We lost 7 players to the NFL, that concerns me

[DuffMan]

An article in another thread made mention that Iowa has 7 players participating in the NFL combine. While all 7 may not actually be drafted/signed and stick in the NFL they are all NFL or near NFL quality. Further more these 7 were all every down players, it’s not like there were any specialists on the list. That represents about 1/3 of our total starting offense and defense.

Isn’t this cause for some concern with next year’s team? Yes I realize that we have some capable players coming in but to think that all 7 will be NFL caliber players seems overly optimistic.

Even the big boys of college football (USC, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, and yes fOSU) sometimes struggle when they have large losses to the NFL. When you go back and look at those teams down years it is either a key injury (Bradford this year) or massive losses to the NFL that is the culprit.

It would stand to reason Iowa would have an even MORE difficult time filling the shoes of those caliber players as they don’t have the same depth that some of those other teams do. History tells us it’s pretty rare for Iowa to have more than a handful of NFL players in any one class. Shouldn’t we expect the drop off in talent at these 7 positions to be considerable and possibly indicate a decline in wins next year?

I guess my question is this….

With roughly 33% of our roster gone from last year to the NFL what makes us think we will be able to fill those roster holes adequately enough to have a better season in 10 than we did in 09?

 

[DesMoinesHawki]

Valid question ... Hopefully Iowa is to the point where it is "next man in."

 

[theboat]

Honestly, yes this concerns me, but I think things will be OK. Ferentz is a guy that seems to learn from his mistakes (see '02-'03 Orange Bowl, 2007 season) and the last few years have been very promising. People thought King and Kroul were not replaceable and they stuck in a DE and an undersized Klug and they did great. Greene leaves, Hampton and Brinson go down and two freshman emerge. I think that the OL is obviously going to take a hit, but that is where I have the most confidence in coaching. Edds and Angerer were great, but Davis, Johnson, Tarp, etc filled in great when they were needed. Spievey is awesome, but he will be replaced with a veteran who was supposed to start this year. I have confidence that, at least this year, Iowa will reload and not rebuild.

 

[HawKCP]

An article in another thread made mention that Iowa has 7 players participating in the NFL combine. While all 7 may not actually be drafted/signed and stick in the NFL they are all NFL or near NFL quality. Further more these 7 were all every down players, it’s not like there were any specialists on the list. That represents about 1/3 of our total starting offense and defense.

Isn’t this cause for some concern with next year’s team? Yes I realize that we have some capable players coming in but to think that all 7 will be NFL caliber players seems overly optimistic.

Even the big boys of college football (USC, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, and yes fOSU) sometimes struggle when they have large losses to the NFL. When you go back and look at those teams down years it is either a key injury (Bradford this year) or massive losses to the NFL that is the culprit.

It would stand to reason Iowa would have an even MORE difficult time filling the shoes of those caliber players as they don’t have the same depth that some of those other teams do. History tells us it’s pretty rare for Iowa to have more than a handful of NFL players in any one class. Shouldn’t we expect the drop off in talent at these 7 positions to be considerable and possibly indicate a decline in wins next year?

I guess my question is this….

With roughly 33% of our roster gone from last year to the NFL what makes us think we will be able to fill those roster holes adequately enough to have a better season in 09 than we did in 08?

Furthermore is one word.

While none of the 7 are specialists...Dace and Moeaki did miss a decent amount playing time this year...and Moeaki has missed a lot of pt over the last few years. You could also throw Bulaga on that list as a guy who missed some time this year.

Their inability to stay healthy has allowed for some guys to step in and get playing time...we do have some guys stepping in who have seen the field a fair amount...in Reiff's case he has seen the field a lot and looked very impressive...I also feel good about Reisner's ability to step in and make plays.

Losing 7 major contributors can be cause for concern...in some instances here I'm not all that concerned.

 

[DuffMan]

Furthermore is one word.

Take it up with Bill Gates. I cut and paste from word for most posts.

 

[HawKCP]

Take it up with Bill Gates. I cut and paste from word for most posts.

Further and more are indeed both words...so your spell check would not catch that. However, in the context of your sentence...the appropriate usage would be furthermore.

 

[seepig]

Bulaga will be missed no doubt. Spievey will be somewhat. The others were Seniors and every program deals with the loss of Sr. studs. Iowa will be no different.

 

[DuffMan]

Further and more are indeed both words...so your spell check would not catch that. However, in the context of your sentence...the appropriate usage would be furthermore.

Microsoft has had the ability to "spell check" for usage and context for several years now, further more its not my responsiblity to ensure it works in regards to usage of the term furthermore.

Now back to the question at hand, doesn't loosing 7 players to the NFL draft worry you folks?

 

[ChosenChildren]

I think this situation is comparable to two other seasons:

1. In 1985 we had a great team, went 10-1, and lost a ton of great seniors, including Chuck Long and Larry Station. The following season we went 8-3 and won the Holiday Bowl.

2. In 2004 we went 9-2, had a great team, and lost a ton of seniors, particularly on defense. The following year, we went 7-4 and played in the Outback Bowl.

Our graduation losses from the 2009 team will hurt. I predict 8-4 this fall, and then a New Year's Day bowl game (either Outback or Gator). There is nothing wrong with a season like that.

I don't see us in the BCS hunt like this year, but I sure hope I'm wrong.

 

[lightning1]

Its reason for some concern. One thing has been the difference in Iowa FB over KF's tenure. Injuries. We are solid across the board, 1 deep. In some positions, 2-deep. We cant afford the injuries to mount up on Iowa FB teams. There is some luck and timing involved in that. Lets hope for good luck.

