Countering Morehouse RE: DTs

[ghostOfHomer777]

First off, I want to preface this post by stating that I like Marc Morehouse's stuff and I think that he's one of the best folks who covers Iowa football. However, with that said, what fun would life be if we were all like-minded? In that spirit ....

... for a while now Marc Morehouse has been one of the more vocal voices expressing concerns about Iowa's DT situation heading into the 2017 season. His primary premise has been that Iowa lost a really impressive DT in Jaleel Johnson AND we lost excellent depth in Faith Ekakitie. Consequently, his fear is that a drop in the quality of DL play will result in Iowa's LBs not being "clean" as often ... consequently making the job of the LBs much harder.

My reply to this concern is that it is the base responsibility of a DT to keep the LBs clean anyhow. The REAL trade-off when you have to put forth youth and inexperience at DT is that production at the position simply goes down. Iowa's defensive linemen, as a whole, traditionally are VERY active. At other programs, d-linemen tackles, TFLs, and sacks are often quite low ... and that is usually by design. It opens up opportunity for LBs, run-blitzing DBs, etc. However, at Iowa, it's not uncommon for a d-lineman to get 60+ tackles and rack up pretty good disruption numbers too.

Knowing how Coach Morgan works, he's not going to play a DT who cannot at least consistently execute his base responsibilities and play with good leverage. The result of this is that LBs will still likely be kept reasonably "clean." The problem is that tackles and TFLs from the DT spot could be down.

Of course, in the back of my mind ... I'm still considering the "what if" scenario about Bazata's health. When healthy, Nathan is capable of being a very productive DT for us ... when dinged, he's still technically sound ... however, his productivity drops. However, if Bazata is healthy ... then the Hawks still return an experienced STARTER at the DT spot. That is nothing to sneeze at. There is a reason why Bazata had earned a starting spot ahead of Ekakitie.

If you look at a past season where Iowa's DT depth was iffy ... that takes us back to the '11 and '12 seasons. In '11, Kaz had run off so many DT prospects that former walk-on Thomas Nardo was the guy who played by Mike Daniels's side. In 2012, guys like oft-injured Steve Bigach played alongside Louis Trinca-Pasat (who happened to be a newbie that season) and Darian Cooper (who was a freshman that year). The '12 season also marked Coach Morgan's first year coaching the DL ... so he had to ascend a bit of a learning curve there too.

As we enter the '17 season, there really is no shortage of bodies to contribute at DT, it's simply an issue of finding the right pieces to fit together. We have Bazata (when healthy), Reiff, Lattimore, Hulett, Newborg, Matt Nelson (when healthy), and Jansen .... among a few others. Additionally, in a pinch, Epenesa could potentially "spot" at DT if he's the best option. The point here being that there are options.

To me, a defense is much more hamstrung if you have inexperience at DE and the DEs play with poor technique. Not only can that impact LBs .... but, more importantly, if DEs lose outside leverage ... that can lead to all sorts of big plays. Given that the whole premise of Iowa's D is premised on preventing the big play ... lapses in DE play in 2016 single-handedly responsible for A LOT of rushing yardage against the Hawks. For instance, Iowa beats Northwestern if we contain better. Back in '05, that was arguably the main knock on Mattison and Iwebema too. Those guys were pretty decent at getting pressure on the QB that season ... but it was at the cost of a lack of discipline on the edge. Ideally, your DEs learn to maintain outside leverage when they start their careers ... and that is the bedrock from which they build their game. From there, they maintain discipline ... and learn to work in a controlled pass-rush.

When you look at our 2017 DE situation ... you cannot help but smile. We have guys who have made errors ... but who have also learned from those errors. You have Hesse who enters essentially as a de-facto 3rd year starter. You have Anthony Nelson who flashed pass-rushing skills that we possibly haven't seen since Clayborn donned an Iowa uniform. Matt Nelson supplies us with a strong, consistent contributor on the strong-side ... and perhaps also now on the inside. We also have a youth movement at DE that appears to be worth getting excited about ... we all know about the accolades of Epenesa (with all of his 5 stars) ... but we also have Simon and Golston who have both been generating a lot of positive buzz from WITHIN the program. The fact that the buzz is coming from within the program is especially valuable because it's not attributable to foolish fans who are simply relying too much upon the inaccuracy of the "eyeball" test.

