Spring Two Deep Roster & Thoughts

I agree, I think this could be the best trio of WR's that we've seen at Iowa in a LONG time. And the 3 running backs will be a HUGE advantage. I think CJ the freshman TE coming in will be in the mix. I feel GOOD about this team!

Also, I fired up my grill today...smells like football season!
 
theiowahawkeye said:
Eubanks went out at 280. James Ferentz is listed at 265. That is a 15 pound loss at the position.
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One issue there ... don't always believe listed weights. Even last year Ferentz was bigger than 265. On the flip side, Eubanks has been listed at 280 pretty much throughout his entire career. From most of what I've heard ... the listed weight of Eubanks has been sandbagged a bit.
 
Hawkeyes1982x said:
I agree, I think this could be the best trio of WR's that we've seen at Iowa in a LONG time. And the 3 running backs will be a HUGE advantage. I think CJ the freshman TE coming in will be in the mix. I feel GOOD about this team!

Also, I fired up my grill today...smells like football season!
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I wouldn't be selling Sandeman short. I'd say that DJK, McNutt, Sandeman, and Davis provide Iowa with its best quartet in recent history. Furthermore, add Reisner, Herman, Fiedorowicz, and a number of versatile RBs ... and you have a recipe for a passing game that has a ton of options.

However, Illini fans were saying the same thing about the talent of their skill guys heading into 2009 ... and poor OL-play, poor QB play, and poor team leadership led their O to sink faster than a ton of bricks.

Fortunately Iowa has a QB who has better leadership skills ... however, the effectiveness of our skill players will still end up hinging a lot upon how well and how quickly our OL gels.
 
hoffahawk said:
Tarp had a horrible game vs. tOSU, bad reads, getting pancaked by their TE, and was out of position a few other times.

In saying that it was just one game, he was an animal vs. GT on kick coverage and really hope that he has a great spring and can help out at LB this year.
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hoffa -

Tarp was also playing hurt for a hunk of the tOSU game. Also, the tOSU OL was doing a good job of blocking. Iowa's DL had their hands full with tOSU's OL. Tarp was having to fight through traffic a good bit more than our LBs are necessarily accustomed.

That said ... he did make mistakes. He made some pretty significant mistakes against Wisky in '08 too. It would seem that the big issue with him is consistency ... however, it's hard to be consistent when you don't consistently start. Hunter had some of the same problems before he started in consecutive games.
 
hoffahawk said:
You also forgot that other then one play vs GT he had great success against Morgan, a guy that on some lists will be a top ten draft pick this year.
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hoffa -

I didn't forget ... it's just that GT moved Morgan around so much that Bulaga had to handle Morgan for a good number of reps too.
 
tm3308 said:
He didn't look too good when he was in the OSU game. Made a bad read and got sucked inside, while Saine bolted right past where Tarp should have been. End result: 53 TD run.

Not really fair to judge him based on just that play, but Johnson looked pretty damn good against Minnesota, and Nielson's time has come. There's just too many guys there, someone has to get the short end of the stick.
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I know I have written this before, but that Td by Saine was more on Spievey than Tarp. If you go back and watch it Tarp takes a bad angle but so does Amari. But it was the Dline that really got pushed around in that game anyway.

I would bet by the end of spring Tarp is on the one line for MLB. The reason he isn't is because Davis and Johnson have more practice experience at the position. Physically he compares the most to Angerer. He will be the best in pass coverage by far which is what the position demands now.
 
spudhawk said:
I know I have written this before, but that Td by Saine was more on Spievey than Tarp. If you go back and watch it Tarp takes a bad angle but so does Amari. But it was the Dline that really got pushed around in that game anyway.

I would bet by the end of spring Tarp is on the one line for MLB. The reason he isn't is because Davis and Johnson have more practice experience at the position. Physically he compares the most to Angerer. He will be the best in pass coverage by far which is what the position demands now.
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Maybe I haven't paid enough attention, but Tarp doesn't strike me as a coverage guy. Nielson is the guy I think will be great in coverage. He's practically an Edds clone.
 
Everyone on the D-Line except for Clayborne btw... 12 tackles, 8 unassisted.

You have to look beyond that one run vs saine- there was another run (herron) that tarp got caught up inside and looked slow, out of place and indecisive... i would gather he was out of place often that game.
 
JHHawk said:
Actually, I think Sandeman is an excellent punt returner...and could be close to Eddie Hinkel next year. He has a real knack of making the first man miss and getting max yards out of each return.

Absolutely! Remember the disasterous returns when he went out? He is solid and KF was very high on his returns in press conferences last year.
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spudhawk said:
I know I have written this before, but that Td by Saine was more on Spievey than Tarp. If you go back and watch it Tarp takes a bad angle but so does Amari. But it was the Dline that really got pushed around in that game anyway.

