Which freshmen will see the field?

[Joshbrown]

They key is will any of them see the field after the first game? Unless it's a rare circumstance, we usually see FR play a bit in the first game, only to never see them again the rest of the year.

Feels like this year has to be different out of necessity

Legit concern: Burning red-shirts for a tiny number of snaps. Though there have been some exceptions. Of course, the exception proves the rule. This year though some freshmen may get lots of snaps out of pure necessity.

My fear is we use all of our WR mainly for short-yardage passes. If we continue to do that all we'll do is frustrate guys like Ihmir and Brandon. I know Davis loved the 5 yard routes. But KOK wasn't known for throwing it deep either. Rob said he wanted Brian cuz he is the only one that could change his Father's approach. I think Brian got the job because he agrees with his Father's approach . . . not because he challenges that approach.

Hope I'm wrong.

 

[Kennyfromminne]

Legit concern: Burning red-shirts for a tiny number of snaps. Though there have been some exceptions. Of course, the exception proves the rule. This year though some freshmen may get lots of snaps out of pure necessity.

My fear is we use all of our WR mainly for short-yardage passes. If we continue to do that all we'll do is frustrate guys like Ihmir and Brandon. I know Davis loved the 5 yard routes. But KOK wasn't known for throwing it deep either. Rob said he wanted Brian cuz he is the only one that could change his Father's approach. I think Brian got the job because he agrees with his Father's approach . . . not because he challenges that approach.

Hope I'm wrong.

Spot on

 

[taffaej]

I think for sure all 4 WRs get to show what they can do

 

[DBAHawkFan]

Legit concern: Burning red-shirts for a tiny number of snaps. Though there have been some exceptions. Of course, the exception proves the rule. This year though some freshmen may get lots of snaps out of pure necessity.

My fear is we use all of our WR mainly for short-yardage passes. If we continue to do that all we'll do is frustrate guys like Ihmir and Brandon. I know Davis loved the 5 yard routes. But KOK wasn't known for throwing it deep either. Rob said he wanted Brian cuz he is the only one that could change his Father's approach. I think Brian got the job because he agrees with his Father's approach . . . not because he challenges that approach.

Hope I'm wrong.

At least in KOK offense, there were more variety in the passes thrown. Lots of deep crosses, curls, and some go routes.

We only saw the Go route about 5x a year under Davis.

I would like to see more slants, and if we do throw those intermediate crosses, it would be nice to see a QB hit the WR in stride. I swear all of those type of passes we've attempted in the past the ball is behind the WR, and they have to make a difficult catch, or they're caught from behind because they had to slow down

 

[docholihawk]

I figure a minimum of 6. A.J., three wr's and 2 db's.

 

[rschneider]

I want to see that DT that they have playing WR on the scout team. Don't think he's a freshman though.

 

[RobHowe]

Legit concern: Burning red-shirts for a tiny number of snaps. Though there have been some exceptions. Of course, the exception proves the rule. This year though some freshmen may get lots of snaps out of pure necessity.

My fear is we use all of our WR mainly for short-yardage passes. If we continue to do that all we'll do is frustrate guys like Ihmir and Brandon. I know Davis loved the 5 yard routes. But KOK wasn't known for throwing it deep either. Rob said he wanted Brian cuz he is the only one that could change his Father's approach. I think Brian got the job because he agrees with his Father's approach . . . not because he challenges that approach.

Hope I'm wrong.

I guess some of it comes down to semantics. I'm OK with KF's approach if we're talking about a balanced offense and physical defense. I think that's the foundation of KF's approach.

From there, there are a lot of ways to skin a cat.

My biggest issue with Iowa's offensive woes has been the failure to adjust to what the defense is doing to stop you. I still have nightmares of Weisman running the stretch player over and over into a stacked box and Davis' horizontal passing game meant for speedy receivers he had at Texas. Put your best players in the best position the make plays. Davis struggled with that.

BF has talked about creating mismatches and I think that's something Iowa has failed to do much in recent years. I'm not sure if that was Davis' ineptitude or personnel issues. It's probably a combination of things.

I don't need to see four-wide and guys running 50 yards down the field every play or two. Use the tight ends down the seam, let the receivers run some damn crossing routes and throw to the backs. Don't keep running into a loaded box. Make the defense adjust.

When you utilize intermediate routes, that can open up the run. When the D comes back into the box to stop the rush, hit it with play-action.

I'm a fan of the pro-style offense and the 4-3 defense.

 

[deanvogs]

I guess some of it comes down to semantics. I'm OK with KF's approach if we're talking about a balanced offense and physical defense. I think that's the foundation of KF's approach.

From there, there are a lot of ways to skin a cat.

My biggest issue with Iowa's offensive woes has been the failure to adjust to what the defense is doing to stop you. I still have nightmares of Weisman running the stretch player over and over into a stacked box and Davis' horizontal passing game meant for speedy receivers he had at Texas. Put your best players in the best position the make plays. Davis struggled with that.

