Hooker going Pro

[NikeHawk21]

You’ve downplayed the Star position in this thread as one that can just be filled by another DB when that’s not the case. The Iowa coaches have even talked about having to change their recruiting to find athletes to play that position. It’s not just a nickel back as you said. It’s a S-LB hybrid. Hooker was so good at it because he not only because he was a S-LB with excellent coverage skills. He’s very unique. I don’t think you get that.

Let me clarify, the star position itself is very unique and difficult. You’d be hard pressed to find someone to be able to play it as well as Hooker that I don’t dispute.

With that said, the only reason we ever even saw Hooker at the Star was due to injuries to the linebacking core (I know coaches said it was a long time coming hard to believe that), plus as I said earlier KF knew Stone was one of our top 11 on defense so the move made sense with our personnel this year.

So I’m not as concerned I guess as you about the “Star” which became some sort of a sensation among Iowa fans this year. We can play 4-3 when the offense shows us a more traditional look, which is why I mentioned we have some good looking linebackers coming up, including Colbert who I believe was a converted DB to begin with. If an offense moves to a more spread look, we will bring out an extra DB. Say it’s OJ at star then we probably give up a bit in coverage ability, say it’s DJ Johnson then we probably give some up in tackling ability.

We aren’t going to find a star as good as Hooker next year, but you’re making it seem like Hooker at the Star was the whole reason the defense was that good this year, and that’s just not true. The defense quite honestly looked just as good early in the year before we employed the star as it did after. The defense as most do went with the Dline as they likely will next year.

Next years team will go as far as Stanley and the offense can take them. Hooker was an awesome player and I wish we could have him for another year, but Phil will adjust accordingly.

 

[ThunderHawk]

 

[ThunderHawk]

You’ve downplayed the Star position in this thread as one that can just be filled by another DB when that’s not the case. The Iowa coaches have even talked about having to change their recruiting to find athletes to play that position. It’s not just a nickel back as you said. It’s a S-LB hybrid. Hooker was so good at it because he not only because he was a S-LB with excellent coverage skills. He’s very unique. I don’t think you get that.

THIS.

He is (was) a huge disrupter on defense. He's a safety who could effortlessly slide into a linebacker scheme. He won't be easily or adequately replaced.

 

[RobHowe]

[QUOTE="NikeHawk21, post: 1798161, member: 80935"So I’m not as concerned I guess as you about the “Star” which became some sort of a sensation among Iowa fans this year.[/QUOTE]

And I’m the condescending one? You try to come across as knowledgeable but you’re not. You’re talking in circles.

Listen, you came at me when all I wrote was that Hooker would be a HUGE loss with some crap about nobody said he wasn’t. If you come at me, I’m coming back, especially when you don’t know what you’re talking about and talk in circles.

Probably best if you keep from commenting on my posts. I’ll do the same when it comes to your posts.

BTW, why didn’t Daviyon Nixon play in the bowl? I’m still trying to solve that conspiracy.

 

[pekurhawk]

Good for Amani. Hate to see him go, but he’s as skilled as any safety I’ve seen at Iowa (since Bob Commings era). Not the big hitter that Bob Sanders was, but an uncanny tackling ability AND great ball skills. I wish him health and longevity in the league. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t thrive. This one hurts. Next man in.

Ouch, this one hurts , next man in, somebody's gonna need a trainer.

 

[Adam]

I would argue that T.J. would be a bigger loss, although he will likely declare as well.

Hooker was amazing, but we have a lot of guys in the secondary that can help us absorb his loss.

At least we have a 4 star TE freshman with a B1G ready frame. I don't think we have any safeties right now that are ready to take Hookers spot.

I imagine Parker will work magic on at least 1 of the secondary players and feature them as next year's star. I just don't have a clue who it will be. Best guess is Brents. He has the potential to play all 4 DB spots.

1 thing I am sure of is that we will find a TE that can catch and be Stanley's saftey blanket. Losing Fant and Hock in the same year blows hard, but I fully believe now that Brian is a TE whisperer. Every single TE that he has coached has been next level great. Hernandez, Gronk, Kittle, Fant and Hockenson. I have faith in the streak.