As I see it ... the Hawks likely WILL see a drop in productivity at the DT spot. However, I also anticipate that we'll see productivity by the DEs and LBs correspondingly go UP. After all, what happens if we see Ben Niemann play a whole season like he did at the end of the '16 season? What if we see Bo Bower and those behind him continue to improve at the WILL LB spot? We'll see improved play and improved productivity! Furthermore, Phil Parker will likely adapt things accordingly in terms of scheme. Last year, the strength of our front 7 was especially towards the center - with our 2 DTs + Jewell at MIKE. Consequently, we remained in our base D on 3rd downs far more often than we did back in 2015. As we enter '17, given our seeming depth at LB and DE ... I anticipate that we'll see more frequent use of the raider package. Imagine our front 3 being Simon, Epenesa, and A. Nelson ... that is some potential pass-rushing firepower.

I've said it before and I'll say it again ... my primary concern about Iowa's 2017 defense centers on Iowa's safety play. That could be the true straw that breaks the camel's back ....

 

[nychawkeyes]

Well, we are going to find out pretty quickly about the defense, that Wyoming QB is a threat on every snap. That said, with the weapons he lost to graduation, I think we can hold up, but may need to use more nickel and dime in this game that we do in any other.

Sedge

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Well, we are going to find out pretty quickly about the defense, that Wyoming QB is a threat on every snap. That said, with the weapons he lost to graduation, I think we can hold up, but may need to use more nickel and dime in this game that we do in any other.

Sedge

Not only does Wyoming have an excellent QB ... but a lot of credit is due to their OC. The offensive coaching has been exemplary there. We're talking about the same OC who groomed Carson Wentz through his most formative years of development. Heck, their OC is the same guy who mentored our own Tim Polasek.

 

[Tacticalhawk]

Im surprised Safety is your biggest concern. We have a 3rd year starter and a guy coming in with a great spring. My scared point is the secondary in general though. Were going to miss Synder. He was a turnover machine last season. I think if our passing game somehow is good were going to be dangerous. My question marks are passing yet i have a ton of closet confidence mostly due to meerkat and brandon smith.

 

[BCRoss89]

Based on Safety play int the spring game, I am not sure we have that big of a concern with a little more development before the opener. Feeling the same way about D-Tackle, no shortage of talent, and as mentioned earlier, definitely skilled enough to hold off the O-Line well enough for one of the best LB cores in the Big Ten if not in the country.

On another note regarding comments about the Cowboy Offense, I would expect them to use many of the same schemes/plays the Bison ran on us last year. However, I am not sure their O-Line can pull it off as well.

 

[deanhawk88]

Looking at the potential of every position, the DT spot has the lowest ceiling by far. Bazata works his ass off and has his moments when healthy. Lattimore, who I think is the only current DT with any other somewhat notable offers, has the tools, it's still an unknown how well he'll use them. Safety has 4-5 talented players to work with and although wr is likely the most troubling, Vandy is good, the TEs are good our 2 RBs caught 73 passes between them last year and one or so more WRs are going to step up. I have my hopes someone else can step up at DT, I just can't say who unless maybe M Nelson or AJ get time there.

 

[cmhawks99]

Homer, I wish more people would embrace and follow what you are saying. Its not even that you are "right", but if you have a vague understanding of what is happening and what the coaches are trying to accomplish, it doesn't take a deep understanding to see where the break down is. And then its all about teaching and execution.

As far as the safety's go, that is also my concern. I think Miles can do it but where many have zeroed in "on" Bower, Miles has been even more inconsistent than Bo and while Gervase looked awesome in the Spring, he needs to do it in the games....As you know for our D to be great, the safties have to be at the very least solid, to better than...I believe our CB depth will shock people clear down to Boswell and a newcomer or two. But We need 3 quality safeties, to excel.

