JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
After the 2009 Outback Bowl which followed the 2008 season, I said the 2008 roster would wind up having more players drafted in the NFL than any one roster since the NFL/AFL merger in the 1960’s. After the Hawks had a record setting six players selected in the 2010 NFL draft, we are getting closer to that prediction coming true…in fact, exactly half way home.
Bryan Bulaga, Pat Angerer, Amari Spievey, Tony Moeaki, AJ Edds and Kyle Calloway heard their names called this weekend. Iowa hasn’t had six players taken in the same draft since the 1960’s and they haven’t had five players taken in the first four rounds of any draft, ever. Add those six to last year’s draftee’s of Shonn Greene, Bradley Fletcher, Seth Olson and Brandon Myers and you have ten players drafted that were on the 2008 Iowa roster in just the first two of what will be five classes that are eligible to add to this total.
As of now, the 2001 Iowa roster saw 20 players get drafted over the five draft span that comprises a college roster. The 2006 draft saw Abdul Hodge and Chad Greenway get taken, and even though they redshirted in 2001, they were still on the roster and still count towards that total.
So with two of five eligible drafts in the books, the 2008 roster is sitting at 10 players that have been drafted…are there enough players one the roster now that were on the roster in 2008 that will help make that 2008 roster one of the deepest and most talented in Iowa history, which I said it was at the time we watched it all unfold?
Here is a list of eligible players for future drafts that were on the 2008 roster:
Quarterbacks: Rick Stanzi, James Vandenberg & John Wienke. Stanzi will get drafted next year and Vandenberg has all of the tools.
Running backs: Adam Robinson and Jewel Hampton are eligible
Wide Receiver/Tight End: DJK, Allen Reisner & Marvin McNutt are eligible
Offensive line: A lot of these guys are eligible…too many to name
Defensive line: The entire crew, with Adrian Clayborn & Christian Ballard being locks to get drafted
Linebacker: Jeremiha Hunter and the entire crew will have their shot
Defensive backs: Shaun Prater was a true frosh, so he is eligible…as are Sash and Greenwood and some others
Specialists: Ryan Donahue will likely get drafted
So it would seem like it’s a mere formality for Iowa to have more than 10 players drafted over the course of the next three drafts.
Keep a few things in mind when you consider how impressive this draft was for Iowa; just four other schools had more players drafted this year than did the Hawkeyes: Florida, Alabama, USC & Oklahoma. That says a lot right there, but also consider this; the draft experts said this was the most talent in the NFL draft since the class of 1983…that’s nearly 30 years ago. A lot of underclassmen came out early this year in advance of a possible rookie salary limit in the future.
So in one of the most talented and deepest drafts in more than a quarter century, just four programs produced more draft picks than did the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Here are the players from Iowa’s 2010 football team that I believe will be drafted in 2011:
LOCKS: Adrian Clayborn, Rick Stanzi, Christian Ballard
LIKELY: Ryan Donahue, Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, Brett Greenwood
POSSIBLE: Jeremiha Hunter, Allen Reisner***, Karl Klug
***Every senior starting tight end at Iowa under Kirk Ferentz has been drafted
EARLY ENTRIES? Iowa lost Bryan Bulaga and Amari Spievey this year; are there any possibilities for next year? Perhaps, in Tyler Sash and Riley Reiff. I don’t believe it to be likely in either case. Sash has put up huge numbers with huge plays and is just a ball magnet, but his measurables are not that of any of the first round safeties that were taken this year. He is a great fit in Iowa’s scheme and he will have an NFL career, I just don’t see him coming out early.
As for Reiff, if his productivity curve isn’t done with his exponential growth, who knows. He was Iowa’s best lineman last season and Bulaga went #23 to the Packers. People were talking about the great job that Bulaga did on #16 pick Derrick Morgan of Georgia Tech, but having watched the Orange Bowl a few times, Tech was moving Morgan all across the line looking for some advantage. Reiff more than held his own with Morgan, and Tony Moeaki did a great job on Morgan, too. Reiff was so good at tackle that Iowa moved three year starter Kyle Calloway, who was just taken in the 7th round by the Bills, to right guard for that game.
