Howe: Spencer Petras Growing Along with Hawkeyes

Worth remembering that Iowa is the 5th youngest team in P5 this year when considering the eligibility remaining among their 2-deep. I am going to stray from the thread topic below, but eventually bring it back around...

They will lose a lot on the D-line for the 3rd straight year (Schulte, Gholston, Heflin, Nixon, and Van Valkenburg could all return with the free year of eligibility this season, but all but Nixon will have used up their "normal" eligibility, and Nixon will be 4 years removed from HS). They could potentially lose their top 5 in the rotation. That eventually has to matter, but everyone thought it would matter this year, and they continue to produce. I don't see another freak ala AJE or Nixon coming along, but who knows what some of the young guys will become.

LBs should be stacked. Niemann will likely have some NFL opportunities, but studs like Campbell, Benson, Jacobs, and Higgs remain. And if Colbert comes back, we are talking an embarrassment of riches (I would say Campbell switches to permanent edge-defender in that scenario, giving that unit the freak they will likely lose with Nixon's departure).

Hankins has been awesome this year; no one throws at him, and he will be another in the long-line of Phil Parker-coached all-B1G defensive backs (2014 was last year we didn't have an all-B1G DB). But Brents and Roberts are talented, and we have seen over and over the "next man in" mentality work in the defensive backfield.

OL will lose AJ, another likely all-B1G selection and early draft choice. They will likely lose Banwart (who has been really good) unless he decides to return for a 6th year to boost NFL stock, but they have talent with experience at that position (Schott, Ince, Britt, and even true freshman Richman). Kallenberger is still just a RS Jr (he came in with Wirfs), and Plumb is a RS Soph. Cronk could return for a 6th year to prove his health to NFL teams, and Nick Dejong is just a RS Fr. If Linderbaum leaves early (definite possibility), the line will take a step back. But they will be solid for the foreseeable future (three 4-star recruits in 2021 recruiting class).

RB loses Sargent, but will continue to be a strength with Goodson and hopefully IKM back (how awesome would it be to see IKM light it up next year after being so patient?). Pottebaum is just a soph, as is his backup. The Williamses (both true fresh) are interesting. Curious if Arland Bruce gets a shot at RB next year.

TEs will probably lose Beyer (unless he returns for 6th year), but Laporta and a host of young talent (Miamen, Lachey, Yelverton) return.

WR will likely lose ISM and Smith, but return production in Tracy and Ragaini, as well as potential explosiveness in Charlie Jones. Young guys like Hutson and Vines are interesting, and they are bringing in a 4-star WR in Keegan Johnson (along with Brecht and potentially Bruce if he is not at RB).

So much will fall on QB play going forward. If QB is a net-neutral, this is a really good team. If QB is a net-positive, this is a great team. If QB is a net-negative, this team will be one of the most frustrating underperformers of the KF era.

This is going to be a very impactful decision by coaches this coming offseason, but an extremely difficult one. Petras is loved by his teammates, but Hogan has endeared himself to his recruiting class, and who is to say Padilla isn't the best of the bunch. It will be an interesting offseason.

But before any of that, let's give Bucky the thrashing they deserve for bullying us for the past decade. Time to right the order in the upper-midwest.
At the end of the day a second or third place finish in the West, year after year after year.

The Iowa fan base is among some of the best in all of college sports and deserves better.

If this continues for much longer without a divisional title then this falls into a category of unethical and immoral behavior.
 
Worth remembering that Iowa is the 5th youngest team in P5 this year when considering the eligibility remaining among their 2-deep. I am going to stray from the thread topic below, but eventually bring it back around...

They will lose a lot on the D-line for the 3rd straight year (Schulte, Gholston, Heflin, Nixon, and Van Valkenburg could all return with the free year of eligibility this season, but all but Nixon will have used up their "normal" eligibility, and Nixon will be 4 years removed from HS). They could potentially lose their top 5 in the rotation. That eventually has to matter, but everyone thought it would matter this year, and they continue to produce. I don't see another freak ala AJE or Nixon coming along, but who knows what some of the young guys will become.

LBs should be stacked. Niemann will likely have some NFL opportunities, but studs like Campbell, Benson, Jacobs, and Higgs remain. And if Colbert comes back, we are talking an embarrassment of riches (I would say Campbell switches to permanent edge-defender in that scenario, giving that unit the freak they will likely lose with Nixon's departure).

Hankins has been awesome this year; no one throws at him, and he will be another in the long-line of Phil Parker-coached all-B1G defensive backs (2014 was last year we didn't have an all-B1G DB). But Brents and Roberts are talented, and we have seen over and over the "next man in" mentality work in the defensive backfield.

OL will lose AJ, another likely all-B1G selection and early draft choice. They will likely lose Banwart (who has been really good) unless he decides to return for a 6th year to boost NFL stock, but they have talent with experience at that position (Schott, Ince, Britt, and even true freshman Richman). Kallenberger is still just a RS Jr (he came in with Wirfs), and Plumb is a RS Soph. Cronk could return for a 6th year to prove his health to NFL teams, and Nick Dejong is just a RS Fr. If Linderbaum leaves early (definite possibility), the line will take a step back. But they will be solid for the foreseeable future (three 4-star recruits in 2021 recruiting class).

RB loses Sargent, but will continue to be a strength with Goodson and hopefully IKM back (how awesome would it be to see IKM light it up next year after being so patient?). Pottebaum is just a soph, as is his backup. The Williamses (both true fresh) are interesting. Curious if Arland Bruce gets a shot at RB next year.

TEs will probably lose Beyer (unless he returns for 6th year), but Laporta and a host of young talent (Miamen, Lachey, Yelverton) return.

