Webb: Football Junkie's Spring Practice Breakdown

Very well done! I was extremely impressed with the offensive line today, they really eased a lot of my concerns for next fall. Ferentz looked terrific, something I wasn't really expecting.

The defense looks to be in great shape. I didn't get to see a lot of what they were doing (didn't have the best seat), but I'm not overly surprised the Bernstine may be our #4 corner. Hyde was downright good, and everybody knew what we would get from Prater (he seems to be this year's Bradley Fletcher to Hyde's Amari Spievey). And a lot of people were down on Lowe after the ASU game last year, and quite a few of those people didn't notice how much he improved after that. I wasn't at all surprised to see him compete well, even when he was physically overmatched by Nordmann. Nordmann had to make some highlight reel catches to get receptions (which was very pleasant to see), it was very good coverage by Lowe. Nordmann is going to get quite a bit of PT this year. Just imagine on the goalline lining up with Nordmann, McNutt, and CJ. Nobody would be able to stop us in the redzone.
 
I'm very happy to see that Lowe is lying down and just giving away his position on the depth chart to Bernstine. Lowe owns 2 more career starts under his belt than Bernstine has ... and that likely has fed his confidence.

I definitely hope for the best for Bernstine ... however, I'm not going to cry if having a VERY high level of competition is what ends up costing him playing time ... then so be it if it makes the Hawks a better squad.
 
I realize that with many fans this will be blasphemy...but I was more excited about Weinke initially than Vandenberg and sort of wondered last year how close the two were because it seemed like all I have heard for two years is how special Vandenberg is.

Webb - you seem to be fairly impressed with Weinke - I'm assuming Vandenberg has the backup spot locked up for this year - if anyone can make an educated guess where do the two sit in comparison to each other on the depth chart for this year and next?
 
I think that Vandy is the future. I would love to see Wienke stick it out here but that doesn't seem to be the trend anywhere in sports these days. I would expect Iowa to recruit a QB in every class if they can with the idea of Derby backing up Vandy and being the eventual successor.
I think Stanzi and Vandy are future pros although they couldn't be more different. Stanzi is so athletic for his size and just wins games. This is just a talent comparison- He is a thin Ben Rothlisberger. He can improvise and I think he will really improve his pocket passing this fall.
Vandy reminds me the most of Tate. He wants to beat you first with his mind and then with his arm. I am so excited to watch him develop.
But Wienke may have the best physical tools of all of them, certainly has the biggest arm.
 
spudhawk said:
I think that Vandy is the future. I would love to see Wienke stick it out here but that doesn't seem to be the trend anywhere in sports these days. I would expect Iowa to recruit a QB in every class if they can with the idea of Derby backing up Vandy and being the eventual successor.
I think Stanzi and Vandy are future pros although they couldn't be more different. Stanzi is so athletic for his size and just wins games. This is just a talent comparison- He is a thin Ben Rothlisberger. He can improvise and I think he will really improve his pocket passing this fall.
Vandy reminds me the most of Tate. He wants to beat you first with his mind and then with his arm. I am so excited to watch him develop.
But Wienke may have the best physical tools of all of them, certainly has the biggest arm.
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I'm not quite sure if I agree with your assessment of Vandenberg. I don't think he forces as many throws as Tate did. Now, the bullet TD to McNutt at OSU you could consider a forced throw. I disagree. If that's a throw that you have a big enough arm to make, then it's not forced. Tate would have tried that throw, and Kurt Coleman would have been on his way to the to a backbreaking TD.

Vandenberg is willing to throw the ball away, and that's something that Tate was never willing to do.
 
tm3308 said:
I'm not quite sure if I agree with your assessment of Vandenberg. I don't think he forces as many throws as Tate did. Now, the bullet TD to McNutt at OSU you could consider a forced throw. I disagree. If that's a throw that you have a big enough arm to make, then it's not forced. Tate would have tried that throw, and Kurt Coleman would have been on his way to the to a backbreaking TD.

Vandenberg is willing to throw the ball away, and that's something that Tate was never willing to do.
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I dont think we have enough evidence there just yet. But I think like Tate, Vandy knows he has the throws in his body, and that sits in his head, and with seasoning, the experience will intercede...once he gets the bracket throw down underneath the safeties and over the backers.

The kid has an excellent set of tools
 
I should have worded my comparison better. I think Tate had the best understanding of opposing defenses and where he wanted to go with the ball. I see that in Vandy. I think he is already reading defenses very, very well from the limited number of times i have seen him play. I also think he has had the best coaching prior to coming to Iowa. I also think he has that in common with Drew.
 