 

[hawkfan2679]

So I’m not as concerned I guess as you about the “Star” which became some sort of a sensation among Iowa fans this year.

And I’m the condescending one? You try to come across as knowledgeable but you’re not. You’re talking in circles.

Listen, you came at me when all I wrote was that Hooker would be a HUGE loss with some crap about nobody said he wasn’t. If you come at me, I’m coming back, especially when you don’t know what you’re talking about and talk in circles.

Probably best if you keep from commenting on my posts. I’ll do the same when it comes to your posts.

BTW, why didn’t Daviyon Nixon play in the bowl? I’m still trying to solve that conspiracy.

Is there some sort of history here that carried into this thread? This seems to be a little defensive...this was the substance of the "come at you" post:

No question, nobody is arguing otherwise. Anytime Iowa loses a stud early to the NFL it’s a huge loss. With that said I do like the young talent we have in the secondary.

 

[Adam]

Let me clarify, the star position itself is very unique and difficult. You’d be hard pressed to find someone to be able to play it as well as Hooker that I don’t dispute.

With that said, the only reason we ever even saw Hooker at the Star was due to injuries to the linebacking core (I know coaches said it was a long time coming hard to believe that), plus as I said earlier KF knew Stone was one of our top 11 on defense so the move made sense with our personnel this year.

So I’m not as concerned I guess as you about the “Star” which became some sort of a sensation among Iowa fans this year. We can play 4-3 when the offense shows us a more traditional look, which is why I mentioned we have some good looking linebackers coming up, including Colbert who I believe was a converted DB to begin with. If an offense moves to a more spread look, we will bring out an extra DB. Say it’s OJ at star then we probably give up a bit in coverage ability, say it’s DJ Johnson then we probably give some up in tackling ability.

We aren’t going to find a star as good as Hooker next year, but you’re making it seem like Hooker at the Star was the whole reason the defense was that good this year, and that’s just not true. The defense quite honestly looked just as good early in the year before we employed the star as it did after. The defense as most do went with the Dline as they likely will next year.

Next years team will go as far as Stanley and the offense can take them. Hooker was an awesome player and I wish we could have him for another year, but Phil will adjust accordingly.

Hooker is not exclusively why the defense is good and will not destroy the defense by leaving, but he would have been possibly the biggest catalyst for a top 10 defense next year. Without him my estimation moves down to around the 25 range. Will that be usual Iowa good? Sure thing, but will it be Iowa elite? Nope.

Here's to hoping I'm wrong.

 

[RobHowe]

Is there some sort of history here that carried into this thread? This seems to be a little defensive...this was the substance of the "come at you" post:

I don’t think NileHawk and I play well together. It happens. Time to move on. We can both stay out of each other’s lane.

 

[HawkeyeWalker]

Hooker leaving is a HUGE loss. HUGE.

He was the one I wanted to stay the most. His versatility is tough to duplicate. Almost never out of position, incredible tackling skills, incredibly fast for his size.... and the mental aspect...tough to quantify but he sure seemed elite.

He appeared almost unblockable in the bowl game.

Between he and Hesse they knew every position on the defense....losing both will be felt

Basically all of the reasons he very well could be an impact in the NFL year one.

Like Jackson before him, it felt like he emerged very quickly....hopefully there are more of those stories coming...

 

[Adam]

He was the one I wanted to stay the most. His versatility is tough to duplicate. Almost never out of position, incredible tackling skills, incredibly fast for his size.... and the mental aspect...tough to quantify but he sure seemed elite.

Between he and Hesse they knew every position on the defense....losing both will be felt

Basically all of the reasons he very well could be an impact in the NFL year one.

Like Jackson before him, it felt like he emerged very quickly....hopefully there are more of those stories coming...

Phil Parker is a professional magician. Creating a secondary sensation every season for as long as I can remember with the talent pool at Iowa is literally pulling a rabbit out of a hat for a living.

