Anybody else get a little worried when on
- Thread starter Hawk68
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I could see the complacency part of it. Are his guys listening to these podcasts? I for one was not real pleased with the statement, however I believe it to be true. We know they performed admirably last year and should improve this season. I would like more talent though as long as they fit the Iowa mold.
Part of the reason I see a big year out of Parker Hesse is because it seems all the media attention seems to be on Anthony Nelson and as Lou Brown says in "Major League" " I'd like to make them all eat a big o'l sh1tburger"
Kelvin mentioned that on the DL we're high on leadership but not high on elite-level talent. Is that the comment you're referring to?
Suppose that we consider some of the past DL's that Kelvin Bell had shared the DL-room with ....
'01: Kampman, Cole, Hodges, Clauss, Pickens (among others)
'02: Cole, Babineaux, Hodges, Clauss, Roth (among others)
I could understand Kelvin having the opinion that some of the DLs he enjoyed being around perhaps had more high-end talent. However, in contrast, the current Iowa DL doesn't just have numbers ... it has more talented depth.
Also, if we look back to the 2015 season ... the leadership that Ott and Meier brought to the team was pretty unreal. If we're talking about raw ability ... the '15 DL arguably didn't hold a candle to some of Iowa's prior DLs ... but it also was the only unit to ever see the Hawks pull off an undefeated regular season!
I definitely think that part of the angle that they're (Kelvin and Reese are) banking upon is that of jabbing their players as a means of motivating them. If you cannot rely upon individual raw talent to beat your opponent ... then you better damn be tougher than your opponent and execute better as a unit.
I don't care what others might say on the matter - but Mitch King and Matt Kroul were not Iowa's "most talented" DTs ... however, in 2008, when those guys were playing as SRs ... you'd be hard pressed to find other DTs who were more productive or who were more important to their Ds. Those guys had an extra heart-beat ... and it beat for the Hawks and their fellow Hawk brothers ... and the team was better for it!
I look at it a lot like this. At the moment we don’t have that “elite” quality (though I think we might get there). I don’t know that Kirk has ever had this kind of quality depth in his tenure. You can make an argument for anyone on the two deeps to see significant playing time and not be wrong. It’s a good problem to have.
Our elite-level talent is what ... A. Nelson and Epenesa? However, we have highly productive talents in guys like M. Nelson and Hesse ... and we have a whole slew of other guys who can give us high-quality snaps.
I wonder what the ceilings are for guys like Waggoner, Lattimore, Nixon, and Shannon (among others) ... I'm guessing that it is high. However, positive development still needs to occur because potential doesn't mean a darn thing unless they actualize it.
I'd feel a lot better if Nixon was playing this fall. But it sounds like he is sitting to get his academics in order. Not sure if that means he is ineligible or if they just want him to develop better in the classroom.
