Noah Fant 'Officially' NFL Bound / No Bowl Game

[HawkleberryFinn]

Exactly. Say he went to a school that doesn't have the TE history that Iowa has, who's to say he even gets drafted let alone in a position to leave early. I wouldn't exactly say Iowa has stunted his development.

The way he was kept off the field this season and replaced with the likes of Cooper and Weiting is unforgivable. Any fan with half a pulse could see this. Pretending this wasn't a complete coaching debacle is indefensible. Ferentz doesn't know how to use his talent, and he holds petty grudges against his players. These grudges manifest as shitty in-game decision-making.

 

[Motigerhawk]

Im very happy he gets out from under this staff. He was amazing in his time here. Imagine, if used properly, what he would have done.

Tear up the pros, Noah. You were my favorite Hawk the last 3 seasons.

 

[mopkins]

One of my good buddies is the hugest Hawkeye fan I know. Hits the bowl games, couple road games a year, drives back to IC from Chicago almost every week, etc. He was on the flight back with Noah's family after the bowl game Noah's freshman year and he actually apologized to them on behalf of the program for Noah's lack of reps in the bowl game. He knew Noah was gonna be a helluva baller. He said the family was nice, but were basically like "dude, if a casual fan can see how good he is, what in the ever living fvck is wrong with the coaching staff?" My guess is they aren't going to be the best ambassadors for the program going forward, but if Noah gets drafted high and makes a lot of money, that money can smooth over the wound pretty well.

I still think Fant was a sub-par blocker. Doesn't mean he wasn't a massive offensive weapon and deserved a ton more reps than he was given though. But I think if you break it down, TJ got more reps this year because he was a lot better blocker....like a LOT better.

Again...I feel I must repeat that Fant was used terribly all season except for a few games.

 

[Fryowa]

Loved having Fant here and I think he’s a great kid. He put up with a lot.

But, he’s not going to be someone who associates himself with being a Hawk the way that Pat Angerer or Dallas Clark, or Josey Jewell do. You just think Hawkeyes when their names come up.

Fant is a guy who came here because at the time Iowa offered the best chance at making the NFL as a tight end, and because Mike Riley was destroying the Nebraska program by that point.

Noah is a Husker at heart who didn’t really want to come here, and had no choice because his preferred team was on fire. Can’t blame him for any of that and I wish him nothing but the best. I’m just glad the Huskers suck and that we didn’t have to play against him.

 

[99topdawg]

So let me get this straight. Is he not DRESSING in the bowl game, or are the coaches going to continue to not USE him in the bowl game? Either way, it's the same team as the regular season, I guess.

 

[Stanzi]

The way he was kept off the field this season and replaced with the likes of Cooper and Weiting is unforgivable. Any fan with half a pulse could see this. Pretending this wasn't a complete coaching debacle is indefensible. Ferentz doesn't know how to use his talent, and he holds petty grudges against his players. These grudges manifest as shitty in-game decision-making.

Ferentz doesn’t know how to use his offensive talent. I completely agree with that statement.

I don’t agree that he holds petty grudges against PLAYERS. I just flat out disagree that he’s not going to play his best players because of pettiness or spite. I think it’s a lame ass reason for fans who are upset and need something to blame.

 

[trakker]

One of my good buddies is the hugest Hawkeye fan I know. Hits the bowl games, couple road games a year, drives back to IC from Chicago almost every week, etc. He was on the flight back with Noah's family after the bowl game Noah's freshman year and he actually apologized to them on behalf of the program for Noah's lack of reps in the bowl game. He knew Noah was gonna be a helluva baller. He said the family was nice, but were basically like "dude, if a casual fan can see how good he is, what in the ever living fvck is wrong with the coaching staff?" My guess is they aren't going to be the best ambassadors for the program going forward, but if Noah gets drafted high and makes a lot of money, that money can smooth over the wound pretty well.

Was this the same guy that told you about Georgia Tech being interested in BF?

 

[tksirius]

Ferentz doesn’t know how to use his offensive talent. I completely agree with that statement.

I don’t agree that he holds petty grudges against PLAYERS. I just flat out disagree that he’s not going to play his best players because of pettiness or spite. I think it’s a lame ass reason for fans who are upset and need something to blame.

I'm pretty sure I've heard references to Kirk doing this shit in podcasts recorded by former members of the team.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Loved having Fant here and I think he’s a great kid. He put up with a lot.

But, he’s not going to be someone who associates himself with being a Hawk the way that a Pat Angerer or Dallas Clark, or Josey Jewell do. You just think Hawkeyes when their names come up.

