Top Tackle Target Beau Stephens Enjoying Tight Bond with Iowa

[kameltoez102]

Part of the issue with the run game is guys either being injured or forced to play before they were really ready due to attrition. If James Daniels hadn't left early it would have given some guys an extra year for experience. Then looking back as recently as last year we had some crucial injuries with Jackson, Schott, and Kallenberger. If those three guys don't go down I think at least the Michigan game plays a little different as I don't think their pressure would have been as great.

Also, to give credit where credit is due Iowa also played over half their schedule against top 30 defenses in 2019.

If you look back at 2015 we averaged over 180 yards a game which was under Greg Davis where last year it was 130 and had been falling quite a bit since 2016. Also. at least in my opinion the stable of backs in 2015/2016 were much better and the two deeps for the OL were better. Lots of moving parts that goign into the total package.

The last few years as well we have had no game breaker at RB that can erase blocking mistakes or take a short gain and turn it into a long run or touchdown around the edge. The longest run last year was 55 yards and only 40 yards for 2018

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

Part of the issue with the run game is guys either being injured or forced to play before they were really ready due to attrition. If James Daniels hadn't left early it would have given some guys an extra year for experience. Then looking back as recently as last year we had some crucial injuries with Jackson, Schott, and Kallenberger. If those three guys don't go down I think at least the Michigan game plays a little different as I don't think their pressure would have been as great.

Also, to give credit where credit is due Iowa also played over half their schedule against top 30 defenses in 2019.

If you look back at 2015 we averaged over 180 yards a game which was under Greg Davis where last year it was 130 and had been falling quite a bit since 2016. Also. at least in my opinion the stable of backs in 2015/2016 were much better and the two deeps for the OL were better. Lots of moving parts that goign into the total package.

The last few years as well we have had no game breaker at RB that can erase blocking mistakes or take a short gain and turn it into a long run or touchdown around the edge. The longest run last year was 55 yards and only 40 yards for 2018

Those are all definitely factors, especially losing Daniels early. I would point out that Jackson doesn't play inside, and Kallenberger was playing out of position. We have generally been pretty solid at tackle.

Regardless, in terms of the interior - and this is not intended to be a criticism of the players at all - we need to shoot higher in recruiting than guys like Levi Paulsen, Banwart, Reynolds and Schott, especially when you factor in the evolving trend of players leaving early. We are not always going to have the luxury of developing players that peak late anymore (which is a good thing program wise), and need to focus on getting better quality up front. Based upon the recent recruiting, it appears we are doing so. We have some very nice young talent on the roster and coming in as well.

 

[kameltoez102]

Those are all definitely factors, especially losing Daniels early. I would point out that Jackson doesn't play inside, and Kallenberger was playing out of position. We have generally been pretty solid at tackle.

Regardless, in terms of the interior - and this is not intended to be a criticism of the players at all - we need to shoot higher in recruiting than guys like Levi Paulsen, Banwart, Reynolds and Schott, especially when you factor in the evolving trend of players leaving early. We are not always going to have the luxury of developing players that peak late anymore (which is a good thing program wise), and need to focus on getting better quality up front. Based upon the recent recruiting, it appears we are doing so. We have some very nice young talent on the roster and coming in as well.

Agreed, it was glaringly apparent that after we had the injuries there were guys that stepped in that were not ready and unfortunately had been guys in the system for a few years such as the Paulsens. At some point you have to live with your recruits and hope that they step up when given the opportunity.

I will say that I do like how Schott plays with an edge to him. With some more time on my hands the last several weeks I have went back and watched many of the games from the last year or two and that is something that has not been consistent with the line play as well as playing to the whistle.

 

[NikeHawk21]

I think there has been some fall off on the interior offensive line talent the last 5 years. I also think our talent at RB has took a couple years off from Wadley to Goodson. That said, we have not

Part of the issue with the run game is guys either being injured or forced to play before they were really ready due to attrition. If James Daniels hadn't left early it would have given some guys an extra year for experience. Then looking back as recently as last year we had some crucial injuries with Jackson, Schott, and Kallenberger. If those three guys don't go down I think at least the Michigan game plays a little different as I don't think their pressure would have been as great.

Also, to give credit where credit is due Iowa also played over half their schedule against top 30 defenses in 2019.