 

[millhawk]

Im surprised Safety is your biggest concern. We have a 3rd year starter and a guy coming in with a great spring. My scared point is the secondary in general though. Were going to miss Synder. He was a turnover machine last season. I think if our passing game somehow is good were going to be dangerous. My question marks are passing yet i have a ton of closet confidence mostly due to meerkat and brandon smith.

Not surprised at all and I agree with him. Safety worries me more than dt. I think M Nelson helps a lot on the inside and I still say Newborg will make his mark this year.

 

[TKingpin]

Greenway and Hodge were not worse LBs their senior year, but the DLine was weak and our defense suffered greatly. King and Kroul ended up being awesome, but were really young and inexperienced that year.

Going into the season everyone on these boards were saying,
"It will be OK, because Hodge and Greenway were so good, they would cover up any problems."

Do you remember that?

Bazata has infinitely more experience than those 2 had that year... but is.he.healthy?

Safety is a concern, yes, but Phil Parker's DBs have almost never let us down.

 

[Tacticalhawk]

Im surprised Safety is your biggest concern. We have a 3rd year starter and a guy coming in with a great spring. My scared point is the secondary in general though. Were going to miss Synder. He was a turnover machine last season. I think if our passing game somehow is good were going to be dangerous. My question marks are passing yet i have a ton of closet confidence mostly due to meerkat and brandon smith.

Not surprised at all and I agree with him. Safety worries me more than dt. I think M Nelson helps a lot on the inside and I still say Newborg will make his mark this year.

I guess im surprised safety over corner. I think corner is the most obvious ?

 

[millhawk]

I guess im surprised safety over corner. I think corner is the most obvious ?

Manny is a budding star...we don't have that at safety. I have very little confidence in Taylor. I don't like putting a Hawkeye down but that's how I feel about him. Hope he has one of those great senior years.

 

[nu2u]

Expect to hear a lot of about Brady Reiff during Fall camp.

 

[cmhawks99]

I guess im surprised safety over corner. I think corner is the most obvious ?

Based on play on the field, internal buzz as Homer would say, and the views of some people I trust, Hawkeyegamefilm being one. Rugamba, Jackson & Ojemudia are already above average Big 10 Cb's and Hawkeye game film, made a point to mention Boswell in the Spring.

 

[cmhawks99]

Manny is a budding star...we don't have that at safety. I have very little confidence in Taylor. I don't like putting a Hawkeye down but that's how I feel about him. Hope he has one of those great senior years.

I understand your anxt, I'm not going to go as far as you did here, but he has indeed had many misses when it comes to tackling, poor angles, being out of position etc...as I said earlier, he has been way more glaring than Bower. Now I do think he has it in him and he has made some plays, he just needs to play and not think.

 

[Tacticalhawk]

I guess im surprised safety over corner. I think corner is the most obvious ?

Based on play on the field, internal buzz as Homer would say, and the views of some people I trust, Hawkeyegamefilm being one. Rugamba, Jackson & Ojemudia are already above average Big 10 Cb's and Hawkeye game film, made a point to mention Boswell in the Spring.

Happy to hear it!

 

[TKingpin]

Also, there is internal buzz about our up and coming DE's, but is there any buzz about any DTs we haven't seen, yet?

I haven't heard any other than nu2u's post above about Reiff.

 

[cmhawks99]

Also, there is internal buzz about our up and coming DE's, but is there any buzz about any DTs we haven't seen, yet?

I haven't heard any other than nu2u's post above about Reiff.

Agreed with your sentiment, with that said they LOVE Reiff it seems and Lattimore has seemingly become the obvious old stand-by, like they aren't even worried about him and it seems I've heard a little buzz about Jansen if memory serves.

 

[TailgateTom]

Also, there is internal buzz about our up and coming DE's, but is there any buzz about any DTs we haven't seen, yet?