Fant is a guy who came here because at the time Iowa offered the best chance at making the NFL as a tight end, and because Mike Riley had destroyed the Nebraska program by that point.

Noah is most likely a Husker at heart who didn’t really want to come here, and had no choice because his preferred team was on fire. Can’t blame him for any of that and I wish him nothing but the best. I’m just glad the Huskers suck and that we didn’t have to play against him.

I think that probably summed him up pretty well. I think he's matured quite a bit since coming to Iowa because some may remember when he first committed to us. He went on a local Omaha sports radio station and just punked them. I think he had either a Nebraska or maybe a neutral hoodie on and took it off and had an Iowa one on. They felt he was leading on the locals to think he was going to Neb but didn't. I doubt he'd do that again if he were to do it over.

He's obviously a good kid that's had a lot tugging at him from all sides. Between how the coaches used him and how his family ran their mouths he's done nothing but play hard when his # was called and said all the right things and cheered on his teammates. I can only hope I'd have handled things the way he did if I were in his shoes. I mean as the year went on he was never thought of as anything less than a 1st round pick for next yr right? How hard would that be to not let get to your head? I don't blame him a bit for shutting it down now and making the decision he has. He's protecting the lottery ticket he has in his hand the best he can. Good for him. I've been a fan and always will be of his.

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

Loved having Fant here and I think he’s a great kid. He put up with a lot.

But, he’s not going to be someone who associates himself with being a Hawk the way that a Pat Angerer or Dallas Clark, or Josey Jewell do. You just think Hawkeyes when their names come up.

Fant is a guy who came here because at the time Iowa offered the best chance at making the NFL as a tight end, and because Mike Riley had destroyed the Nebraska program by that point.

Noah is most likely a Husker at heart who didn’t really want to come here, and had no choice because his preferred team was on fire. Can’t blame him for any of that and I wish him nothing but the best. I’m just glad the Huskers suck and that we didn’t have to play against him.

That pretty much sums it up. With that being said...I'm getting a little tired of the Fant Family Butthurtedness. Your kid went to a school where he had the best strength and conditioning money can buy, a coaching staff that taught him to play the position at a high level and was obviously clear about what the position was about, and a school where he got national recognition for his efforts in his sophomore year (led the country in TDs for a TE). That's a win for Team Fant.

We all can understand the frustration in the way he was used in his junior year. It really makes no sense in many of the games. In fairness to BF, there were several factors that contributed, not just his game planning:

1) The emergence of TJ Hockenson. This guy was the B10 TE of the year. He owes some of that to Fant who was getting the most attention in our offense on 2nd and 3rd down. Hockenson made a huge leap from the year previous. He's a special talent.

2) Stanley's inability to hit Fant several times for big plays. My god, if our QB had better accuracy, Fant's numbers and his happiness would have improved three of four fold. There are so many plays that stick out in my mind, at Minnesota down the seam wide open, several wheel routes, and just flat out misses. You could easily add 10-12 catches, 300 yards, and 4-5 TDs to his totals. Many of those were huge plays.

3) Stanley's inability to just throw the ball up to Fant and let him make a play. Inexplicable. Anytime he was one on one with any defender...the ball could have gone his way.

4) Defenses were scheming to stop him. He had safety help on almost all down and distance plays that required passing.

Once again, I get the frustration...but the butthurtness of that family is out of control. You are going to get 1st round money...it appears to me that it's worked out for them.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

I still think Fant was a sub-par blocker. Doesn't mean he wasn't a massive offensive weapon and deserved a ton more reps than he was given though. But I think if you break it down, TJ got more reps this year because he was a lot better blocker....like a LOT better.

Again...I feel I must repeat that Fant was used terribly all season except for a few games.

We all know how KFz feels about receiver blocking. Fant's lack of interest when the ball wasn't coming to him is obviously what's behind his low reps. Still...how do you keep your best receiver on the bench. Principle over winning.

 

[Mrke1]

Iowa went 8-5 and 8-4 with this kid and finished 75/129 in total offense with him and Hockenson. What a waste.

 

[EstronHawkKing]

I hope the guy is an NFL All Pro Bowler for years so he proves that he was more than just a "specialist" player at Iowa

 

[tksirius]

We all know how KFz feels about receiver blocking. Fant's lack of interest when the ball wasn't coming to him is obviously what's behind his low reps. Still...how do you keep your best receiver on the bench. Principle over winning.