If you look back at 2015 we averaged over 180 yards a game which was under Greg Davis where last year it was 130 and had been falling quite a bit since 2016. Also. at least in my opinion the stable of backs in 2015/2016 were much better and the two deeps for the OL were better. Lots of moving parts that goign into the total package.

The last few years as well we have had no game breaker at RB that can erase blocking mistakes or take a short gain and turn it into a long run or touchdown around the edge. The longest run last year was 55 yards and only 40 yards for 2018

had a back that both had moves and physicality (like they have at Wisconsin) in some time. It seems we have backs that are either big and run you over, or are small and make you miss. We need those traits in one back.

As for zone blocking, that is not the issue IMHO. A number of NFL teams use it, and it is effective when taught correctly. The problem the last few years has been playcalling. BF has been very hit or miss on game planning and play calling. I think he is trending in the right direction, slowly. We have played to tendency too much, which means if you know a run is coming and load the box, it does not matter what type of block you try.

I also think BF has been hampered a bit by Stanley being conservative and not a dynamic playmaker off script. Not a criticism of NS, he did what the coach's asked of him and was very efficient. But, sometimes you need a guy to move the sticks even when your playcalling stinks. CJ had that ability. Hopefully Petras does as well.

I think the zone blocking scheme has been at least a portion of the problem, particularly when you factor in the new rules emphasis on below-the-knee blocking. Frankly, our coaches have had significant difficulty adjusting to the new rules.

The lack of interior talent you referenced is definitely a factor as well. Our blocking scheme puts a lot of pressure on the guards and centers to execute, but if the talent is questionable, the results will be as well. Also, teams were not only loading the box, they were basically selling out at the snap as soon as they saw the shift by essentially throwing LBs and a safety into the line in an effort to completely disrupt the scheme, and it was effective. Towards the end of last season, we saw Brian make some changes to counter that strategy, but it took a few butt-kickings to get there.

As for RBs, yes, for whatever reason, we have really struggled recruiting that position. Hopefully, with Goodson the trend is changing, but it's been an issue for quite some time. Parks and Harris could very well keep us on the right path.

The biggest problem with the zone scheme in my mind is the amount of negative plays it produces. If you run a run play on first down for a loss of yardage it’s absolutely devastating to being able to play winning football.

Those still holding onto zone blocking always site the NFL. But man those are the best of of the best and it’s just different IMO. It’s hard to consistently recruit guys athletic enough, big enough (this is a trade off too because need quicker generally smaller guys to do it), and smart enough to employ the zone blocking scheme on a consistent basis at the college level. As Diehard stated the cut block rule had a big effect as well.

When you put Iowa up to the smell test it just doesn’t check out. You have KF an offensive line guru, tons of talent produced on the Oline (Scherff, Daniels, Wirfs, Blythe etc), and yet we still have been a below average running team for the last 10 years. I just simply can’t believe that is all about Runningbacks.

As I’ve said many times, this is at least in part a scheme issue. The good news is we’ve heard recently from the coaches that they might be catching on and changing tactics at least to some degree.

 

[NikeHawk21]

Those are all definitely factors, especially losing Daniels early. I would point out that Jackson doesn't play inside, and Kallenberger was playing out of position. We have generally been pretty solid at tackle.

Regardless, in terms of the interior - and this is not intended to be a criticism of the players at all - we need to shoot higher in recruiting than guys like Levi Paulsen, Banwart, Reynolds and Schott, especially when you factor in the evolving trend of players leaving early. We are not always going to have the luxury of developing players that peak late anymore (which is a good thing program wise), and need to focus on getting better quality up front. Based upon the recent recruiting, it appears we are doing so. We have some very nice young talent on the roster and coming in as well.

Agreed, it was glaringly apparent that after we had the injuries there were guys that stepped in that were not ready and unfortunately had been guys in the system for a few years such as the Paulsens. At some point you have to live with your recruits and hope that they step up when given the opportunity.

I will say that I do like how Schott plays with an edge to him. With some more time on my hands the last several weeks I have went back and watched many of the games from the last year or two and that is something that has not been consistent with the line play as well as playing to the whistle.

The thing is though, this is far from a one year problem, this is a trend. Go back and look at Iowa’s running stats over the last ten years. With supposedly a great Oline tradition school and coach, that simply doesn’t add up, even if Pewee Herman was playing Runningback.

