Most irreplaceable Hawkeye?

[tweeterhawk]

According to Rittenberg, Stanzi's the manzi:

The Big Ten's most irreplaceable players - College Football Nation Blog - ESPN

Iowa: Quarterback Ricky Stanzi. This isn't a knock against backup James Vandenberg, who certainly proved himself last fall at Ohio State. But Iowa is simply a different team with Stanzi on the field, drawing confidence from him through his ups and downs. You could see how much Stanzi meant to his teammates on offense after he went down against Northwestern last November. Although offensive tackle Riley Reiff, defensive end Adrian Clayborn or safety Tyler Sash certainly can make their case to be in this spot, Stanzi is the player who shapes Iowa's success more than any other player. He's got the 'it' factor.

 

[TChawk]

I would disagree as I feel Stanzi this year is a guy who while we don't want to see go down, we would not see a drop off at all.

 

[tweeterhawk]

I would disagree as I feel Stanzi this year is a guy who while we don't want to see go down, we would not see a drop off at all.

Inclined to agree. I would worry more about losing Reiff or Clayborn. Honestly would like to see more of Vandenberg or whoever else might be No. 2 at QB. Probably Vandy, since there'd be more camera shots of his mom.

 

[whammer33024]

the team seems to rally behind slingin dick though...i'm going to have to agree with rittenberg on this one...though you both make excellent points.

which leads to me saying that i'm so excited for this season because we actually have some depth!

 

[nilekinnick]

Going with Clayborn as I believe the opponents will have to gameplan for him and he makes it easier for the other guys on the D line. I love Stanzi, but I tend to think we would run the same offensive gameplan with either QB with Stanzi being slightly more effective than Vandy over the long hall.

 

[hoopthemottle]

Riley Reiff.

That drops our returning OL starts to:
24 - Julian
1 - Gettis

OUCH.

 

[cabse5]

At least some of you guys have stopped your rant to replace Stanzi with Vandy.

 

[iahawk20]

I would disagree as I feel Stanzi this year is a guy who while we don't want to see go down, we would not see a drop off at all.

I hope you are kidding. Ricky is the LEADER of this team, end of story. James has a LOT of improvements to make before he is close to bring what RS does. AR nailed this one.

 

[bws258]

Reiff

 

[hawkeyescott]

Inclined to agree. I would worry more about losing Reiff or Clayborn. Honestly would like to see more of Vandenberg or whoever else might be No. 2 at QB. Probably Vandy, since there'd be more camera shots of his mom.

Good God it is the first week of June and you are calling for the back up QB all ready.

I would say Clayborn would be the guy, the double teams he will require will open things up for Klug that otherwise won't be there.

 

[clim33]

Last year at this time if we talked about Bulaga not playing for multiple games and RR taking his place many of you same guys would have predicted Gloom and doom. Now we say he may have been our best OL last year. Kirk can coach OL and I think we have some decent athletes.

I think Stanzi brings something to our team that is special. The drop off would be less this year but it would still be a drop off. Might be an issue this year if Reisner goes down as we don't have much experience behind him.

Clayborne seems to be an obvious choice here too......He is just awesome

 

[Sirhouseman]

I agree with Rittenberg. Rick just has that 'it'. Whatever it is. The other guys are huge talents, don't get me wrong, but this team is different when Rick is at the helm. His ability to forget bad plays time and again and his unswerving ability to make a play when it is needed makes him the most valuable player. Other players rally around him and who wouldn't want to play for a guy like that.