I haven't heard any other than nu2u's post above about Reiff.

Duwa has been told he's moving to DT. Give him a year or two to grow and develop and I think he'll be really good. He is explosive and has the athleticism and quickness to excel there.

 

[TKingpin]

Ok, Duwa is what? 235 pounds now? Even if he's 250 pounds he is at least a full year away. Maybe more.

I would think switching a Simon or Gholston would take less time. There is Buzz about them, but let's face it: DE is a talented and crowded position.

Maybe AJ really is the most physically ready guy to move inside... it's just trouble if you are counting on a true FR to be the 3rd or 4th guy at DT. (Granted, he's no ordinary FR...)

Don't get me wrong - I am hoping and praying Hulett or Reiff or Newborg or someone with currently a low profile really becomes a monster in the middle. We need it badly because the defensive philosophy has always been built around stopping the run, first and foremost. It looks a little shaky to me right now, though.

Just remembering what happened to Nebraska's DLine after those 2 big ole Hoss DTs went pro after 2015. Valentine and Collier? Collins?

 

[TailgateTom]

He was over 260 in May. And I said after a year or two to grow and develop. So, there's that. I was simply answering your question.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Im surprised Safety is your biggest concern. We have a 3rd year starter and a guy coming in with a great spring. My scared point is the secondary in general though. Were going to miss Synder. He was a turnover machine last season. I think if our passing game somehow is good were going to be dangerous. My question marks are passing yet i have a ton of closet confidence mostly due to meerkat and brandon smith.

In my original post - I was only emphasizing my concerns as they relate to the defense. Without question there are concerns on O ... most notably our entire passing game!

As for WHY my concern is at safety ....

• I am an advocate for Miles. I think that he CAN make the improvements he needs to make. However, there remains the uncertainty as to whether he WILL make the requisite improvements. I always comment on how college football ISN'T fantasy football ... and thus, players can and do improve. Thus, my concerns about Miles aren't at flashing red emergency light levels ... it's more of an occasional yellow caution light going off.
• While I'm exceedingly high on Amani Hooker - it's also important to recognize that he's still just a true Sophomore. Thus, while he provides us with much needed depth ... if he sees a lot of quality positional reps ... there's still plenty of chance for errors to be made.
• Gervase, while looking impressive in the spring, also looked impressive against an offense that he had played against in every practice. Thus, he has yet to really have played many high-quality game reps ... and therein is my primary concern about him.
• Regardless of how great Gervase proves to be ... it still means that we'll be having a new free safety. He'll be the new QB of the defensive secondary. Good communication is critical to excellent DB play ... and that starts with the FS. Snyder is a talent and a gamer ... and even with him at FS our secondary had communication issues in '16.
• In Iowa's D, safeties still help to keep the O from blowing off the top of our D. When the safeties screw up ... be it in a miscommunication, a blown read, or even a misstep ... it can lead to a big play.
• Both of the projected starters at CB have seen quality snaps (even starts) and looked good in that action. Iowa only returns one starter at safety.
• Not meant to be a knock on CBs ... however, at least at Iowa, S is a little bit more of a cerebral position. You have to know a lot ... but still manage to play really fast. That's a harder task for a younger and/or inexperienced player to pull off.
• Given the above point ... the implication is that it's a bit easier for a really young player to come in and play CB at a high and productive level (at Iowa) than it is to do the same at S (at Iowa). I'm excited about the young talent Iowa has at BOTH CB and S ... however, the fact that we lack guys who've seen quality reps at S is arguably my biggest concern.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Also, there is internal buzz about our up and coming DE's, but is there any buzz about any DTs we haven't seen, yet?

I haven't heard any other than nu2u's post above about Reiff.

For 2 years straight Jaleel Johnson spoke highly of Hulett. Will he jump on the scene and be a superstar? I doubt it ... however, if he can supply us with solid depth and play quality snaps ... that can still help a lot by keeping the starters fresh.