 

[thawks]

Talked to a former center for Iowa. He said the Michigan game and PSU game the D did things due to our inexperience at center. This caused him problems getting the right call for the line. He said it will pay dividends in the future. Inexperience was taken advantage of.

 

[RobHowe]

Talked to a former center for Iowa. He said the Michigan game and PSU game the D did things due to our inexperience at center. This caused him problems getting the right call for the line. He said it will pay dividends in the future. Inexperience was taken advantage of.

That's good insight and seemed apparent. And then Iowa as flimsy at guard, which added to the issues.

I would think other teams tried to exploit TL, but Michigan and Penn State had the horses up front to do it.

 

[Hawkboys]

Talked to a former center for Iowa. He said the Michigan game and PSU game the D did things due to our inexperience at center. This caused him problems getting the right call for the line. He said it will pay dividends in the future. Inexperience was taken advantage of.

Was it Brian?

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

Agreed, it was glaringly apparent that after we had the injuries there were guys that stepped in that were not ready and unfortunately had been guys in the system for a few years such as the Paulsens. At some point you have to live with your recruits and hope that they step up when given the opportunity.

I will say that I do like how Schott plays with an edge to him. With some more time on my hands the last several weeks I have went back and watched many of the games from the last year or two and that is something that has not been consistent with the line play as well as playing to the whistle.

I like Schott too. He's the classic Kirk guy - lunchpail attitude with high effort. The problem is, as we discussed, we can't always rely upon guys with a low floor and potentially high ceiling. The recruiting emphasis should be on finding more ready-made talent. If they happen to also have Schott's attitude, more the better. That's ideal.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

Talked to a former center for Iowa. He said the Michigan game and PSU game the D did things due to our inexperience at center. This caused him problems getting the right call for the line. He said it will pay dividends in the future. Inexperience was taken advantage of.

That's probably at least partially true, but Wisconsin did to us to death in '17 with an experienced center (to be fair, they did it to a lot of teams that season), so the issue probably relates more than just having a frosh at center. As Nike pointed out, this has been an issue for awhile. It's multi-layered. We need better talent on the interior, better talent at RB (not including Goodson in that comment) and more creative play-calling/adjustments (both of which appear to be happening now).

 

[kameltoez102]

The biggest problem with the zone scheme in my mind is the amount of negative plays it produces. If you run a run play on first down for a loss of yardage it’s absolutely devastating to being able to play winning football.

Those still holding onto zone blocking always site the NFL. But man those are the best of of the best and it’s just different IMO. It’s hard to consistently recruit guys athletic enough, big enough (this is a trade off too because need quicker generally smaller guys to do it), and smart enough to employ the zone blocking scheme on a consistent basis at the college level. As Diehard stated the cut block rule had a big effect as well.

When you put Iowa up to the smell test it just doesn’t check out. You have KF an offensive line guru, tons of talent produced on the Oline (Scherff, Daniels, Wirfs, Blythe etc), and yet we still have been a below average running team for the last 10 years. I just simply can’t believe that is all about Runningbacks.

As I’ve said many times, this is at least in part a scheme issue. The good news is we’ve heard recently from the coaches that they might be catching on and changing tactics at least to some degree.

I think scheme has played a part as well and in particular based on the talent at back in the game at the time. I don't think you can just have one system for all. If you take Wadley and Daniels both could cut back and had the speed to create a big gain but the overall traits were much different and I think certain plays would have more success depending on the back in the game.

I am not against the zone blocking scheme at all and I like many of the principles, my biggest argument has been that is predominantly what we run with no variety. How often do we pull guys or run trap style plays? How often do we run a regular toss sweep? I think the scheme would be much more effective if there were more variety. I don't think Iowa has done a good job getting the defense to adjust to us.

If you look at a number of the audible calls typically it is called to the side where we have the number advantage as we line up. How often do we create the advantage by pulling guys or bringing a TE back to the line? It seems like "Oh we planned to run to the wide side of the field but the defense has more players so I guess we will run to the other side" If we want to run to the wide side then we can move guys and pull guys around and that is where I see the lack of variety. We all know this and the opposing coaches know this, as they has said as much.

If the defense is able to shoot the gaps and get penetration the zone scheme can get ugly in a hurry and creates a ton of negative plays. If you watch the games where the offense really gets moving there are far fewer negative run plays and our style of play where we don't have a ton of possessions that can really take its toll if we can't get moving forward. I think a lot of it comes down to the vanilla scheme and predictability of what we run.

