Howe: Top 10 Most Indispensable Hawkeyes for '19
- Thread starter RobHowe
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Motigerhawk
Well-Known Member
No punter. What a relief.
iloveyoularrystation
Well-Known Member
yep....feel like this is the answer to number 1 most indispensable player. maybe irreplaceable would be better word here. aj is a top ten draft pick, he's awesome. but at end besides him our talent and depth is solid especially with Chauncey on the other side. the drop off from geno to anyone would be monsterous.
RobHowe
Administrator
#1DieHardHawk
Well-Known Member
Sorry, Rob.
A.J. no doubt is the best player on the team, but, in terms of team performance and overall record, the player we can least afford to lose is Stanley.
A.J. no doubt is the best player on the team, but, in terms of team performance and overall record, the player we can least afford to lose is Stanley.
RobHowe
Administrator
You don't have to be sorry. We disagree.
I am with Rob on AJE being the most indispensible. While the drop off from Gholston to VanValkenberg might not change the defense too much, losing AJE would take that side of the ball from one of the best in the nation to slightly above average in the B1G. I think he is THAT important.
Stanley certainly has the experience on his side, but I think one of the backup QB options (I am kind of thinking Petras now, though I was leaning Mansell last spring) could produce offensive results that are at least in the same neighborhood.
Interesting to look at the positions not mentioned:
TE: I guess expectations are low, and the thought is RBs and WRs will make up for the lost TE production from last year. It kind of seems like Wieting might end up being a pretty important piece, but hard to say at this point that he should jump above anyone else on the list.
RB: A combination of none of them separating themselves from the pack, and there being depth.
LB: Same as with RB, depth and lack of a standout. I am of the opinion that one of these guys needs to make himself indispensible by the end of the season for this year to be special. We need a LB who can be counted on for a handful of big stops per game.
CB: As per Rob's article from last week, there is talent waiting in the wings.
OG: Starters are not even clear at this point, so perhaps not that much separation. I think Banwart would be a huge loss, not only because he is a likely starter at G with experience, but also because he is the likely backup C.
TE: I guess expectations are low, and the thought is RBs and WRs will make up for the lost TE production from last year. It kind of seems like Wieting might end up being a pretty important piece, but hard to say at this point that he should jump above anyone else on the list.
RB: A combination of none of them separating themselves from the pack, and there being depth.
LB: Same as with RB, depth and lack of a standout. I am of the opinion that one of these guys needs to make himself indispensible by the end of the season for this year to be special. We need a LB who can be counted on for a handful of big stops per game.
CB: As per Rob's article from last week, there is talent waiting in the wings.
OG: Starters are not even clear at this point, so perhaps not that much separation. I think Banwart would be a huge loss, not only because he is a likely starter at G with experience, but also because he is the likely backup C.
RobHowe
Administrator
That's funny. I thought about all of those positions very much like you laid it out. I do think Hankins, Wieting and Banwart would be next up for me, in some order.
Do you have a feel for who would be your most indispensible LB? That just seems like a really tough call until you have a handful of games to judge by.
RobHowe
Administrator
I think it's still to be determined.
Welch (MLB) and Colbert (WLB) are the first-teamers right now but it's not like they're head and shoulders ahead of the backups. I guess I would lean towards Colbert. I think he offers the best combo of experience and skills.
Before reading your article, Rob, I came up with the same top 3-4 that you did. The question really is about depth, and the odd thing about Iowa's roster is that their best players (Epenesa, Wirfs, Jackson, Stanley) play positions that have the least amount of depth with starting experience (d-line, o-line, & QB). Until proven otherwise, the loss of any of the top 4 on your list probably moves an entire position group from above-average to average. With the glut of CBs on the roster with experience, I have to believe the loss of a safety could be managed.
AreWeThereYet
Well-Known Member
Yes, Those would be the next three. Weiting's blocking skills are a necessity. I think Wieting might have more upside as a receiver than most people realize. It would be nice if Hankins would be good enough that opposing teams went away from him. Banwart needs to perform at least to last year's level, and I don't think there is another viable backup at center.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
The Pineapple Express?
Ree4
Well-Known Member
BHGP Uses Maui so yours is at least geographically and ethnically accurate
#1DieHardHawk
Well-Known Member
It's all speculation and matter of opinion, and, hopefully, we won't have to find out, but, losing a 3 year starting senior QB with backups that have almost zero game experience has the potential to be a disaster.
A.J. arguably is the most talented defensive player we've had at Iowa in 30 years. Losing him would have a big impact, no doubt. The difference is that you can adjust scheme somewhat to cover defensive deficiencies. That's extremely hard to do at QB. Plus, the plan is to regularly rotate him out of the game, so, it's not like we have no experience without him on the field.
Now, if we had an outstanding established running game, the loss of an established QB could be easily mitigated, but, that's not even close to being a given. At this point in time, the entire offense is heavily dependent upon Stanley. Whether that's a good or bad thing is a different debate.
