Prater's Draft Stock on the Rise

I'm glad to hear Prater is turning some heads.

But I am of the opinion that Prater had a pretty horrible year. Most of that was formed from watching him be less than stellar in run support. I also thought he ran his mouth too much for a guy that didn't make many plays -- he was also never a team captain, which I thought was fairly telling for a guy with his credentials.

He will likely be a decent pro (although he lacks size) because NFL corners aren't asked to support the run very often. He does seem to excel in coverage...
 
NFL people trust KF and the Iowa program. They know Iowa runs a pro style offense, and they are taught a lot of NFL techniques. I've heard it from one scout myself. NFL people trust what Kirk Ferentz teaches.

I think Prater is very talented, and probably could have made many plays in a more aggressive defensive system. The secondary at Iowa isn't asked to win a lot lot of one-on-one battles. And I think Prater is a guy that would have won his share of those battles if Iowa's defense played that type of style. I think he will defenitely get drafted and have a shot to play on a lot of Sunday's.
 
DarthKinnick said:
I know, right?

I love how on-field performance at Iowa is never held against Iowa football players.

It's almost like a sports-welfare system at Iowa.

Kinda like the NFL scouts know Iowa runs a $Hltty system with good players.
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This pretty much undoes anything you say.....
 
I think some people were way too hard on Prater this past season. I remember a few threads that contained "Prater bashing" and it just made me shake my head.

I think people often forget how much the players around you affect how you play. I often felt that the pass coverage was one of the weaker points of the defense as a whole.

If you think about the times that Prater got beat over the top and people would bash Prater for getting burned... What if Prater had a safety that was out of position that was supposed to be helping over the top?

If Prater was doing his job aggressively and taking away the pass underneath and positioning himself where he could intercept said pass... is it his fault for assuming he had safety help? Maybe, but what if the safety was there and intercepted the ball over the top? NO ONE would say "Prater got burned," instead people would say "Nice play by (insert name of safety who intercepted the pass)!"

Same goes for if Prater was trying to be less aggressive and takes away the pass over the top and his man runs an inside slant route. If a LB were to be in position to knock down the pass... No one would call out Prater. I'm not saying Prater didn't make any mistakes and that it was everyone else's fault, but I do know that defense is a team effort and you have to rely on your teammates to do their job and if someone doesn't... it could make you look bad.

I think Prater has an aggressive play style that will work well when he has pro-level talent surrounding him. I certainly think Prater has the talent to play at a higher level and obviously scouts see something in him.

I wish him the best of luck and hopefully we will get to see him be successful at the next level!

GO HAWKS!
 
sergeanthulka said:
I'm glad to hear Prater is turning some heads.

But I am of the opinion that Prater had a pretty horrible year. Most of that was formed from watching him be less than stellar in run support. I also thought he ran his mouth too much for a guy that didn't make many plays -- he was also never a team captain, which I thought was fairly telling for a guy with his credentials.

He will likely be a decent pro (although he lacks size) because NFL corners aren't asked to support the run very often. He does seem to excel in coverage...
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So what if he wasn't a captain? That doesn't mean he lacks leadership skills. It means he wasn't in the top 2 in that department on the defense at any point. And when you played with guys like Angerer, Edds, Clayborn, Binns, and Nielsen (dude played with a BROKEN NECK), being Ms. Congeniality isn't a slight.

Spievey was never a captain. Neither was Sash. Was that telling, too?

He didn't have a great year, but at least part of that was him simply trying to do too much. After Miller and Bernstine settled in behind him, Prater's play improved and became more consistent. He definitely gives his all to try and make plays.
 
CGHawk said:
I think some people were way too hard on Prater this past season. I remember a few threads that contained "Prater bashing" and it just made me shake my head.

I think people often forget how much the players around you affect how you play. I often felt that the pass coverage was one of the weaker points of the defense as a whole.

If you think about the times that Prater got beat over the top and people would bash Prater for getting burned... What if Prater had a safety that was out of position that was supposed to be helping over the top?

If Prater was doing his job aggressively and taking away the pass underneath and positioning himself where he could intercept said pass... is it his fault for assuming he had safety help? Maybe, but what if the safety was there and intercepted the ball over the top? NO ONE would say "Prater got burned," instead people would say "Nice play by (insert name of safety who intercepted the pass)!"

Same goes for if Prater was trying to be less aggressive and takes away the pass over the top and his man runs an inside slant route. If a LB were to be in position to knock down the pass... No one would call out Prater. I'm not saying Prater didn't make any mistakes and that it was everyone else's fault, but I do know that defense is a team effort and you have to rely on your teammates to do their job and if someone doesn't... it could make you look bad.