BF has talked about creating mismatches and I think that's something Iowa has failed to do much in recent years. I'm not sure if that was Davis' ineptitude or personnel issues. It's probably a combination of things.

I don't need to see four-wide and guys running 50 yards down the field every play or two. Use the tight ends down the seam, let the receivers run some damn crossing routes and throw to the backs. Don't keep running into a loaded box. Make the defense adjust.

When you utilize intermediate routes, that can open up the run. When the D comes back into the box to stop the rush, hit it with play-action.

I'm a fan of the pro-style offense and the 4-3 defense.

Love it Rob! There are lots of ways to skin a cat, and Iowa is smart. Same with Wisconsin. When you are these two schools and you can't recruit at a top 25 level consistently, you have to load up on the lines, have a good D. and play balanced offense.

It cracks me up the way Nebraska can recruit at a top 25-30 level year in and year out and can't consistently win the B1G West. They are lost identity wise. They see what Iowa, Wisconsin, heck even MSU did to win in the B1G. It is like they are just too stupid to take the road map that is right in front of them. Until that changes, I think they play 2nd or 3rd fiddle in the B1G West for the foreseeable future.

 

[Joshbrown]

At least in KOK offense, there were more variety in the passes thrown. Lots of deep crosses, curls, and some go routes.

We only saw the Go route about 5x a year under Davis.

I would like to see more slants, and if we do throw those intermediate crosses, it would be nice to see a QB hit the WR in stride. I swear all of those type of passes we've attempted in the past the ball is behind the WR, and they have to make a difficult catch, or they're caught from behind because they had to slow down

I won't argue the awesomeness of KOK with you. But I assume you remember as I do how happy people were to get rid of KOK because the assumption was "the offense can now experience an improvement." Did we get an innovator on offense? Or did we get an unemployed retread?

I think it is fair to say that assumption was based on the premise that Kirk didn't like KOK's offense . . . or at least wanted a more productive offense. And in 2015 there were some slight changes. But those weren't born out of KF's dislike of KOK's philosophy. Those were the result of a warming seat imo.

2014 and 2016 were downers. They were also years in which KF kept some weapons on the sideline. In 14 it was Willies and 16 it was DMX. In 2015 Iowa used all its weapons - Canzeri (check) - Daniels (check) - Wadley (check) - DMX (check) - and the offense got a tiny bit unpredictable and the defense got a tiny bit aggressive. Voila! Rose Bowl. I think we all assumed the light bulb finally turned on for KF after a decade and a half of field position folly.

In order for 2017 to be a year in which Iowa realizes its potential, all the weapons need to be used. Not just AJ. There are some guys coming in that can help on all 3 sides - defense - offense - special teams.

 

[Adam]

I won't argue the awesomeness of KOK with you. But I assume you remember as I do how happy people were to get rid of KOK because the assumption was "the offense can now experience an improvement." Did we get an innovator on offense? Or did we get an unemployed retread?

I think it is fair to say that assumption was based on the premise that Kirk didn't like KOK's offense . . . or at least wanted a more productive offense. And in 2015 there were some slight changes. But those weren't born out of KF's dislike of KOK's philosophy. Those were the result of a warming seat imo.

2014 and 2016 were downers. They were also years in which KF kept some weapons on the sideline. In 14 it was Willies and 16 it was DMX. In 2015 Iowa used all its weapons - Canzeri (check) - Daniels (check) - Wadley (check) - DMX (check) - and the offense got a tiny bit unpredictable and the defense got a tiny bit aggressive. Voila! Rose Bowl. I think we all assumed the light bulb finally turned on for KF after a decade and a half of field position folly.

In order for 2017 to be a year in which Iowa realizes its potential, all the weapons need to be used. Not just AJ. There are some guys coming in that can help on all 3 sides - defense - offense - special teams.

Reminder. KOK was brought back as a QB coach. His resume as OC is mute. The only thing that matters now is developing QB's and the occasional wisdom to Brian. Of this I believe fully that KOK is capable.

I do agree that the use of players has been puzzling before. It's either you do everything at 75% or better or you sit. We don't use players with more limited skills even though they maybe better than any other in a particular skill. I pray that this will change under Brian. He has at least said the right things so far.

 

[DBAHawkFan]

The problem on offense has always been Kirk. Always. There were times over the years where we would open up the offense, either because we had the personnel (2002) or were forced to with being down (Pitt game 2011, etc).

We would see up tempo, quick passes, intermediate passing, urgency.....and we moved the ball well. Then we would go right back to what we always do, stretch play short side of field.....run clock down to 3 seconds before burning a TO....

I get that a up tempo offense isn't the answer for every game. But as Rob said, scratch where it itches. We would see some success on the field with up tempo, with the players we had and it would work. Only to go right back to KF ball and the life would be sucked out.

I want to see us use the entire field. To use the clock better, and for @##% sake, have more than ONE play for an audible.