JonDMiller said:
I dont think we have enough evidence there just yet. But I think like Tate, Vandy knows he has the throws in his body, and that sits in his head, and with seasoning, the experience will intercede...once he gets the bracket throw down underneath the safeties and over the backers.

The kid has an excellent set of tools
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And a cougar mom... lol.. sorry had to be "the guy"
 
Spud, I'll second Jon's original post. Great breakdown of the different players and positions! I'm hardly a football junkie -- I just love the Hawks -- but I quickly gobbled it all up. Interesting stuff.

Your contributions enhance the value of this site and alone make it worth twice the price!
 
JonDMiller said:
The Breakdown: Iowa Spring Practice | Hawkeye Nation

If you are a hardcore Iowa football fan, then step up to the plate for a feast...if you are just a casual fan, let me warn you: you might not be able to handle this smorgasbord! Great job, Patrick!
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Nice analysis but what I find interesting is that the observations weren't very critical. It's easy (relative speaking) to gush happy happy joy joy. That gets me very excited. I would like to know our weaknesses, who disappointed, etc.
 
Kingsbury14 said:
Nice analysis but what I find interesting is that the observations weren't very critical. It's easy (relative speaking) to gush happy happy joy joy. That gets me very excited. I would like to know our weaknesses, who disappointed, etc.
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It is spring ball after all, most of the players probably looked "rough" if you were going to really evaluate.

If you read Spud's stuff during the year he doesn't sugar coat it. Lets take this for what it is....Spring practice, where many players are getting their first real chance to be starters.
 
Kingsbury14 said:
Nice analysis but what I find interesting is that the observations weren't very critical. It's easy (relative speaking) to gush happy happy joy joy. That gets me very excited. I would like to know our weaknesses, who disappointed, etc.
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Agree, this was too much of a fluff piece. Bring my expectations down.
 
I would agree about the rosy evaluation,except that it was pretty much a concensus opinion from pundits and fans alike. Normally, some unit looks bad,and we hear about it plenty,but this year, not many discouraging assessments were given afterward,by anyone.

So, trying to create some angst,or concern about the team just to look balanced,is not justified either. I want my analysts to tell us what they saw, good and bad, and if it is all bad,so be it,but if it is all good...same deal.
 
The units that were most disappointing were also units where our starters are out injured.

The positions where we probably had the lowest expectations seemed to do better than expected.

I think that is a big reason why the evaluation worked out as it had.

What are we going to do, shred White apart for not doing a good enough job running the ball?

Heck, the starters were out last year at safety and they got absolutely lampooned after last years spring practice. After this year, even Morehouse seems to think that our depth at safety isn't as bad as many folks feared. It would appear that Norm's gushing statements concerning Nick Nielsen's upside may have been "on target." No surprise, really ... we all know that Norm knows his crap!

It has been stated that Bernstine isn't quite where we'd like him to be. However, it's also been stated that part of that is likely due to him not being quite 100%.

Many posters have been guilty of feeding the Woody Orne "hype machine" and I'm definitely one of those guilty parties. Anyhow, not to say that he's exactly a "disappointment" ... however, at least at this early juncture, it seems like Hundertmark and Boffeli have earned more "early praise" from spring camp than Orne has. However, that said, Ferentz carefully drew a parallel between Orne's story and Yanda's ... so the very fact that Orne ended spring camp on the depth chart is probably a good thing. Of course, from watching the 1-1 drills against the DL ... it seems like Orne definitely needs to improve his consistency.

Perhaps the biggest "disappointment" of the spring is that a hunk of our "depth" on the DL has been battling injuries. Namely, Bigach, Hopkins, and Gaglione haven't dressed for practice in a good long while. The missed time at camp definitely isn't going to help their cause ... or ours either, for that matter.

Also, on the OL, it would have been better had both Koeppel, MacMillan, and Haganman been healthy or healthier during camp. We especially need more depth at OT.
 
1) I thought Patrick did balance his comments somewhat with areas of deficiency for some of the players without dwelling on them.
2) I don't mind one bit reading a very positive piece about a major Iowa athletic program after suffering through this year's basketball season.
 
I understand what you are saying. The article is already 2700 words. It was also only one practice. I hate to make blanket statements about players when I have only seen a little of them. I feel like I know more about Stanzi, than I do about Vandenberg, and more about Vandy than I do about Wienke. I paid less attention to starters than I did to the young guys to get an idea of our depth. I have to say I came away impressed. There is some criticism there you just have to read between the lines. I would love to have more opportunities to see practices but I know that will never happen with this staff.

I would again like to complement them. I haven't seen a whole lot of teams work but I have seen a few. Loved the tempo of the drills. I loved the interaction between players and coaches. It seems like players are listened to more at Iowa than at other places. That had to impress recruits.
 
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