The primary buzz at DT has been about Bazata (part of why he earned such early recognition was because he was unblockable against the 2nd team O when he was just a RS FR), Reiff, and Lattimore. Reiff supposedly reminds Parker a lot of King and Klug ... a really quick player who plays with great leverage and with an exceptional motor. Lattimore is one of those big guys who is reportedly is a bit on the freak-athlete side of the spectrum. This is presumably how he managed to impress so many folks at combines back during the recruiting process.

Some good thing have been said about Jansen ... but I wouldn't say his buzz has really caught my attention too much. Newborg, during bowl prep last season reportedly was working some with the 2s at DT ... I'm not certain if that was a positive reflection on his ability ... or was attributable to the fact that other guys ahead of him were dinged.

 

[Tacticalhawk]

Im surprised Safety is your biggest concern. We have a 3rd year starter and a guy coming in with a great spring. My scared point is the secondary in general though. Were going to miss Synder. He was a turnover machine last season. I think if our passing game somehow is good were going to be dangerous. My question marks are passing yet i have a ton of closet confidence mostly due to meerkat and brandon smith.

In my original post - I was only emphasizing my concerns as they relate to the defense. Without question there are concerns on O ... most notably our entire passing game!

As for WHY my concern is at safety ....

• I am an advocate for Miles. I think that he CAN make the improvements he needs to make. However, there remains the uncertainty as to whether he WILL make the requisite improvements. I always comment on how college football ISN'T fantasy football ... and thus, players can and do improve. Thus, my concerns about Miles aren't at flashing red emergency light levels ... it's more of an occasional yellow caution light going off.
• While I'm exceedingly high on Amani Hooker - it's also important to recognize that he's still just a true Sophomore. Thus, while he provides us with much needed depth ... if he sees a lot of quality positional reps ... there's still plenty of chance for errors to be made.
• Gervase, while looking impressive in the spring, also looked impressive against an offense that he had played against in every practice. Thus, he has yet to really have played many high-quality game reps ... and therein is my primary concern about him.
• Regardless of how great Gervase proves to be ... it still means that we'll be having a new free safety. He'll be the new QB of the defensive secondary. Good communication is critical to excellent DB play ... and that starts with the FS. Snyder is a talent and a gamer ... and even with him at FS our secondary had communication issues in '16.
• In Iowa's D, safeties still help to keep the O from blowing off the top of our D. When the safeties screw up ... be it in a miscommunication, a blown read, or even a misstep ... it can lead to a big play.
• Both of the projected starters at CB have seen quality snaps (even starts) and looked good in that action. Iowa only returns one starter at safety.
• Not meant to be a knock on CBs ... however, at least at Iowa, S is a little bit more of a cerebral position. You have to know a lot ... but still manage to play really fast. That's a harder task for a younger and/or inexperienced player to pull off.
• Given the above point ... the implication is that it's a bit easier for a really young player to come in and play CB at a high and productive level (at Iowa) than it is to do the same at S (at Iowa). I'm excited about the young talent Iowa has at BOTH CB and S ... however, the fact that we lack guys who've seen quality reps at S is arguably my biggest concern.

I still will take a 3 year starter and a guy with a great spring over a CB who over achieved a couple games and a new CB with nickel experience. Thats just me. I get your logic though. I have faith in Taylor. Hes a hustle player and works hard. 3rd year starting the game should slow down and Id imagine hed be the main communicator back there given hes far more experienced than anyone else.

 

[millhawk]

dt is a huge recruiting need in the '18 class and imo should have been last year. We came up short on that kid the Illini took from us, that really hurt. And Nixon not making it hurts. We have two good ones for '18 in Linderbaum and Shannon and I hope we get Parker jr. Maybe next year we can get a good grad transfer

 

[StallmanCurse]

I still will take a 3 year starter and a guy with a great spring over a CB who over achieved a couple games and a new CB with nickel experience. Thats just me. I get your logic though. I have faith in Taylor. Hes a hustle player and works hard. 3rd year starting the game should slow down and Id imagine hed be the main communicator back there given hes far more experienced than anyone else.