I think Prater has an aggressive play style that will work well when he has pro-level talent surrounding him. I certainly think Prater has the talent to play at a higher level and obviously scouts see something in him.

I wish him the best of luck and hopefully we will get to see him be successful at the next level!

GO HAWKS!
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Very good post and this is why the over the top crtics are bad for the team and program image. Critiquing is fine...thats not what they do.
 
Prater seemed to have more mental lapses, especially earlier in the year. Could it have been less than stellar safety play? Hard to say, maybe just chemistry between players. I did notice that he played much better starting about the time of the Michigan game. The Hawks did seem to run more man to man and he seemed to thrive on that.

I've always maintained that both Hyde and Prater seemed to have more "football" speed on the field. I get the same feeling w/ Lowery going into next year.

Watching the corners progress over time has been interesting. Prater caught plenty of criticism when he was playing opposite of Spievey in '09, then Hyde had his critics early on in '10 when Pater looked really good.

This year I thought that Hyde's coverage was good but he seemed to loose his sure tackling ability from the '10 season. Think that was the lack of Sash coming up to seal the deal. That was DB tandem that was a treat to watch. Miller or Berstine never seemed to gel w/ Prater or Hyde in that way this year. Hope Miller gets something going w/ either corner this coming year.

Prater will do well at the next level if he gets drafted by the "right" organization but 2nd round seems kinda generous to me.
 
Prater was playing with 2 new Safties. At times there was confusion on what coverage was. I coaches db's for 2 years at the college level and I wasn't 100% sure whose fault it was. Guess you all should have coached.
 
i thought early in the season prater lost ground in the draft. toward the end i thought he had recovered some. i thought he was a 4th round pick. i knew he would showcase good speed and probably impress with his coverage. i see a 3rd round slot with this followed up by similar numbers at combine.
 
CGHawk said:
I think some people were way too hard on Prater this past season. I remember a few threads that contained "Prater bashing" and it just made me shake my head.

I think people often forget how much the players around you affect how you play. I often felt that the pass coverage was one of the weaker points of the defense as a whole.

If you think about the times that Prater got beat over the top and people would bash Prater for getting burned... What if Prater had a safety that was out of position that was supposed to be helping over the top?

If Prater was doing his job aggressively and taking away the pass underneath and positioning himself where he could intercept said pass... is it his fault for assuming he had safety help? Maybe, but what if the safety was there and intercepted the ball over the top? NO ONE would say "Prater got burned," instead people would say "Nice play by (insert name of safety who intercepted the pass)!"

Same goes for if Prater was trying to be less aggressive and takes away the pass over the top and his man runs an inside slant route. If a LB were to be in position to knock down the pass... No one would call out Prater. I'm not saying Prater didn't make any mistakes and that it was everyone else's fault, but I do know that defense is a team effort and you have to rely on your teammates to do their job and if someone doesn't... it could make you look bad.

I think Prater has an aggressive play style that will work well when he has pro-level talent surrounding him. I certainly think Prater has the talent to play at a higher level and obviously scouts see something in him.

I wish him the best of luck and hopefully we will get to see him be successful at the next level!

GO HAWKS!
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This is my thought process as well. I do not think it was about playing smarter or gambling I think it was simply a guy trying to do too much. For the the first time in his Iowa career he was really needed in run support and a few times he got peeking into the backfield.

Secondly, early in the year the safeties were late rotating over in Iowa's two deep zone often leaving Prater in no man's land. He never had to worry about that with Sash/Greenwood.

People say he lost money by coming back he was projected as a 3rd or 4th rounder and that still hasn't changed. The NFL is such a pass happy league right now and there such a demand for cover corners if you show any upside/potential you are going to get a long, hard look.

He has to run well at the combine, workouts, etc. If he does he will get paid.
 
Section136 said:
At least according to the Sporting News. The linked article says he raised his draft stock the most at the Shrine Bowl last week. Says he may now be selected in the 2nd round.

And apparently PersaStrong wasnt so strong. Thats too bad.


East-West Shrine impressions: Five who helped their draft stock, and five who hurt it - NFL - Sporting News
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Not a shock even to a knucklehead like myself that Persa struggled with throwing intermediate and deep routes. Dude is a football player he seems like a Patriot to me they could probably find something for him to do.

