Future at defensive end IF Raymon leaves

[HawkeyeWalker]

Players will emerge, much like Mike Daniels came from nowhere last year. We have been spoiled with our D lines in recent years. Depth is an issue, it has been and issue for years.....in EVERY position. We are Iowa...we will never be 2-3 deep at any position. You don't come to Iowa as a highly sought after recruit to be a backup.....you go to FL, USC, TX, OK, AL, maybe even OSU or MI....but no Iowa.

We will be fine. 8-4 / 9-3 (win the ones we should, be in every game, get one upset (hopefully NE !)

booyaa.

Go Hawks.

 

[OUTofTOWNHAWK]

Awww I just got hit in the head with a piece of sky.

 

[cmhawks99]

Players will emerge, much like Mike Daniels came from nowhere last year. We have been spoiled with our D lines in recent years. Depth is an issue, it has been and issue for years.....in EVERY position. We are Iowa...we will never be 2-3 deep at any position. You don't come to Iowa as a highly sought after recruit to be a backup.....you go to FL, USC, TX, OK, AL, maybe even OSU or MI....but no Iowa.

We will be fine. 8-4 / 9-3 (win the ones we should, be in every game, get one upset (hopefully NE !)

booyaa.

Go Hawks.

Although I get what you are saying, I might remind you Iowa has 44 kids on camp rosters, placing them 7th in the country. So in reality our depth or lack thereof is no worse and probably better than most. Every team, including tOSU or USC or Florida have trouble spots….

We are no different....and then sometimes our trouble spots end up being strengths and our strengths end up being weaknesses….that’s the way the world rolls.

Chad

 

[zhawkzrule]

Honestly if you look back..........we have lost D-linemen, by the handful since way early on. I can't believe the coaches are terribly surprised. Disappointed for sure, but not surprised.

I went back to 2002 recruiting class and right off the bat, Steve Burch, Warren McDuffie, Eric Zilisch, Larry Thomas, Wesley Thibeaux……

In 2003 it was Alex Wilcox, George Eshareturi and Richard Kittrell…Iwebema and Mattiosn were in that class

In 2004 it was…..Ted Bentler, Lucas Cox, Grant McCracke, Ettore Ewen….King and Kroul were of course in that class….

The point being, this isn’t new, it will continue to happen and yet we have still produced quite a tradition….

Chad

I completely agree with this, not only on DL but all positions in general, players come and go, some we'd prefer not to see leave but overall the theme of "Next Man In" comes into play. I think overall the coaches have done an pretty darn good job of finding players who want to be here, are willing to put in the work and fill in those positions and the past performance has more than proved that we consistently develop those players. Granted the depth might not look like its there now, but another year in the program and weight room and season to get some experience for those younger players will show its benefits in the future.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

Players will emerge, much like Mike Daniels came from nowhere last year. We have been spoiled with our D lines in recent years. Depth is an issue, it has been and issue for years.....in EVERY position. We are Iowa...we will never be 2-3 deep at any position. You don't come to Iowa as a highly sought after recruit to be a backup.....you go to FL, USC, TX, OK, AL, maybe even OSU or MI....but no Iowa.

We will be fine. 8-4 / 9-3 (win the ones we should, be in every game, get one upset (hopefully NE !)

booyaa.

Go Hawks.

The thing is that Mike Daniels DIDN'T come from nowhere. He saw action spelling King back in '08. The fact that he got those early reps demonstrates that the coaches had a lot of trust in him ... even when he was less experienced and was less physically developed. He then sat a bit more in the background in '09 ... however, there was still plenty of buzz surrounding him. As it was, he still continued to see positional reps then. The fact that Daniels emerged in '10 was absolutely no surprise to me or anybody else who's freaky enough to listen closely for buzz coming out of the program.

The good news is that Alvis has garnered serious buzz ... and guys like Gaglione and Hardy are, at least now, starting to show up more on the radar. Thus, I agree with those who assert that our situation isn't terribly dire. However, there is still a difference from a DL being good and being great. From projecting Raymon's measureables and going off of his tape ... I projected him as a guy who could really come in for us in '12, in a situational capacity, and help give the DL a spark. That sort of impact is still significant. Without the sparks provided by Klug and Binns in '08 ... Iowa doesn't have nearly as good of a season. In particular, without Klug's play in '08, Iowa doesn't beat Penn State ... and that was a MAGICAL game!

Anyhow, the good news is that this year will give us an opportunity to see if ANY of the younger guys end up emerging. If so ... they'll help provide the scaffold for next years unit.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

Honestly if you look back..........we have lost D-linemen, by the handful since way early on. I can't believe the coaches are terribly surprised. Disappointed for sure, but not surprised.

I went back to 2002 recruiting class and right off the bat, Steve Burch, Warren McDuffie, Eric Zilisch, Larry Thomas, Wesley Thibeaux……

In 2003 it was Alex Wilcox, George Eshareturi and Richard Kittrell…Iwebema and Mattiosn were in that class

In 2004 it was…..Ted Bentler, Lucas Cox, Grant McCracke, Ettore Ewen….King and Kroul were of course in that class….

The point being, this isn’t new, it will continue to happen and yet we have still produced quite a tradition….

Chad

During those same years, Iowa also got hit more than a little bit by the injury bug on the OL.

When you combind our "issues" on BOTH the OL and the DL through those years ... the immediate consequence were a string of disappointing seasons going from 2005 to 2007. I don't think that any of us want to go through that again.

 

[cmhawks99]

During those same years, Iowa also got hit more than a little bit by the injury bug on the OL.

When you combind our "issues" on BOTH the OL and the DL through those years ... the immediate consequence were a string of disappointing seasons going from 2005 to 2007. I don't think that any of us want to go through that again.

Quite true and I certainly thought of that before I put it in print (being a professional debater and all…LOL) but I went that far back to show that it has been a common theme throughout the last 10 years and even so we always field a salty D…..

Incidentally Homer, I think you know I enjoy what you have to say and I’m typically with you 100% and I’m not against you here…..it’s just that I refuse to be concerned about a kid who has yet to play for us leaving. Especially after I’ve watched this happen over and over on multiple teams. We will still field a good defense this year, next year and the year after….God willing of course…..

Something else of note…..I’m not even concerned yet about next year, I still think THIS year has BCS capabilities. I have NEVER been a “next” year guy. It is so unBiblical and in truth, at least to my memory, I do not remember a “target” year turning out big for Iowa. So I have never understood people saying….”I think next year or 2013 or, or….could be a great year”….all our great years seem to be years like this.

Just my 3 n a half cent’s…

Chad