Tracking 2012 Class Offers

[homerHAWKeye777]

Is there any news on the staff bringing in Junior College linemen for next year?

There doesn't appear to be any JUCOs on our immediate radar at this juncture in the recruiting game.

I wouldn't be surprised if we want after one as a walk-on ... but I'm doubting that we offer one at this point. My guess is that they coaches much rather land more of a "plug-n-play" type of guy right out of high school.

For as much as Iowa fans have been lamenting about the fact that we didn't offer Ebert ... the fact remains that he's still taking a redshirt this year at Oregon. In other words, while being a really productive player on the JUCO level ... he still wasn't quite ready to make an immediate splash on the D1 level.

It's pretty rare that a JUCO D-lineman ends up being a huge impact player from day-1. As a result, I figure that the coaching staff will rely more upon guys who are already on campus to elevate their game. We'll also be leaning heavily upon young guys to bolster our depth.

 

[TylerSash]

There doesn't appear to be any JUCOs on our immediate radar at this juncture in the recruiting game.

I wouldn't be surprised if we want after one as a walk-on ... but I'm doubting that we offer one at this point. My guess is that they coaches much rather land more of a "plug-n-play" type of guy right out of high school.

For as much as Iowa fans have been lamenting about the fact that we didn't offer Ebert ... the fact remains that he's still taking a redshirt this year at Oregon. In other words, while being a really productive player on the JUCO level ... he still wasn't quite ready to make an immediate splash on the D1 level.

It's pretty rare that a JUCO D-lineman ends up being a huge impact player from day-1. As a result, I figure that the coaching staff will rely more upon guys who are already on campus to elevate their game. We'll also be leaning heavily upon young guys to bolster our depth.

He is redshirting because of a shoulder injury.

The fact remains, he could have sat this year out and still of had 2 more years to play. And next year is when things get really scary for Iowa's DL. Like apocalyptically bad.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

He is redshirting because of a shoulder injury.

The fact remains, he could have sat this year out and still of had 2 more years to play. And next year is when things get really scary for Iowa's DL. Like apocalyptically bad.

LOL! Still it's a much better scenario than we were looking at in '05. If our situation is apocalyptically bad in '12 ... then how was our situation in '05?

Heck, given our gross lack of depth in '04 ... we had studs in Roth and Babs .... but Luebke was certainly not all-world ... and Derreck Robinson was in and out of the doghouse. Past those guys ... our depth on the DL was effectively non-existent. How would you have rated our DL situation in '04?

Anyhow, Iowa will have had guys who have been in the system for a little bit ... and guys like Carl Davis and Darian Cooper are both pretty promising players ... and on top of all that we've already landed one high-quality DT in the '12 recruiting class and we'll very possibly land another. It's probably fair to say that we could potentially get some help on the DL from one of the high-quality TR FR.

Thus, from all appearances, I'm willing to bet that Iowa ends up faring okay on the interior line ... and that's precisely where Ebert would have projected. Besides, there's also the trade-off that had we landed Ebert ... we may not have landed Cooper. In the recruiting game there are always trade-offs.

As for at DE ... we'll at least have Alvis.

Thus, having 3 DL spots that will probably be adequately manned ... at least from a talent-standpoint ... our main problem would appear to be at DE. We definitely need a quality DE to step up ... and we definitely need better depth at DE. Does that necessarily put us in an apocalyptically bad situation? I doubt it. Certainly not an ideal situation ... but not terrible either.

If there's any good news ... I bet that the opportunity at DE might be able to help us attract and land a high-quality DE in recruiting. And that would be good news. And, that would also NOT be a spot that Ebert would have helped us at!

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

He is redshirting because of a shoulder injury.

The fact remains, he could have sat this year out and still of had 2 more years to play. And next year is when things get really scary for Iowa's DL. Like apocalyptically bad.

Also, had he an injured shoulder at Iowa ... it would also not place him in any better spot to start in 2012. Therefore, we would still be lamenting about how poor our depth was on the DL ... and how "iffy" our DL play will likely be at the start of the 2012 season.

Of course, I'd also urge you to check out what our OOC schedule looks like in '12. If you did ... you'd realize that the schedule is favorable enough that we likely could manage to survive the OOC slate while we're waiting on the DL play to develop and improve.

 

[thejumper5]

Add ATH Ka'Ra Stewart of O'Fallon, IL to the list. Stewart is 6-0, 190, and holds offers from Iowa, Mizzou, Illinois, and UAB.

O'Fallon is just outside St. Louis and O'Fallon HS is a rival of Edwardsville HS, the home of Rodney Coe.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SumbLMO5cHc]Ka'Ra (K.C.) Stewart: Senior Highlights, games 1-6, O'Fallon (Il.) Football, 2011 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[alexzelada]

He is redshirting because of a shoulder injury.

The fact remains, he could have sat this year out and still of had 2 more years to play. And next year is when things get really scary for Iowa's DL. Like apocalyptically bad.

Agree with the above.

 

[Churlish79]

So, any details on all the visiting recruits we saw this weekend?

We certainly put on a display in Kinnick at night

 

[speak34]

So, any details on all the visiting recruits we saw this weekend?