It would be just as easy to say a CB with a great couple games of experience and a safety who overachieved this spring.

If I'm only allowed to view the situation from those two lenses, I'll take game experience 10 times out of 10.

 

[Tacticalhawk]

I still will take a 3 year starter and a guy with a great spring over a CB who over achieved a couple games and a new CB with nickel experience. Thats just me. I get your logic though. I have faith in Taylor. Hes a hustle player and works hard. 3rd year starting the game should slow down and Id imagine hed be the main communicator back there given hes far more experienced than anyone else.

It would be just as easy to say a CB with a great couple games of experience and a safety who overachieved this spring.

If I'm only allowed to view the situation from those two lenses, I'll take game experience 10 times out of 10.

Me too thats why i lumped in the 3rd year starter vs at best a few games started. The first sentence is pretty important too. Dont just pick the part that supports the arguement.

 

[StallmanCurse]

Me too thats why i lumped in the 3rd year starter vs at best a few games started. The first sentence is pretty important too. Dont just pick the part that supports the arguement.

But that's the part of the argument I had an issue with. It was an extremely slanted view, and all I did was point out said slantedness.

 

[goodbyebobby]

Greenway and Hodge were not worse LBs their senior year, but the DLine was weak and our defense suffered greatly. King and Kroul ended up being awesome, but were really young and inexperienced that year.

Going into the season everyone on these boards were saying,
"It will be OK, because Hodge and Greenway were so good, they would cover up any problems."

Do you remember that?

Bazata has infinitely more experience than those 2 had that year... but is.he.healthy?

Safety is a concern, yes, but Phil Parker's DBs have almost never let us down.

I remember it and came here to post it, thank you.

 

[Tacticalhawk]

Me too thats why i lumped in the 3rd year starter vs at best a few games started. The first sentence is pretty important too. Dont just pick the part that supports the arguement.

But that's the part of the argument I had an issue with. It was an extremely slanted view, and all I did was point out said slantedness.

Not slanted because i did 2 for 2. A 3 year starter AND a guy with a a great spring VS a guy who over acheived a few games AND someone with a little nickel experience. So wash the spring player and the over achieved like you suggested and you have 2 years experience vs some special package experience. The choice is clear.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

dt is a huge recruiting need in the '18 class and imo should have been last year. We came up short on that kid the Illini took from us, that really hurt. And Nixon not making it hurts. We have two good ones for '18 in Linderbaum and Shannon and I hope we get Parker jr. Maybe next year we can get a good grad transfer

I really liked Green too ... however, Iowa ended up recruiting him at center. I also really like Nixon ... and the latest news suggests that he'll still make it on campus come this winter. Iowa wasn't going to need him for this fall anyhow ... that's just too much to ask for such a young player (especially one that still needed to get his feet under himself academically). I too would love for us to get Parker ... but I haven't heard any recent news to suggest that the Hawks are still firmly in the picture for his services.

One parting thought ... don't forget that Duwa is at DT ... he has the potential to be really good. Furthermore, I wouldn't be surprised if Schulte develops into either a DT or an OG (if he doesn't stick at DE).

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

I still will take a 3 year starter and a guy with a great spring over a CB who over achieved a couple games and a new CB with nickel experience. Thats just me. I get your logic though. I have faith in Taylor. Hes a hustle player and works hard. 3rd year starting the game should slow down and Id imagine hed be the main communicator back there given hes far more experienced than anyone else.

You don't "luck" into the production that Manny had in his starts in '16. Furthermore, Manny "beat out" Jackson ... and Jackson was the next-gen DB who had shone in the prior open-scrimmages (either in the spring, fall, or both). In other words, Jackson had an impressive scrimmage the prior year, not unlike what we saw from Gervase during the spring scrimmage THIS year. Since having his break-out scrimmages ... Jackson performed well in a starting role too (he essentially was the starting CB once Manny went out with his injury).

