Personnel:
How does Damond Powell et al. add to our "catching radius" problem, or are there already guys on the roster that can more than make up for the loss of Keenan Davis?
On his JUCO film he turns a lot of screens into big plays. He also appears to have above average ability to adjust to the ball in the air. His only deficiency would be his size. He's 5'11 175 which means he's gonna have to have plenty of separation and will not be likely to consistently win jump balls. Hoping Tavuan Smith steps it up in the deep ball department; he's flashed it during practice but needs to produce on Saturdays.
Personnel fit to the scheme:
When Scherff went down in the PSU game was that "it" for the O-Line, meaning all downhill from there (could not pick up a blitz so no reason to put any QB other than JVB under center to get "whacked") Or is it a systemic problem that Iowa has a "Bitzable Offense"?
I've been re-watching some of Iowa from '12 recently and I think it's a combination of things. Teams blitzed because they didn't fear the deep ball and wanted to contain the run game. After the injuries it just got worse for Iowa. Scherff himself was growing into a well above average pass protector and Tobin was very solid at his LG spot. When Tobin had to kick out to LT it served to weaken both spots in terms of pass protection. At times I thought Iowa's cadence and predictable TE motion gave defenders the ability to jump snap counts too, which further compounded the problem. The only good news out of that whole deal was that Boffeli proved himself a starting caliber player and will enter '13 with solid game experience.
Coaching:
Was it GD's failure to adapt to the players he had mid-season. Is it Kirk's instilling the fear of the man in the sky into his QB's that 1 interception will cause a loss.
This one I've gone back and forth on a lot. It's no secret that Kirk loves to minimize risk/turnovers and at times it can impede your ability to be consistent on offense. I think Davis was caught in a pretty awkward spot in terms of the personnel he had for his offensive philosphy. I liked a lot of his Xs and Os and he brings a fresh set of passing concepts to Iowa's pro style sets; if they're able to turn the corner and simplify reads it could pay off big time. I think a lot of this season hinges on Tavaun Smith and the new QB's chemistry/development.
Execution:
Why was JVB throwing the Jake Christinsen ball last season. Was it happy feet behind an O-Line with no pass protection? After what we saw in the NIU game where he touched every part of that concrete/grass hybrid they have at Soldier Field with his tail pad, it would not surprise me if that got to him mentally (from a MAC team albeit a BCS one, but he could not have known that at the time). Or does it relate to the systemic issue of KF's instilling of "Interception-Phobia" as a sort of Munchausen by Proxy"?
JVB was coached the majority of his career by KOK and had certain things ingrained in his thought process. No doubt one of them was be over-protective of the football. Early on it was WRs not running the right routes which left JVB in an awkward spot, he'd take his drop, set his feet and then, oops, no one where they are supposed to be. The pocket would usually collapse quickly and he either got sacked or struggled to try and improvise. For years under KOK he wasn't told "when the play breaks down, improvise, make a play!". He was told throw it away. In Davis's system it's a much bigger part of the equation due to the heavy reliance on getting the ball out quickly. "If your 1st or 2nd reads aren't there, find a way to get positive yards by extending the play" just wasn't ingrained in JVB after 3 years of KOK's system. JVB rarely seemed to do well when things went off schedule, regardless of the system; it was just far more common last year due to the system itself and the subsequent WR issues.
As far as the overthrowing; it was a flaw he had his RS Freshman year and never fully corrected. He managed it better in '11 than in '12 though, and I think you can probably chalk it up to 'pressing' and trying to be perfect. Just wasn't going to work with the system pass protection and communication.issues Iowa had.
Overall Retrospective:
Who has the most red ink on their hands here and how will that change for the upcoming season? sure everyone should share the blame but is the problem still on the team or will it still rear its ugly head from time to time in Iowa City?
As you say everyone got their hands dirty on this one. Ferentz knew who Greg Davis was and the system he'd be bringing when he hire dhim. Personally I think it's got to rest with Ferentz at the end of the day. To his credit Ferentz has tried to address it by revamping the assistant coaches. I really liked what Bobby Kennedy had to say in terms of the WR issues last season, he may have said it in a very PC way but it's clear he knows what some of the issues are. Hopefully I'll get some time to talk some Xs and Os with both Kennedy and Davis at the open practice.
Prognosis and Outlook:
Based on what you expect and afterwords what you observe on Saturday, what can we expect from this offense? More runs and checkdowns? Or is there reason to be excited? Has Iowa become stale or will they try to push the envelope this season or is there just not enough talent to do that and thus will dictate what we are able to do on O?
I think the multiple TE packages have to be an evolution Iowa undergoes. By multiple I mean some 3 TE sets. It should be very attractive to KF in terms of giving you the ability to be equally threatening to throw or run out of those formations. The template is out there; Stanford under Jim Harbaugh & Greg Roman was incredibly innovative with their ability and depth at TE. It has continued under Coach Shaw and has gotten even more creative. Stanford ran cluster TE trips sets and it stresses the hell out of a defense if done correctly. You can run a power run play or any number of passing plays of PA that will create some serious mismatches. Seattle has done it some in the NFL as well. Iowa has 4 capable TEs and really needs to find a way to turn that into some sustainable, reproducible offense.