I hope the FR see the field. If we're going to struggle, especially early on, I would rather have these kids out there taking their lumps and growing. Versus 5 Walk Ons from New Hampton

 

[MelroseHawkins]

I'm confused...are we recruiting blind athletes now. Has it gotten that bad? I hope they all can see the field for christ's sake. We need to hire a recruiting coordinator. Sometimes you take the low hanging fruit.

 

[tksirius]

There's some word on another site that Daviyon Nixon might not be academically eligible yet. Anyone know about this?

 

[BVHawk95]

There's some word on another site that Daviyon Nixon might not be academically eligible yet. Anyone know about this?

Isn't that the only reason we waited on pulling the trigger on him? I thought we offered once the staff was convinced he was going to make it.

 

[deanvogs]

There's some word on another site that Daviyon Nixon might not be academically eligible yet. Anyone know about this?

Pure speculation at this point. He said he is getting all B's and someone reported he needed all A's to qualify? Not sure I'm buying that though as I doubt Iowa offers if it is a pray that he qualifies anyway. Probably won't know for sure until beginning of June when players report.

 

[tksirius]

Pure speculation at this point. He said he is getting all B's and someone reported he needed all A's to qualify? Not sure I'm buying that though as I doubt Iowa offers if it is a pray that he qualifies anyway. Probably won't know for sure until beginning of June when players report.

"He needs to get all A’s in his final semester to qualify and enroll at Iowa. There are B’s on his report card he needs to improve.

He graduates in early June. Final transcripts will come out a week or so later. He believes he’ll qualify but he’s not celebrating until it’s official."

https://www.landof10.com/iowa/iowa-...-nixon-academics-news-stats-update-class-2017

 

[SmokeTownHawk]

Legit concern: Burning red-shirts for a tiny number of snaps. Though there have been some exceptions. Of course, the exception proves the rule. This year though some freshmen may get lots of snaps out of pure necessity.

My fear is we use all of our WR mainly for short-yardage passes. If we continue to do that all we'll do is frustrate guys like Ihmir and Brandon. I know Davis loved the 5 yard routes. But KOK wasn't known for throwing it deep either. Rob said he wanted Brian cuz he is the only one that could change his Father's approach. I think Brian got the job because he agrees with his Father's approach . . . not because he challenges that approach.

Hope I'm wrong.

I have to think that anyone else hired for OC would be forced to be another version of GD or KOK and play within KF's strangling of the offense. With Kirk at the helm Brian may very well be the only person in college football who can force his dad to truly make positive changes on that side of the ball. There was never going to be an experienced up and coming OC getting the job. No chance of that happening. None. Brian has his opportunity to make his mark on the program and plead his case for the HC job when KF hangs it up. I doubt if we have a version of the Air Raid or Run & Shoot. But Brian has the chance to make things real interesting.

 

[The Big LeHAWKski]

My concern with Freshmen wideouts is that WR it is arguably THE TOUGHEST offensive position to transition to from High school.
In HS they're used to blowing past the average 5' 11" 4.9-in-the-40 HS cornerback and averaging 15+yds per catch.
Now at the next level everyone is fast! (and likely much faster than most of our guys) So no separation is possible during any part of their routes.
Same thing at the next level. Tough as hell for most rookie WRs to do much in the NFL.
No, I hope we don;t see too many Fr WRs. I'm guessing 75%+ of all passes this season go to Wadley and Fant.

 

[Joshbrown]

My concern with Freshmen wideouts is that WR it is arguably THE TOUGHEST offensive position to transition to from High school.
In HS they're used to blowing past the average 5' 11" 4.9-in-the-40 HS cornerback and averaging 15+yds per catch.
Now at the next level everyone is fast! (and likely much faster than most of our guys) So no separation is possible during any part of their routes.
Same thing at the next level. Tough as hell for most rookie WRs to do much in the NFL.
No, I hope we don;t see too many Fr WRs. I'm guessing 75%+ of all passes this season go to Wadley and Fant.

Are you saying we will be getting separation with the veterans? Cuz as of this date I haven't seen that from them. Might as well give the youth a chance to see if they can do what the veterans can't do. Besides, they will likely get pressed into duty as injuries add up. Might as well build up their confidence against the cupcake portion of our schedule.

 

[Adam]

My concern with Freshmen wideouts is that WR it is arguably THE TOUGHEST offensive position to transition to from High school.
In HS they're used to blowing past the average 5' 11" 4.9-in-the-40 HS cornerback and averaging 15+yds per catch.
Now at the next level everyone is fast! (and likely much faster than most of our guys) So no separation is possible during any part of their routes.
Same thing at the next level. Tough as hell for most rookie WRs to do much in the NFL.
No, I hope we don;t see too many Fr WRs. I'm guessing 75%+ of all passes this season go to Wadley and Fant.

Yikes! 75% of passes to a RB and a TE. I bet you we target MVB 5 times a game. TE's as a group will get 5. Wadley will get 1 or 2 targets per game and that leaves about 7 or 8 targets to anybody else. If we can find someone to convert 1/3 of those targets we will be back in 2015 form.