 

[HawkeyeWalker]

Agreed. We don't recruit at the same level as other teams that are losing this many guys early.

This is what I worry about. Losing potentially 4-5 NFL level talents in one year is tough, more so for a program that relies on development.

In a new world where 1 really good Junior year can put you on NFL scout radar...and you have a program that by all accounts has success building players but taking 2-3 years to do it.... the math is not favorable.

Talent isn't the issue...DEPTH of talent is what separates the perennial top 10 from the occasional top 20...

 

[HawkeyeWalker]

Phil Parker is a professional magician. Creating a secondary sensation every season for as long as I can remember with the talent pool at Iowa is literally pulling a rabbit out of a hat for a living.

I really like Phil. I hope you're right and there is evidence that more studs are on the depth chart. But I do think Hooker was special. Maybe not generational, but was silently one of the more important defensive players in KFs tenure.

The good thing is before the last 2 seasons...we didn't know who Hooker was....maybe theres there's another...

 

[smitharooney]

Hey it could be worse. AJ is the best pro prospect on the team. If it was allowed, he’d be gone too.

It’s just the reality of the new landscape in football. Good SR players (who were very productive prior to their SR year) will be a luxury going forward.

AJ is two years out of high school. It’s allowed

 

[NikeHawk21]

[QUOTE="NikeHawk21, post: 1798161, member: 80935"So I’m not as concerned I guess as you about the “Star” which became some sort of a sensation among Iowa fans this year.

And I’m the condescending one? You try to come across as knowledgeable but you’re not. You’re talking in circles.

Listen, you came at me when all I wrote was that Hooker would be a HUGE loss with some crap about nobody said he wasn’t. If you come at me, I’m coming back, especially when you don’t know what you’re talking about and talk in circles.

Probably best if you keep from commenting on my posts. I’ll do the same when it comes to your posts.

BTW, why didn’t Daviyon Nixon play in the bowl? I’m still trying to solve that conspiracy.[/QUOTE]

For the record I wasn’t coming at you with that original comment. I was more so trying to clarify my post that I’m not trying to downplay how good Hooker is, just that I think we have some guys who look promising in the secondary. I shouldn’t have spoke for everyone.

The other posts were my attempt to explain that I don’t feel the 4-2-5 package with a Star is necessarily essential to our defenses success. Maybe I was talking in circles but I attempted to explain my thoughts as best I could in text. I think these coaches are good enough at what they do to adjust. For instance a couple of years ago we employed a “raider” package on passing downs with nobody with there hands on the ground... it didn’t really work, they scrapped it. This year we just put our best pass rushers (4 DEs) out there in passing downs and it was flat out awesome. I have faith in our defensive coaches to adjust to our rosters personnel. If we don’t have anyone who can handle the Star, maybe they’ll play more 4-3 and then employ a true nickel in passing situations. I definitely feel better about our Linebacker athleticism than I have in prior years.

In regards to the Nixon thing maybe I took it to far. You don’t like when people question the media, and rightfully so. The whole situation just didn’t necessarily add up to me.

Being that I’m not an insider I enjoy your responses to my questions, but if I burned that bridge with my Nixon comments than I guess so be it. I still enjoy coming to this site for Hawkeye news.

 

[Xerxes]

AJ is two years out of high school. It’s allowed

What’s allowed?

 

[NikeHawk21]

AJ is two years out of high school. It’s allowed

Have to be three years removed from HS. Redshirt sophomores can declare (T.J.) but true sophomores (AJE) cannot.

 

[tweeterhawk]

Hooker leaving is a HUGE loss. HUGE.

Agreed. OTOH, hopefully it sends a signal to recruits that Iowa has the ability to put more than linemen in the NFL.

 

[Stanzi]

I wish Hockenson and Nelson would announce what they plan to do. I just want to know. I assume Hockenson will leave, but I definitely think it would behoove Nelson to stay another year.

 

[smitharooney]

Have to be three years removed from HS. Redshirt sophomores can declare (T.J.) but true sophomores (AJE) cannot.

I stand corrected