 

[NikeHawk21]

I like Schott too. He's the classic Kirk guy - lunchpail attitude with high effort. The problem is, as we discussed, we can't always rely upon guys with a low floor and potentially high ceiling. The recruiting emphasis should be on finding more ready-made talent. If they happen to also have Schott's attitude, more the better. That's ideal.

The good news is Oline recruiting seems to be on the up and up. I think Elsbury in the 2020 class is an absolute stud and then this years class is going to be a top 3 Oline class of any team in the country. Colby had an Ohio State offer, Davidkov had an Ohio State offer. Stephens had an LSU offer. Oline looks promising in the coming years.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

Absolutely. We are killing it with the O-line recruiting. I hope they all stick with the program and remain patient, but I applaud the staff's efforts there.

Perhaps the staff finally started to realize that to compete consistently in the modern B1G, it wasn't just about those developmental feel-good stories anymore. One weak link in the chain, especially in the zone system, can have disastrous affects.

 

[SpiderRico]

Of course it's the RBs. When's the last time we had an RB taken by an NFL team even as an UFA?

I'm sorry, but if there's no locker room fight in 2010 which causes Melvin Gordon to decommit from Iowa and go to Wisconsin and if Iowa doesn't go after Eno in 2016, which means we probably get Jonathan Taylor, then we aren't having this discussion at all because those guys would have been dominant at Iowa just like they were at Wisky.

Until we can start getting top flight RB talent like we used to when we had Russel, Lewis, Young, and Greene, then we're going to keep having this convo about a substandard running game.

 

[NikeHawk21]

Of course it's the RBs. When's the last time we had an RB taken by an NFL team even as an UFA?

I'm sorry, but if there's no locker room fight in 2010 which causes Melvin Gordon to decommit from Iowa and go to Wisconsin and if Iowa doesn't go after Eno in 2016, which means we probably get Jonathan Taylor, then we aren't having this discussion at all because those guys would have been dominant at Iowa just like they were at Wisky.

Until we can start getting top flight RB talent like we used to when we had Russel, Lewis, Young, and Greene, then we're going to keep having this convo about a substandard running game.

Where are you coming up with that Jonathan Taylor thing? 247 reports no interest or offer from Iowa.

Also Wadley, L Daniels, and Butler all had at least a cup of coffee in the NFL. While I agree we haven’t had the RBs Wisconsin has, I still maintain that doesn’t tell the whole story. Wisconsin has a former walk on Garrett Groshek who has a career YPC of 5.5 through three years with over 900 yards.

Iowa’s Oline play hasn’t lived up to the “perception” of what it is for several years. I believe it’s scheme related.

 

[Xerxes]

The lack of an elite RB is what has separated us from Wisconsin for many years. Plus, some puzzling coaching.

I throw in OL production as well. Iowa has produced some great individuals but have had very few good OL units over the last decade.

Even their best recent OL 2015/2016 got CJ killed because they couldn't pass block.

 

[thawks]

That's probably at least partially true, but Wisconsin did to us to death in '17 with an experienced center (to be fair, they did it to a lot of teams that season), so the issue probably relates more than just having a frosh at center. As Nike pointed out, this has been an issue for awhile. It's multi-layered. We need better talent on the interior, better talent at RB (not including Goodson in that comment) and more creative play-calling/adjustments (both of which appear to be happening now).

No idea that comment was made by the former player referring to those 2 games.

 

[revkev73]

And I don't understand why 4 star RB's wouldn't consistently want to come to Iowa an run behind these lines. Probably one of the most NFL style teams in college, talking game plan and how the team prepares.

Correct

 

[revkev73]

I throw in OL production as well. Iowa has produced some great individuals but have had very few good OL units over the last decade.

Even their best recent OL 2015/2016 got CJ killed because they couldn't pass block.

It needs to be figured out to win championships. In the big games, vs the talented teams, it is pretty glaring.

 

[SheagleHawk]

The good news is Oline recruiting seems to be on the up and up. I think Elsbury in the 2020 class is an absolute stud and then this years class is going to be a top 3 Oline class of any team in the country. Colby had an Ohio State offer, Davidkov had an Ohio State offer. Stephens had an LSU offer. Oline looks promising in the coming years.

Really sucks about Miller too bc by all accounts he was a monster