We certainly put on a display in Kinnick at night

Anthony Morgan tweeted

Iowa visit=AMAZING!!!!

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

I agree, that's what I meant. I think everyone had high hopes to get Lohn, Clark, or Faith at DE. However if we get Ott and Bevin, that means none of the others are on board.

With the "super-power" of hindsight ... I'm inclined to guess that the offer to Bevin is linked to Raymon's departure.

We had a 'ship open up ... so they decided to offer a kid who was high on their board.

 

[Churlish79]

With the "super-power" of hindsight ... I'm inclined to guess that the offer to Bevin is linked to Raymon's departure.

We had a 'ship open up ... so they decided to offer a kid who was high on their board.

This sounds like the likely culprit.. as it sounds like the program and Raymon have known it was over much longer than this weekend, when we finally saw the information.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

This sounds like the likely culprit.. as it sounds like the program and Raymon have known it was over much longer than this weekend, when we finally saw the information.

The good news there is that it no longer suggests that we're out of the running for Lohn or Ekakatie. Both of those guys are the type who could fill the Clayborn sort of mold on the outside. We're really going to need a guy who has the chops who can step in and provide us with some quality reps as a TR FR. Right now we have Alvis at DE ... and he's about it at DE. I'm a lot more confident about how we look at DT right now as compared to how we look at DE.

 

[HwkFn4Life]

Dont forget Gaglione, Tsopanides, Spears, Trinca-Pasat, and Hardy. Just cause there not playing now doesn't mean they can't make strides in the offseason. I'd throw McMinn in there as well, but his is more physical development than anything. I know Trinca-Pasat, Tsopanides and Gaglione are working at DT, but I think all 3 could end up playing strongside DE. Bigach could even wind up at end. I would never count on a TR FR coming in and playing ahead of a guy already in the program.

I realize that no one really sees any All-Americans out of this list, but I think your going to see another 6-9 man rotation next year as well. Someone will emerge though to run opposite of Alvis.

 

[TylerSash]

Dont forget Gaglione, Tsopanides, Spears, Trinca-Pasat, and Hardy. Just cause there not playing now doesn't mean they can't make strides in the offseason. I'd throw McMinn in there as well, but his is more physical development than anything. I know Trinca-Pasat, Tsopanides and Gaglione are working at DT, but I think all 3 could end up playing strongside DE. Bigach could even wind up at end. I would never count on a TR FR coming in and playing ahead of a guy already in the program.

I realize that no one really sees any All-Americans out of this list, but I think your going to see another 6-9 man rotation next year as well. Someone will emerge though to run opposite of Alvis.

Hardy and Trinca-P not being able to crack the rotation on this line is a BAAAAAD sign.

 

[Clark]

Hardy and Trinca-P not being able to crack the rotation on this line is a BAAAAAD sign.

I know this is hard to believe, but sometimes players get better.

 

[TylerSash]

I know this is hard to believe, but sometimes players get better.

And sometimes they don't.

 

[Clark]

And sometimes they don't.

That's true, but what a ****** outlook to have. Seriously, is it just Iowa football that you have this outlook on, or is it life in general.

 

[superfan12]

That's true, but what a ****** outlook to have. Seriously, is it just Iowa football that you have this outlook on, or is it life in general.

His life in general. He's probably some 37yr old wannabe football player who lives in his parents' basement.

 

[515southside]

-Homer does Iowa have a shot with Dorial Green-Beckham.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

-Homer does Iowa have a shot with Dorial Green-Beckham.

No

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

Hardy and Trinca-P not being able to crack the rotation on this line is a BAAAAAD sign.

You're clearly not an educator. There are a few principles that are probably being exercised here ....
- Consistency really should be rewarded. Ask yourself ... especially with the benefit of hindsight ... why was Kroul able to hold his position ahead of Bain?
- You also need to put guys in a position to be successful. If you don't put them in such a position ... it can negatively impact their development. Again, with the benefit of hindsight, we know that Klug was a monster ... and has done a lot better than just landing on a NFL roster. Now ask yourself ... why wasn't he starting ahead of King and/or Kroul in '08? You might argue that he was undersized ... but King was even more undersized when he was a starter in '05. So ... should Klug have been a starter in '08 ... NO! Klug was given an opportunity to provide the D with some substantial sparks in '08 ... and he was able to gain a lot of confidence and quality experience that season. He was then able to use those reps to propel him to be a pretty dominating player in the 2 years that he was a starter!


Anyhow, I've heard a few folks claim that there are rumors surrounding Hardy suggesting that he is soft. I don't know about that ... maybe that is, in fact, the case. We'll have to see about that. However, I have heard folks relay some pretty positive reviews concerning Trinca-Pasat ... of course, my bet is that consistency is likely still an issue for him. Similarly, this past spring, Brod was "dropping names" concerning guys who had been looking pretty good ... and he explicitly said that Hardy and Gaglione had been doing some good things. Given that there were plenty of names he didn't mention ... that suggests that he was at least trying to be somewhat discriminating with his praise. Again ... we'll have to wait and see ....

My bet is that the fact that we have so many upperclassmen on the DL is a big reason why some of those underclassmen having been seeing too many reps. Given the play that we've seen from those upperclassmen ... I think that the coaches have been making some good decisions too.