I fully admit that the sample size that we saw out of Manny and Jackson was quite small ... furthermore, each guy benefited from playing opposite King. However, while there likely WILL be some bumps along the way with them as starters ... they clearly have the skills to perform at a high level.

Say what you will ... but Manny was facing guys like Darboh and Chesson ... and he did great. Darboh and Chesson torched a lot of secondaries throughout the season - but not ours.

Similarly, Jackson faced off against Nebraska's WRs ... and they were quite a veteran group with a SR quarterback throwing to them. They were a group that put up quite a lot of yardage over the past few years ... and again, not unlike Manny, Jackson acquitted himself quite well.

I am happy that we have a veteran like Taylor as a projected starter at safety. He provides the secondary with a little ballast. However, out of the trio of himself, Gervase, and Hooker ... he's the only one who had seen quality snaps. Certainly his 2 years of prior starts are valuable ... however, he also relinquished the starting spot to Gair after he got injured. His junior season had some similarities with the junior season of Hitchens ... he could make good plays ... but he could also be out of position and hurt the defense too. However, just like Hitchens ... he's capable of improving and having a great senior campaign too. I certainly hope he does too!

 

[Tacticalhawk]

I still will take a 3 year starter and a guy with a great spring over a CB who over achieved a couple games and a new CB with nickel experience. Thats just me. I get your logic though. I have faith in Taylor. Hes a hustle player and works hard. 3rd year starting the game should slow down and Id imagine hed be the main communicator back there given hes far more experienced than anyone else.

You don't "luck" into the production that Manny had in his starts in '16. Furthermore, Manny "beat out" Jackson ... and Jackson was the next-gen DB who had shone in the prior open-scrimmages (either in the spring, fall, or both). In other words, Jackson had an impressive scrimmage the prior year, not unlike what we saw from Gervase during the spring scrimmage THIS year. Since having his break-out scrimmages ... Jackson performed well in a starting role too (he essentially was the starting CB once Manny went out with his injury).

I fully admit that the sample size that we saw out of Manny and Jackson was quite small ... furthermore, each guy benefited from playing opposite King. However, while there likely WILL be some bumps along the way with them as starters ... they clearly have the skills to perform at a high level.

Say what you will ... but Manny was facing guys like Darboh and Chesson ... and he did great. Darboh and Chesson torched a lot of secondaries throughout the season - but not ours.

Similarly, Jackson faced off against Nebraska's WRs ... and they were quite a veteran group with a SR quarterback throwing to them. They were a group that put up quite a lot of yardage over the past few years ... and again, not unlike Manny, Jackson acquitted himself quite well.

I am happy that we have a veteran like Taylor as a projected starter at safety. He provides the secondary with a little ballast. However, out of the trio of himself, Gervase, and Hooker ... he's the only one who had seen quality snaps. Certainly his 2 years of prior starts are valuable ... however, he also relinquished the starting spot to Gair after he got injured. His junior season had some similarities with the junior season of Hitchens ... he could make good plays ... but he could also be out of position and hurt the defense too. However, just like Hitchens ... he's capable of improving and having a great senior campaign too. I certainly hope he does too!

Dont get me wrong Im on Manny's bandwagon I just dont want to over expect based off a few games from a freshman. I also hate he left the season with an injury after playing only a couple games. As much as I want to love him for his play vs michigan he was beat a few times but Speight was not on the money that night missing a few open deep receivers and i feel miss throwing some balls Mannys way as well. Manny looked real good Im just not convinced thats the whole story. Also Nebraskas senior qb was playing hurt to the point he was a game time decision so thats again where manny isnt the full story. He did his job and did it well. Can he do it a full season as a true sophmore. Please dont mistake my devils advocate as hate toward this kid. Im just trying to keep the hype machine in check here. The last thing i want to see is we get out of control expectarions for a true sophmore he has no chance to live up to.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Suppose we continue the contrast between the safeties and corners. Consider the difference in depth ....

