Our linebacking corps-

Benddontbreak

Benddontbreak

Well-Known Member
How good will they be this year?
I loved watching Tarp on kickoffs last year and I was happy to see that hes the favorite for the MLB job next year. Will it be Troy Johnson that starts along with Hunter and Tarp? This group is fast and athletic, and I am pumped to see them play with one of the best d-Lines in the country!
 


Benddontbreak said:
How good will they be this year?
I loved watching Tarp on kickoffs last year and I was happy to see that hes the favorite for the MLB job next year. Will it be Troy Johnson that starts along with Hunter and Tarp? This group is fast and athletic, and I am pumped to see them play with one of the best d-Lines in the country!
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Most people think it will be Tyler Nielsen with Tarp and Hunter. That is who Edds endorsed to take his spot and he was mentioned with the 1st unit most of the time this spring.
 


Agree with the part about loving Tarp on kick coverage- i'm not sold on him at MLB yet. just not convinced he's the full time answer- but plenty of time to prove me wrong still.
 


PlanoHawk said:
Agree with the part about loving Tarp on kick coverage- i'm not sold on him at MLB yet. just not convinced he's the full time answer- but plenty of time to prove me wrong still.
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I like Tarp in coverage and I like his straight line speed ... however, I don't really think that ANY of us know what to expect out of him as an every down starter. He certainly didn't look very good in the '08 game against Wisky and he certainly had issues against tOSU in '09 .... however, he's also shown some great flashes as the extra LB in our 3-4 looks. Furthermore, his special teams play has been special.

The REAL reason why I really don't worry much about Tarp at the MIKE spot ... or our current LB situation in general ... is that Norm seems so genuinely sold on Tarp. Norm was similarly sold on Humpal ... and just look at what a healthy Humpal was able to do in '07. Similarly, it's hard not to feel good about the LBs when you also have pretty veteran guys like Johnson, Davis, and Tillison who all help conspire to help keep the level of competition at the LB spot VERY high.

On top of all that ... it's hard not to be excited about the upside of our young LBs. By what Norm and Ferentz have already said ... we should probably be expecting around 2 of the young guys to earn reps on special teams and in clean-up duty. Heck, if a guy really impresses ... he might be able to vie for more action than that!
 


What ever happened to Bruce Davis? Some posters on the old site had an obsession with him and I never really heard his name get called last year.
 


this purely conjectjure but the reason i believe the staff is so high on tarp is he must be really smart. I think he has seen time at all 4 spots. if the dline performs like we all expect all of the lbs will be kept clean and have a relatively easy path to running backs. And pass coverage is already tarp's strength as he is a converted defensive back. Davis was impressive onkick coverage last season also and had a memorable tfl against minny in the season capper.
 


Benddontbreak said:
What ever happened to Bruce Davis? Some posters on the old site had an obsession with him and I never really heard his name get called last year.
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Did you watch any of the games? His name was called quite a bit. He was a force on KO coverage and played some at MLB

He had a fumble recovery vs Minn I know for sure when Angerer limped off for one play.

He should be in the mix at MLB and will get quite a bit of time this fall
 




I wouldn't mind seeing a little breakdown on each one of Iowa's linebackers if someone is interested...regardless of linebacking position, where you think they rank from top to bottom, year, strengths.

Is the consensus that our starters might be a step down from last year, but given the defensive line and defensive backfield, Norm, and overall depth at the position, we'll be fine? Good not great? Or do some think we'll be as good as last year? Or is the position a legitimate concern?
 


we are really in a good position this year with the LB's. Hunter provides the experience and leadership amongst the group and it sounds like he is starting to pla more consistently according to spring reports.

Nielson i think has waited his turn and he has been groomed for that spot at the OLB. I see him having quiet numbers that get overlooked because of the amazing job he will do in coverage, similar to edds. Tarp finally gets his shot, after getting nicked up with injuries. I think he will have a very good year in the middle.

This position is very deep. Johnson is the next man in at any of the 3 positions if someone goes down, and i don't think having a previous big ten player of the week is gonna result in any sort of fall off. tillison provides some needed depth at the OLB spot. Shane Dibonna might become known if he can get on special teams and position himself for a LB job in the future. Bruce Davis is another guy that is just about ready to play, although I think his significant playing time comes as a starting MLB as a senior.

And then the big reason we are deep, the arrival of the 4 frosh, who are very talented. I see gray and kirksey redshirting with morris and poggi fighting for an opportunity to get on the depth chart and special teams as a way to transition them to fighting for a starting spot the following year. Boys, we are loades at linebacker.
 


masoncityhawkeye said:
Did you watch any of the games? His name was called quite a bit. He was a force on KO coverage and played some at MLB

He had a fumble recovery vs Minn I know for sure when Angerer limped off for one play.

He should be in the mix at MLB and will get quite a bit of time this fall
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To answer your question yes I did watch us play last year... and to answer my question, I think I found one of Davis' obsessors. I've seen the guy play and he looks like a good athlete I guess I just paid more attention to Tarp taking guys heads off on KO's.
 


SwirlinLingerie said:
I wouldn't mind seeing a little breakdown on each one of Iowa's linebackers if someone is interested...regardless of linebacking position, where you think they rank from top to bottom, year, strengths.

Is the consensus that our starters might be a step down from last year, but given the defensive line and defensive backfield, Norm, and overall depth at the position, we'll be fine? Good not great? Or do some think we'll be as good as last year? Or is the position a legitimate concern?
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LB is NOT a legitimate concern in 2010. The LB group has a favorable mix of talent and experience. More importantly, the ingredient that makes Iowa's LBs all the more dangerous is the quality of the DL in front of them.

I believe that we'd all say that our LBs in 2005 were fantastic ... however, the youth of our DL rendered them looking less than impressive in a number of games.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, we featured 2 new starters at LB in '08 ... but had a quality DL in front of them ... albeit composed of 2 first-year starters at DE. All the same, the '08 LB group ended up more than holding their own. Heck, in '08, coverage was thought to be the strong suits of both Angerer and Edds and a weakness of Hunter ... the former two were thought to need work against the run .... and yet Iowa's run D was BETTER in '08 than it was in '09. Why was that? I'm willing to lay down serious cash that it was because of King and Kroul! By the way, in '08, Hunter was just a SO who had seen very few game reps ... and entering the season, he wasn't even our 1st string WILL LB! Heck, Angerer was a JR who had seen even fewer game reps than Hunter!

In contrast, in 2010, Tarp is a pretty experienced SR who has seen a lot of game reps as our extra LB in 3-4 sets. Nielsen is a JR who didn't see too many positional reps in '09 but saw a good number of them in '08 (thank goodness for blow-outs)!
 


I love Tarp on kick offs as well. I thought he was the clear front runner for MLB until the ohio st game. He looked extremely slow running along side some of ohio states rb's...im guessing he had an ankle injury or something because i have never seen him that slow b4
 


SDHAWKFAN said:
I love Tarp on kick offs as well. I thought he was the clear front runner for MLB until the ohio st game. He looked extremely slow running along side some of ohio states rb's...im guessing he had an ankle injury or something because i have never seen him that slow b4
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SDHAWKFAN -

From what I recall reading, Tarp had a slight MCL tear in the tOSU game ... that is why he was seemingly slow. That's also the reason why he didn't play in the finale against Minny.
 


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