Bryan Bulaga, Pat Angerer, Amari Spievey, Tony Moeaki, AJ Edds and Kyle Calloway heard their names called this weekend. Iowa hasn’t had six players taken in the same draft since the 1960’s and they haven’t had five players taken in the first four rounds of any draft, ever. Add those six to last year’s draftee’s of Shonn Greene, Bradley Fletcher, Seth Olson and Brandon Myers and you have ten players drafted that were on the 2008 Iowa roster in just the first two of what will be five classes that are eligible to add to this total.
As of now, the 2001 Iowa roster saw 20 players get drafted over the five draft span that comprises a college roster. The 2006 draft saw Abdul Hodge and Chad Greenway get taken, and even though they redshirted in 2001, they were still on the roster and still count towards that total.
So with two of five eligible drafts in the books, the 2008 roster is sitting at 10 players that have been drafted…are there enough players one the roster now that were on the roster in 2008 that will help make that 2008 roster one of the deepest and most talented in Iowa history, which I said it was at the time we watched it all unfold?
Here is a list of eligible players for future drafts that were on the 2008 roster:
Quarterbacks: Rick Stanzi, James Vandenberg & John Wienke. Stanzi will get drafted next year and Vandenberg has all of the tools.
Running backs: Adam Robinson and Jewel Hampton are eligible
Wide Receiver/Tight End: DJK, Allen Reisner & Marvin McNutt are eligible
Offensive line: A lot of these guys are eligible…too many to name
Defensive line: The entire crew, with Adrian Clayborn & Christian Ballard being locks to get drafted
Linebacker: Jeremiha Hunter and the entire crew will have their shot
Defensive backs: Shaun Prater was a true frosh, so he is eligible…as are Sash and Greenwood and some others
Specialists: Ryan Donahue will likely get drafted
So it would seem like it’s a mere formality for Iowa to have more than 10 players drafted over the course of the next three drafts.
Keep a few things in mind when you consider how impressive this draft was for Iowa; just four other schools had more players drafted this year than did the Hawkeyes: Florida, Alabama, USC & Oklahoma. That says a lot right there, but also consider this; the draft experts said this was the most talent in the NFL draft since the class of 1983…that’s nearly 30 years ago. A lot of underclassmen came out early this year in advance of a possible rookie salary limit in the future.
So in one of the most talented and deepest drafts in more than a quarter century, just four programs produced more draft picks than did the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Here are the players from Iowa’s 2010 football team that I believe will be drafted in 2011:
LOCKS: Adrian Clayborn, Rick Stanzi, Christian Ballard
LIKELY: Ryan Donahue, Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, Brett Greenwood
POSSIBLE: Jeremiha Hunter, Allen Reisner***, Karl Klug
***Every senior starting tight end at Iowa under Kirk Ferentz has been drafted
EARLY ENTRIES? Iowa lost Bryan Bulaga and Amari Spievey this year; are there any possibilities for next year? Perhaps, in Tyler Sash and Riley Reiff. I don’t believe it to be likely in either case. Sash has put up huge numbers with huge plays and is just a ball magnet, but his measurables are not that of any of the first round safeties that were taken this year. He is a great fit in Iowa’s scheme and he will have an NFL career, I just don’t see him coming out early.
As for Reiff, if his productivity curve isn’t done with his exponential growth, who knows. He was Iowa’s best lineman last season and Bulaga went #23 to the Packers. People were talking about the great job that Bulaga did on #16 pick Derrick Morgan of Georgia Tech, but having watched the Orange Bowl a few times, Tech was moving Morgan all across the line looking for some advantage. Reiff more than held his own with Morgan, and Tony Moeaki did a great job on Morgan, too. Reiff was so good at tackle that Iowa moved three year starter Kyle Calloway, who was just taken in the 7th round by the Bills, to right guard for that game.