I would bet by the end of spring Tarp is on the one line for MLB. The reason he isn't is because Davis and Johnson have more practice experience at the position. Physically he compares the most to Angerer. He will be the best in pass coverage by far which is what the position demands now.
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Yeah, I was surprised at the success tOSU's OL had against our DL. Clayborn may have had a good game ... however, it's never good when the opposing team is able to gain that many rushing yards on ya. Things won't get easier for us in 2010 against them either because Pryor will be a better passer by them and Posey and Sanzenbacher will be pretty veteran by then too. Stoneburner will have a good chance to break out this season too ... a big, tall target with elite speed for his size.

Anyhow, as for who will be vying for the MIKE spot ... I anticipate that Tarp and Johnson bring more to the table with regard to their coverage skills. However, I'll be interested to see what sort of progress Davis can make. He'll definitely see some quality positional reps this season. With Ferentz stating that he is anticipating that some TR FR will forego redshirting in order to gain experience ... by bets are that Morris and Poggi get the nod. To that end, I suspect that Morris will be backing up Hunter and Poggi will be backing up Nielsen. That way those guys will be able to see action in clean-up duty during the season. I think that it's a gimme that they'll see positional reps against EIU and Ball State ... and I'll be curious to see if we can enjoy a decent margin of victory against another team or two too. Considering that Minnesota, ISU, and Indiana are each getting pretty gutted on the defensive side of the ball ... they might end up bring prime candidates. It would be great if we could end up having 4 or 5 wins by comfortable margins ... the young guys could definitely use the reps.

And, speaking of guys needing reps ... I think that we're going to need young guys on the DL see early reps too. While I think that a 2011 DL manned by Binns, Daniel, Bigach, and Daniels has plenty of potential ... I'll be happier if Alvis and/or Donavan Johnson and/or Carl Davis can make an early splash in 2010 too.
 
tm3308 said:
Maybe I haven't paid enough attention, but Tarp doesn't strike me as a coverage guy. Nielson is the guy I think will be great in coverage. He's practically an Edds clone.
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Tarp and Johnson both have shown very nice flashes in coverage. Nielsen has great potential ... however, he's less of a known quantity (to fans) in coverage than the other two. Of course, that said, from what I recall seeing back in 2008 ... I'm confident that Nielsen will do a very solid job. Nielsen is a pretty rangy guy with really nice speed and a great reach. Hopefully Edds left a mark on Nielsen ... because it will be nice to have a LEO who can be so good in coverage.
 
The nice thing about these posts is that no matter your opinion on this player or that one, there are arguments to be made for/against any of the guys we are listing. Should be some great position battles this spring/summer and interested to see anyone elevates their status.
 
ibahawkeye said:
I know this is early and things will change but...

I was suprised to see that Tarpinian wasn't in line to be a starting LB. I also thought Bernstine would be a starting CB.
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I thought the same about Tarp.. He seemed to be a beast on special teams in 09. I just remember hearing his name more often than Nielsen
 
Some earlier talk about interior size. While size is important I think we need a center who can be nasty. That what Bruggs brought us 2 year ago and hopefully what one of the guys can bring us next year. Tough with good technique.....Ferentz will have the OL in shape I think. Need to keep the injuries at bay next year as I don't know how deep we will be in some spots.
 
Clearly,KF has a different philosophy on recruiting O-lineman than Wisky,for example. Their o-line recruits are generally 300lbs + when they arrive...then bulk up to 320-330.
I have to think that KF could go that way if he wanted..but he seems to prefer a leaner body type,then build up muscle. Now, wisky has success with their power running game with the behemoths up front...so hard to say they are wrong.
But, I presume KF is just not comfortable with those kinds of guy fitting his zone blocking scheme at Iowa. Bulaga was actually a tall,lean 305lber in HS...just had that kind of big frame.
I think we just have to resign ourselves to this approach by KF. Now, in theory, pass blocking is what we really need this year again,due to a senior qb and a great WR corp...and you would think huge,heavy o-linemen are better at that..or are qucker,lighter o-linemen better at pass-blocking?

I still have faith that KF knows what he is doing on the o-line..which is the most important unit on any football team...along with the dline.
 
Agree- I also love his statement about 9 or so guys "in the mix" through position battles. Will be very interesting to see where things end up after spring and even when summer starts.
 
How about the Van Sloten kid from Decorah, he looks like a mountain of a man on the sidelines last year, any word on his progress. He was pretty athletic in HS playing TE and I think he play bb as well.
 
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