Alaric Jackson

[Hawkeyeinsoutherncalifornia]

Was it just me or did he miss a ton of big blocks this past game to the Gophers?
He struggled to provide a clean pocket to Stanley throughout the day including in the middle of the third quarter when Minnesota’s Carter Coughlin beat him clean off the line, devoured Stanley and forced the fumble which the Gophers would recover.. and that’s just one of his miscues.

He’s a big giant on the oline but needs to protect Stanley a bit better as he has all the tools in the shed to be a great one at Iowa but these things must be cleaned up...

Thoughts? Opinions?

 

[ClarindaA's]

He missed a couple blocks, one resulting in the fumble

 

[HawkOn15]

Was it just me or did he miss a ton of big blocks this past game to the Gophers?
He struggled to provide a clean pocket to Stanley throughout the day including in the middle of the third quarter when Minnesota’s Carter Coughlin beat him clean off the line, devoured Stanley and forced the fumble which the Gophers would recover.. and that’s just one of his miscues.

He’s a big giant on the oline but needs to protect Stanley a bit better as he has all the tools in the shed to be a great one at Iowa but these things must be cleaned up...

Thoughts? Opinions?

He really only had 2 missed blocks once in the screen which didn’t really have an effect on the strip sack

 

[hawkeyeinmo]

I did not see "a ton". The one giving up the sack/fumble stood out.

 

[froggy67]

One mans ton is another mans couple. Let's remember that he was only a 3 star recruit. Just for protective purposes, "Sarcasm: a caustic remark, gibe or jeer, generally ironical."

 

[The Deplorable Sleeping Dog]

Alaric whiffed on the strip sack, he just reached at the defender.

 

[anon_e8k0ass4g2w2j]

I believe he was the highest graded lineman fwiw

 

[Frosty7130]

I thought he had a rough day. Seemed to have a tough time taking care of the edge on zone plays, plus the strip-sack. Wasn't awful, just a bad day. He'll get better.

 

[MGOHAWK2]

Its easy to point out those plays. Go back to the td run by Sargent.....he manhandles the defender.

 

[Hawked]

I thought he was bad on saturday. Real bad

 

[2432Hawk]

I thought on one of those it wasn't his missed block it was the TE (Hock) that missed the block?

 

[m.stoops2013]

Jackson will be a 1st or 2nd rd draft pick.

 

[hawkosx]

Unfortunately I also saw “ a ton” of missed blocks this game on both run and pass plays. How the heck did he grade out the best? Hopefully just a bad day for him

 

[RHBar]

I said this before but I think number 45 that he was going up against is going to show out as an exceptional player.

go back and watch the film. That kid is all over the field and he's fast as hell

 

[nu2u]

Was it just me or did he miss a ton of big blocks this past game to the Gophers?
He struggled to provide a clean pocket to Stanley throughout the day including in the middle of the third quarter when Minnesota’s Carter Coughlin beat him clean off the line, devoured Stanley and forced the fumble which the Gophers would recover.. and that’s just one of his miscues.

He’s a big giant on the oline but needs to protect Stanley a bit better as he has all the tools in the shed to be a great one at Iowa but these things must be cleaned up...

Thoughts? Opinions?

I've watched every Minnesota game this year except their opener. Coughlin is a very good pass rusher with exceptional quickness. It was no surprise to me that he was very disruptive. Believe me, when it comes to OTs that Carter Coughlin has beat off the edge, Alaric Jackson has a lot of company.

 

[cecilB]

Our success running has been mostly to the left, we have given up , what, 4 sacks on the year? AJ is an excellent LT and he’s just a soph

 

[DodgerHawki]

Was it just me or did he miss a ton of big blocks this past game to the Gophers?
He struggled to provide a clean pocket to Stanley throughout the day including in the middle of the third quarter when Minnesota’s Carter Coughlin beat him clean off the line, devoured Stanley and forced the fumble which the Gophers would recover.. and that’s just one of his miscues.

He’s a big giant on the oline but needs to protect Stanley a bit better as he has all the tools in the shed to be a great one at Iowa but these things must be cleaned up...

Thoughts? Opinions?

PFF had him the first or second overall graded o-linemen for Iowa. He had 2-3 bad plays out of 79 snaps. That is actually a good day for an o-lineman. His were noticeable because they came on passing plays. He and Wirfs are playing well.

 

[Ladell-hawk]

Was it just me or did he miss a ton of big blocks this past game to the Gophers?
He struggled to provide a clean pocket to Stanley throughout the day including in the middle of the third quarter when Minnesota’s Carter Coughlin beat him clean off the line, devoured Stanley and forced the fumble which the Gophers would recover.. and that’s just one of his miscues.

He’s a big giant on the oline but needs to protect Stanley a bit better as he has all the tools in the shed to be a great one at Iowa but these things must be cleaned up...

Thoughts? Opinions?

Carter Coughlin is a damm good football player and is going to win his share of the battles along the line no matter who is blocking him. Jackson is doing fine.

 

[BUCKSNDUCKS]

He's a great run blocker, but average pass blocker - that being said - the guy he was up against was very good. NOt sure what Indiana has for D line

 

[obfuscating]

He missed enough to be replaced by Wirfs and slide Ferguson to RT and put Paulsen at RG.

 

[Harbinger273]

I'm hoping Alaric continues to improve in each area. He needs to stay focused because he has a chance to be a 4 years starter. His final 2 years could be lights out if things fully click.

 

[cheerscoach]

Alaric whiffed on the strip sack, he just reached at the defender.

Minnesota was 'speed rushing' with smaller, quick guys lined up in a 9 tech all day. Jackson did a fabulous job of getting to them and pinning them behind the QB. The one time he got beat, the defender got a jump on him (looked like AJ got somewhat surprised by the snap on that one) and AJ couldn't catch up to him. He didn't just 'reach at the defender'. Rewatch the play. He had a very good day, so it wouldn't surprise me that he graded the highest.