4.8 forty? Man, he seems faster than that......maybe it was just against the Hawks.:D
 
JHHawk said:
There was a cadre of Iowa fans this season who were convinced that Prater was way overrated and not attractive to the NFL. I kept mentioning how NFL scout Russ Landy on ''The Next Level'' the BTN show that looks at Big Ten prospects, kept listing Prater as his #3 overall draft-eligible prospect out of the Big Ten. Near the end of the year he did a segment on Prater,and broke down some film on the show. He gushed about Praters hip-swivel,which allows him to change direction without slowing down.
Also praised his run support.

Some Iowa fans focus strictly on a few bad plays in Iowa games and assume that the NFL will take a pass. These guys drill down on these prospects and do find out if it was a case of Tanner Miller,a novice safety, was the one responsible for deep coverage where it looks like Prater got burned.

Good luck to Mr. Prater.
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One problem is that he was the DB who drew most one-on-one assignements with least "support". That is what he gets for being the most experienced.

Another is that he doesn't tackle as well as Spievey or some of the safeties we have had in the KF Era. Doesn't mean he is a "bad" tackler, but he isn't as good as those others.

Finally, he definitely didn't have the up-front support that any DB needs (consistent pass rush, effective LB support).

On the other side of that, any sacks we had in the first two-thirds of the season were almost exclusively "coverage" sacks. Prater was a part of that coverage.
 
This can't be true. Everyone knows once someone commits to Iowa, their stock goes down. There's an agenda against Iowa recruits... even if they've played 4 yrs at the university.
 
tm3308 said:
So what if he wasn't a captain? That doesn't mean he lacks leadership skills. It means he wasn't in the top 2 in that department on the defense at any point. And when you played with guys like Angerer, Edds, Clayborn, Binns, and Nielsen (dude played with a BROKEN NECK), being Ms. Congeniality isn't a slight.

Spievey was never a captain. Neither was Sash. Was that telling, too?

He didn't have a great year, but at least part of that was him simply trying to do too much. After Miller and Bernstine settled in behind him, Prater's play improved and became more consistent. He definitely gives his all to try and make plays.
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When you're not voted a captain by your teammates after having started for 3 years (and a senior), yes I will read into that...Bernstine was in/out of the coaches doghouse for 4 years & he was voted a captain. There are about 20 awards given out @ the team banquet (mostly to a small & generally weak Senior class)...How many did Prater get?

Didn't both Spievey & Sash leave early? Aren't Captains usually Seniors (except when the play QB)?

Listen, I don't/didn't have a problem with him in coverage. I have a problem with him in run support, never getting off the receiver...or in full backpedal waiting for someone else to make a play. Or getting turned inside, & losing the edge (repeatedly). In the zone scheme we play...the corners are asked to participate in run support (rather than be in coverage w/their back turned). The only good tackle I saw Prater make all year in run support was when he hit the ISU RB 4 yards deep in the EndZone on the GW touchdown....Brilliant!

We'll lose a talented player, but hopefully be a better team for it, imo...
 
trj said:
Not a shock even to a knucklehead like myself that Persa struggled with throwing intermediate and deep routes. Dude is a football player he seems like a Patriot to me they could probably find something for him to do.

4.8 forty? Man, he seems faster than that......maybe it was just against the Hawks.:D
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achilles tendon tear......imo, not the same player he once was - and that would affect both his running and throwing as power from both come from the base.
 
hoffahawk said:
Not to nitpick but we don't ask a lot of our corners. We don't play much Cover 1 (man) at all so in most cases our corners are basically playing zone like the safeties and why I think a lot of former corners ended up at safety in the NFL.

That said I think Prater played more man this year than I have seen in awhile and think he also has the best chance to stay at corner in the NFL most likely as you said starting on ST and maybe come in as the nickel back. I also don't see him getting drafted before the 3rd round.
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i know what you're saying, and reading my post it didn't come off well. i meant that we don't bring pressure, so there's a lot of pressure put on our corners to not give up the big play, but also that sometimes they have to cover their man/zone for a long time (esp this year). much easier on the DBs when you can bring some pressure and force the QB to make a throw early instead of giving them all day.

i think Prater would have been a much better corner in a system that wasn't so afraid to mix it up. he seems fast enough that he would have done well in a man/press coverage/blitz system. i could be wrong though.
 
imported_ankle23 said:
achilles tendon tear......imo, not the same player he once was - and that would affect both his running and throwing as power from both come from the base.
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I completely forgot about the achilles injury.....That being said arm strength was going to be an issue regardless.....Foot speed yeah I can see how that is affected. It just seems like he could contribute more than just hold a clipboard.
 
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