A dominant interior DT, one who can command double-teams and still wreak havoc, is almost impossible to game-plan against. For the extreme example, see college Ndamukong Suh. In the name of getting the best players on the field, I could definitely see him playing some DT early on.

 

[CP87]

Another interesting tidbit: the #9 highest paid DE (according to 2017 cap hit) is Mike Daniels, who played DT at Iowa.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Regarding the bolded portion of the quote, I am not necessarily sure if that is true. According to this analysis (with kind of a weird way of looking at things), interior DL is the 2nd most valued position in the NFL draft (just behind CB). And if we compare the 2017 cap hit numbers between DE and DT, they come out pretty similar (top 5 DE average $15.16 mil, top 5 DT average $15.15 mil; top 20 DE average $10.55 mil, top 20 DT average $10.26 mil).

A dominant interior DT, one who can command double-teams and still wreak havoc, is almost impossible to game-plan against. For the extreme example, see college Ndamukong Suh. In the name of getting the best players on the field, I could definitely see him playing some DT early on.

Interesting thanks for doing that homework I didn't think that those numbers would have been that close.

 

[taffaej]

We have a log jam at DE: Hesse, M. Nelson (JR), A. Nelson (SO) Romeo McKnight, Brandon Simon, Chauncey Golston, Austin Schulte (FR) AJ Epenesa, Jack Kallenberger (TR FR). Prime contenders Hesse, A. Nelson, M. Nelson, Simon, Golston, and Epenesa will all be around for the next two years. Did we over-recruit DE? Will Kirk leave talent on the bench in favor of the "blue collar, hard-working" guy?

They will move some of these guys inside once they bulk up. The good captain Kirk likes the players that have a little more athletic abilities and typically you are going to find big guys like that at DE and TE. I happen to like doing this to some extent but I don't want to make it a habit. Hey are you just noticing this? It's been going on for 18 years now.