 

[IowaNiceHawk]

I believe he was the highest graded lineman fwiw

According to whom?

 

[cheerscoach]

According to whom?

I had read that he graded out the highest on PFF, but since I am not a member, I cannot verify that.

 

[JLDHAWK]

He did miss a ton. I was at the game and watched him quite a bit.

 

[NevadaHawk]

I guess it is safe to say he missed somewhere between a few and a ton of blocks. I think it is true that Alaric is a better run blocker. His pass blocking will improve as the season progresses.I believe Alaric will become an outstanding all around lineman.

 

[jonnyhawk]

I’m pretty sure our coaches will not be benching him. This thread is a reminder of why I’m glad they’re in charge.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

On the bright side ... some folks were worrying about him leaving for the NFL early ... potentially even after this year. That obviously shouldn't be the case. I think Larry has plenty of talent ... but he still has plenty of room for improvement. He AT LEAST stays through '19 ... we can re-evaluate things then.

Besides ... Alaric is just a RS SO ... and he came to Iowa as a raw-talent at OT.

 

[Blair Sanderson]

I believe he was the highest graded lineman fwiw

PFF had him the first or second overall graded o-linemen for Iowa. He had 2-3 bad plays out of 79 snaps. That is actually a good day for an o-lineman. His were noticeable because they came on passing plays. He and Wirfs are playing well.

Final OL grades from PFF from the Minnesota game:

1. Ross Reynolds 75.4
2. Tristan Wirfs 72.0
3. Alaric Jackson 71.4
4. Keegan Render 60.4
5. Dalton Ferguson 55.9

Banwart only played 22 snaps.

 

[Blair Sanderson]

Jackson is still Iowa's highest graded OL for the season on PFF for what it's worth.

 

[HawkIDrummer]

This isn't one of our better O lines, nor was last year. Is Polasek the reason?

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

This isn't one of our better O lines, not was last year. Is Polasek the reason?

Iowa has only allowed 5 sacks through the season. That number is all the more surprising given that we effectively had 3 new starters on the interior OL (considering Render as a new regular starter at C) and our OTs are still just SOs. Furthermore, since we're a pro-style O that typically operates from a more "bunched" formation .... that makes it all the more surprising.

I'd say that the pass-blocking is decent (certainly better than last year) ... but that the run blocking is still a work-in-progress. Why is that? Maybe part of that is attributable to a large emphasis on pass-blocking? Maybe some of it is due to Polasek still getting used to teaching OL-play? Maybe part of it is that our OL isn't really comprised of a bunch of guys with a ton of prior starts? Maybe Brian needs to continue to tweak how the seamlessly the passing schemes mesh with the running schemes? Maybe our OL has been too easy for defenders to read ... and so it makes it a lot easier for them to read run?

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Iowa has only allowed 5 sacks through the season. That number is all the more surprising given that we effectively had 3 new starters on the interior OL (considering Render as a new regular starter at C) and our OTs are still just SOs. Furthermore, since we're a pro-style O that typically operates from a more "bunched" formation .... that makes it all the more surprising.

I'd say that the pass-blocking is decent (certainly better than last year) ... but that the run blocking is still a work-in-progress. Why is that? Maybe part of that is attributable to a large emphasis on pass-blocking? Maybe some of it is due to Polasek still getting used to teaching OL-play? Maybe part of it is that our OL isn't really comprised of a bunch of guys with a ton of prior starts? Maybe Brian needs to continue to tweak how the seamlessly the passing schemes mesh with the running schemes? Maybe our OL has been too easy for defenders to read ... and so it makes it a lot easier for them to read run?

Also, Iowa has given up 5 sack on the season ... despite facing some D-linemen like Sutton Smith and Minnesota's Coughlin ... both of whom have 5 sacks each through the season. In other words, our OL has faced some guys who are pretty good at getting to the QB.

 

[cheerscoach]

He did miss a ton. I was at the game and watched him quite a bit.

LOL. That is all.

 

[cheerscoach]

Final OL grades from PFF from the Minnesota game:

1. Ross Reynolds 75.4
2. Tristan Wirfs 72.0
3. Alaric Jackson 71.4
4. Keegan Render 60.4
5. Dalton Ferguson 55.9

Banwart only played 22 snaps.

Thanks. Someone made a statement that I couldn't verify, but I will stand by my statement that he played well against speed guys in a 9 tech except the one play when they got a jump on him, and he did it without BF ever giving him any help with with a chip or maxpro. It hurt Minny in my opinion because they gave their LT help against Eppy numerous times.

 

[H4wkfan4life]

Jackson will be a 1st or 2nd rd draft pick.

MAYBE if he stays all 5 years. Has a LONG way to go before making that kind of statement imo.
I believe he started playing when he was like 16, so he has certainly come a long way so far!

 

[H4wkfan4life]

This isn't one of our better O lines, nor was last year. Is Polasek the reason?

I'm starting to wonder that as well.
The pass block has been good this year, but the run blocking is terrible!

 

[DodgerHawki]

Jackson is still Iowa's highest graded OL for the season on PFF for what it's worth.

Thanks Blair.

 

[m.stoops2013]

MAYBE if he stays all 5 years. Has a LONG way to go before making that kind of statement imo.
I believe he started playing when he was like 16, so he has certainly come a long way so far!

Even if he is not as technically sound as past hawkeye high round offensive line picks, a team will take a chance on measurables 6'8 320lbs & potential. Imo

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

Jackson’s really good-so is wirfs. Both sophomores playing OT in big 10 at a OL to NFL factory school. Sophomores ladies and gentlemen.