WR will likely lose ISM and Smith, but return production in Tracy and Ragaini, as well as potential explosiveness in Charlie Jones. Young guys like Hutson and Vines are interesting, and they are bringing in a 4-star WR in Keegan Johnson (along with Brecht and potentially Bruce if he is not at RB).

So much will fall on QB play going forward. If QB is a net-neutral, this is a really good team. If QB is a net-positive, this is a great team. If QB is a net-negative, this team will be one of the most frustrating underperformers of the KF era.

This is going to be a very impactful decision by coaches this coming offseason, but an extremely difficult one. Petras is loved by his teammates, but Hogan has endeared himself to his recruiting class, and who is to say Padilla isn't the best of the bunch. It will be an interesting offseason.

But before any of that, let's give Bucky the thrashing they deserve for bullying us for the past decade. Time to right the order in the upper-midwest.
i was thinking one of the guys i thought would benefit most from coming back was brandon smith.
 
i was thinking one of the guys i thought would benefit most from coming back was brandon smith.

It would just be a 5th year for he or ISM (neither redshirted). He is probably ready to make the move, but his tape this year is underwhelming due to the QB struggles.

Would be great to have him back, but I think he could take his shot at the NFL, too. I enjoy seeing Hawks move on to the pros, it is always exciting to see how the young guys coming up do with the opportunity (more often than not lately, they have run with it).
 
I think the turning point was the 4th down throw to ISM. It sure seemed like he was a different QB after that. That 4th down throw was just 3 steps and fire it in there. Very little thinking involved and it was a perfect throw.

I am still trying to decide if that play was the turning point or was it ZVV’s tackle for loss at the Illinois 5 yard line? Maybe it was both, one for the defense and one for the offense.

One of the few other problems I had for Petras after that was the play where every single Illinois defender was within a yard or 2 of the line of scrimmage. How do you not recognize that and throw a quick fade route to Smith? No matter what, you have to check out of the running play.

Hopefully he learns from that and makes the right call vs Wisconsin... and drops the ball right into ISM when he has 2 steps on the defense in the end zone.
 
Hankins has been awesome this year; no one throws at him, and he will be another in the long-line of Phil Parker-coached all-B1G defensive backs (2014 was last year we didn't have an all-B1G DB). But Brents and Roberts are talented, and we have seen over and over the "next man in" mentality work in the defensive backfield.

Oops. Things are getting kind of thin back there all of a sudden. Since last year, have lost DJ Johnson, Dauran McKinney, and Brents.
 
I think each senior receives four tickets for Saturday.
Are they going to be allowed to walk the field with parents? I noticed a lot of teams this past weekend were just doing a televised message from each parent.

Also, what do you think of these seniors being allowed to come back during a game next year if they want to walk with parents in front of a crowd. Doesn't have to be the actual senior game at the end of the year, just pick a home game and let them walk.

I'd be all for that.
 
I hope more guys decide to come back...have a regular or more normal senior season. I'd tell them to do it...if I had it to do over again...I'd have never left college. Where else can you have that atmosphere and the only responsibility was to study...or for them to play football.

Unless you are assured of being drafted in the first four/five rounds...I'd stay.
 
I hope more guys decide to come back...have a regular or more normal senior season. I'd tell them to do it...if I had it to do over again...I'd have never left college. Where else can you have that atmosphere and the only responsibility was to study...or for them to play football.

Unless you are assured of being drafted in the first four/five rounds...I'd stay.
I don't disagree with this but I also think it will be a delicate balancing act because you are still limited to 85 scholarships.
 
Are they going to be allowed to walk the field with parents? I noticed a lot of teams this past weekend were just doing a televised message from each parent.

Also, what do you think of these seniors being allowed to come back during a game next year if they want to walk with parents in front of a crowd. Doesn't have to be the actual senior game at the end of the year, just pick a home game and let them walk.

I'd be all for that.
I'm not sure if they will let parents on the field. I'm guessing they won't be.

Keith Duncan and Nick Niemann said today they will be leaving for their shot at the NFL after this season
 
Can't blame 'em.
I can't blame them either, but Duncan surprises me. Since most kickers go undrafted I see another year as another open audition just don't see how you get the same type of exposure getting invited to try out for teams on an individual basis.
 
I can't blame them either, but Duncan surprises me. Since most kickers go undrafted I see another year as another open audition just don't see how you get the same type of exposure getting invited to try out for teams on an individual basis.
He’d have to be enrolled in school to play, and if he’s already graduated I’m not sure if they’ll pay grad school tuition or not, and even so he might not want to go to grad school. Might be that he wants to test the NFL dream and if that doesn’t work get a job.

Could also be that he’s satisfied with his results so far, he got a ton of national exposure last year and he’s got a better percentage than Kaeding had. There’s no way he’s ever going to equal the season he had last year so to me I wouldn’t want to put anymore distance between it than I are’s have.

The dude’s been in Iowa city for five years now with three years of tuition to pay for (he didn’t get a scholarship until last year).
 
He’d have to be enrolled in school to play, and if he’s already graduated I’m not sure if they’ll pay grad school tuition or not, and even so he might not want to go to grad school. Might be that he wants to test the NFL dream and if that doesn’t work get a job.

Could also be that he’s satisfied with his results so far, he got a ton of national exposure last year and he’s got a better percentage than Kaeding had. There’s no way he’s ever going to equal the season he had last year so to me I wouldn’t want to put anymore distance between it than I are’s have.

The dude’s been in Iowa city for five years now with three years of tuition to pay for (he didn’t get a scholarship until last year).

Good point, I forgot he wasn't on scholarship until last year. Paying for grad school out of pocket seems like a much better option when you've been on scholarship the full time there.
 
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