This is actually a misnomer. Fant isn't as good of a blocker as Hock, but he was actually a decent blocker this year.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

That pretty much sums it up. With that being said...I'm getting a little tired of the Fant Family Butthurtedness. Your kid went to a school where he had the best strength and conditioning money can buy, a coaching staff that taught him to play the position at a high level and was obviously clear about what the position was about, and a school where he got national recognition for his efforts in his sophomore year (led the country in TDs for a TE). That's a win for Team Fant.

We all can understand the frustration in the way he was used in his junior year. It really makes no sense in many of the games. In fairness to BF, there were several factors that contributed, not just his game planning:

1) The emergence of TJ Hockenson. This guy was the B10 TE of the year. He owes some of that to Fant who was getting the most attention in our offense on 2nd and 3rd down. Hockenson made a huge leap from the year previous. He's a special talent.

2) Stanley's inability to hit Fant several times for big plays. My god, if our QB had better accuracy, Fant's numbers and his happiness would have improved three of four fold. There are so many plays that stick out in my mind, at Minnesota down the seam wide open, several wheel routes, and just flat out misses. You could easily add 10-12 catches, 300 yards, and 4-5 TDs to his totals. Many of those were huge plays.

3) Stanley's inability to just throw the ball up to Fant and let him make a play. Inexplicable. Anytime he was one on one with any defender...the ball could have gone his way.

4) Defenses were scheming to stop him. He had safety help on almost all down and distance plays that required passing.

Once again, I get the frustration...but the butthurtness of that family is out of control. You are going to get 1st round money...it appears to me that it's worked out for them.

Totally agree with all of this. I too remember a lot of those plays where Stanley just missed him. It was almost once to 3 times every game.... If the Fants want to be upset about anything that'd probably be at the top of the list more than anything because most of those were easy throws to make. Any D1 Qb with their feet set should have been able to throw catchable balls to him. Even some of the catchable ones he'd given to him would be behind him or late and not give him a chance to run with it like they could have. So yeah I'd have been more bumbed about a lot of that than whatever the whole snap count issue was as weird as that is. There'll never be an honest answer to that for us to hear. But the play on the field that was out their on full display..

 

[hawkdrummer1]

This is actually a misnomer. Fant isn't as good of a blocker as Hock, but he was actually a decent blocker this year.

I thought so, but some guys who are much better at Xs and Os than me observed that Fant was not always 100% engaged when he wasn't the primary target.

 

[hwk23]

That pretty much sums it up. With that being said...I'm getting a little tired of the Fant Family Butthurtedness. Your kid went to a school where he had the best strength and conditioning money can buy, a coaching staff that taught him to play the position at a high level and was obviously clear about what the position was about, and a school where he got national recognition for his efforts in his sophomore year (led the country in TDs for a TE). That's a win for Team Fant.

We all can understand the frustration in the way he was used in his junior year. It really makes no sense in many of the games. In fairness to BF, there were several factors that contributed, not just his game planning:

1) The emergence of TJ Hockenson. This guy was the B10 TE of the year. He owes some of that to Fant who was getting the most attention in our offense on 2nd and 3rd down. Hockenson made a huge leap from the year previous. He's a special talent.

2) Stanley's inability to hit Fant several times for big plays. My god, if our QB had better accuracy, Fant's numbers and his happiness would have improved three of four fold. There are so many plays that stick out in my mind, at Minnesota down the seam wide open, several wheel routes, and just flat out misses. You could easily add 10-12 catches, 300 yards, and 4-5 TDs to his totals. Many of those were huge plays.

3) Stanley's inability to just throw the ball up to Fant and let him make a play. Inexplicable. Anytime he was one on one with any defender...the ball could have gone his way.

4) Defenses were scheming to stop him. He had safety help on almost all down and distance plays that required passing.

Once again, I get the frustration...but the butthurtness of that family is out of control. You are going to get 1st round money...it appears to me that it's worked out for them.

4) is another reason he should have been on the field every down. 1) is the reason the staff needed to get creative. You don't leave a 1st round draft pick on the bench. He could have played WR or SE better than anyone on the team. 2) & 3) I don't really agree with these but even if correct these are Stanley issues, not Fant.

 

[ssckelley]

I wish Fant all the best going into the NFL. But I've got a sneaky feeling he won't be a first round pick. Whatever flaws the coaches at Iowa saw will show up in the combines. He's one hell of a receiver though.

 

[1hawkeye1]

Smart move on his part.

 

[lightning1]

Exactly. Say he went to a school that doesn't have the TE history that Iowa has, who's to say he even gets drafted let alone in a position to leave early. I wouldn't exactly say Iowa has stunted his development.

So, you're saying we couldn't have used him more in the 2nd half of the NW game? That's an interesting theory.