 

[DesertHawk2010]

I think the reason that people are optimistic about the losses is that they are in positions where we have reloaded in the past. Iowa has cycled in very good offensive linemen since 2002. Linebacker is the other big loss this year. I feel like we've done this in the past, "oh no! who will replace Greenway and Hodge?" "oh no! who will replace Klinkenborg and Humpal?" "oh no! who will replace Angerer and Edds?" Next man in fellas.

 

[tweeterhawk]

Worried about sending 7 players to the NFL combine? Are you kidding? You can't buy that sort of pub for the Iowa football program and Kirk Ferentz. (Well, you can if you're USC or Notre Dame.)

It speaks volumes for the quality of the program and the prospects of playing on Sundays if you come to Iowa City. Certainly it's fodder Kirk can take into a kid's living room. It can only help attract better recruits to a program that doesn't get its fair share of national attention.

Kirk, Norm, Soup and the rest have this program in re-load mode. Truly next man in.

 

[deanvogs]

I was worried about losing Shoone last year and Jewell, but A-Rob and Wegher did a nice job stepping in. Would our offense have been better off with Shoone or Jewell? I think of course we would have, but whether that lead to more wins is hard to know. The coaching staff does a great job of hiding any weaknesses, and playing to the strengths. We leaned heavily on the D last year with great results. I think 2010 will be much the same, The front 4 are going to be awesome, and the back 4 will be solid, so the 2 new linebackers just need to take care of their assignments. If the offensive line comes together, and is even mediocure, I think we could be very good.

 

[ThunderHawk]

R-E-L-O-A-D

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

Why be worried? Look at where the losses where ...

- Lost a CB ... but CB is a position where we have great depth and talent! Spievey out ... Bernstine/Hyde/Lowe in!

- Lost two very talented LBs ... however, it just so happens that we have a very veteran and talented group of LBs.

- To complement the above two points ... the LBs have the benefit of playing behind an ELITE DL! Furthermore, the new starting CB will have the benefit of playing alongside an exceptionally veteran and talented group of safeties!

- We lose a lot of talent on the OL. Admittedly we'll definitely be able to see the "greenness" on the field on the OL ... however, that said, we still have very good talent on the OL and pretty good experience there. Lastly, our coaching on the OL is tremendous!

- We lose Moeaki at TE ... however, we still return Reisner who is a beast. Furthermore, we also have Herman who is pretty darn promising AND I think that we're all pretty hopeful that Fiedorowicz will be a future star!

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

Furthermore, look at how many NFL guys we're graduating after the 2010 season. My prediction:

NFL draft material:
- Clayborn
- Ballard
- Hunter
- Reisner
- Vandervelde (good shot for a high draft pick)
- DJK

NFL FA material:
- Klug (he's draft material if he can put on more size too)
- Morse
- Tarp
- Greenwood

Furthermore, we'll be playing plenty of JRs and underclassmen on the roster who have NFL-caliber talent too!

 

[HawkeyeShane]

Why be worried? Look at where the losses where ...

- Lost a CB ... but CB is a position where we have great depth and talent! Spievey out ... Bernstine/Hyde/Lowe in!

- Lost two very talented LBs ... however, it just so happens that we have a very veteran and talented group of LBs.

- To complement the above two points ... the LBs have the benefit of playing behind an ELITE DL! Furthermore, the new starting CB will have the benefit of playing alongside an exceptionally veteran and talented group of safeties!

- We lose a lot of talent on the OL. Admittedly we'll definitely be able to see the "greenness" on the field on the OL ... however, that said, we still have very good talent on the OL and pretty good experience there. Lastly, our coaching on the OL is tremendous!

- We lose Moeaki at TE ... however, we still return Reisner who is a beast. Furthermore, we also have Herman who is pretty darn promising AND I think that we're all pretty hopeful that Fiedorowicz will be a future star!

Nicely done Homer.

 

[tweeterhawk]

Furthermore, look at how many NFL guys we're graduating after the 2010 season. My prediction:

NFL draft material:
- Clayborn
- Ballard
- Hunter
- Reisner
- Vandervelde (good shot for a high draft pick)
- DJK

NFL FA material:
- Klug (he's draft material if he can put on more size too)
- Morse
- Tarp
- Greenwood

Furthermore, we'll be playing plenty of JRs and underclassmen on the roster who have NFL-caliber talent too!

Success breeds success.

R E L O A D.

 

[DuffMan]

I think this is also a major culprit in what happened this year (along with leadership). You can make the argument that not only did we have draft losses at these key leadership spots but we also had major injury problems but ultimately injuries happen every year.

As I said in the OP even the tier 1 programs (Oklahoma, OSU, USC etc) occasionally struggle when they have big losses to the NFL.

 

[HawkeyeNTexas]

I think this is also a major culprit in what happened this year (along with leadership). You can make the argument that not only did we have draft losses at these key leadership spots but we also had major injury problems but ultimately injuries happen every year.

As I said in the OP even the tier 1 programs (Oklahoma, OSU, USC etc) occasionally struggle when they have big losses to the NFL.

I agree that injury problems did hurt this team, but I thought the talent level was equal, if not better than last years team. The problem boiled down to one thing. Motivation. This team simply gave up. They played uninspired football most of the year.

One of my only complaints since KF first started coaching at Iowa is that you never know what team you are going to get. Mentally his teams are a crapshoot. He loses to teams he is supposed to beat and beats teams he's not "supposed" to beat. The mental aspect of his teams just kills me and it doesn't make sense.