@ corner:
Jackson* (JR), Rugamba* (SO), Ojemudia (SO), Boswell (RS FR), Hankins (TR FR), Harrell (TR FR), Turner (TR FR), Creamer (TR FR)

@ safety:
Taylor* (SR), Gervase (JR), Hooker (SO), Clayberg (TR FR), Stone (TR FR), Colbert (TR FR), Turner (TR FR)

* - has had career starts

Remark: Turner is cross-listed because, as I recall from his recruitment, he was a guy who essentially projected equally well at either safety or corner. Either way, my guess is that he'd initially get work at corner. I didn't know where to put Creamer, I figured he'd probably want to try at corner initially too.

 

[Tacticalhawk]

Suppose we continue the contrast between the safeties and corners. Consider the difference in depth ....

@ corner:
Jackson* (JR), Rugamba* (SO), Ojemudia (SO), Boswell (RS FR), Hankins (TR FR), Harrell (TR FR), Turner (TR FR), Creamer (TR FR)

@ safety:
Taylor* (SR), Gervase (JR), Hooker (SO), Clayberg (TR FR), Stone (TR FR), Colbert (TR FR), Turner (TR FR)

* - has had career starts

Remark: Turner is cross-listed because, as I recall from his recruitment, he was a guy who essentially projected equally well at either safety or corner. Either way, my guess is that he'd initially get work at corner. I didn't know where to put Creamer, I figured he'd probably want to try at corner initially too.

I feel you on this one. We arent deep at safety or corner though in my opinion. The * is stat manipulation though showing 2 players vs one where instead we could have given an overall starts per safety/corner or snaps played or something to manipulate stats the safeties direction. Theres 3 safeties i trust and 3 corners i trust in your list. All else is unproven.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Dont get me wrong Im on Manny's bandwagon I just dont want to over expect based off a few games from a freshman. I also hate he left the season with an injury after playing only a couple games. As much as I want to love him for his play vs michigan he was beat a few times but Speight was not on the money that night missing a few open deep receivers and i feel miss throwing some balls Mannys way as well. Manny looked real good Im just not convinced thats the whole story. Also Nebraskas senior qb was playing hurt to the point he was a game time decision so thats again where manny isnt the full story. He did his job and did it well. Can he do it a full season as a true sophmore. Please dont mistake my devils advocate as hate toward this kid. Im just trying to keep the hype machine in check here. The last thing i want to see is we get out of control expectarions for a true sophmore he has no chance to live up to.

You're very correct ... I anticipate that there likely will be "bumps" along the road. Furthermore, I'm sure that Phil is going to have an open mind during camp ... so I wouldn't be too quick to anoint Gervase, Manny, or Jackson as starters quite yet. Everybody will have their chance to earn their spots during camp. There WILL be a lot of competition.

I cannot help but remember back to the summer camp heading into the 2008 season. Entering camp, Tyler Sash, a redshirt freshman at the time, was the #3 strong safety. He left that camp as the #1 strong safety! Furthermore, while he messed up on a ton of coverages throughout the season ... he was pretty decisive with every move he made. When he made an error ... he made it fast. However, he'd also play with pretty good technique ... so when he'd make a dumb move ... he'd take good angles to get himself back into the play. IIRC, he was even in the wrong coverage in that "famous" pick he had against Clark in the PSU game ... what a game and what a time to make that play!

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

I feel you on this one. We arent deep at safety or corner though in my opinion. The * is stat manipulation though showing 2 players vs one where instead we could have given an overall starts per safety/corner or snaps played or something to manipulate stats the safeties direction. Theres 3 safeties i trust and 3 corners i trust in your list. All else is unproven.

I'm essentially the same way ... I trust OJ and Hooker about the same (although my gut tells me that Hooker has a greater upside). I trust Manny and Jackson a tad less than I trust Miles ... however, I also think that Manny has the chops to become Iowa's next great corner.

Gervase is still a little bit of a mystery to me ... given how much he played on special teams as a RS FR ... it was clear to me that the coaches must like him. I'd probably put him on par with what I expected from Snyder enter the season last year. I had followed Snyder's high school career ... so I knew that he was a Sash-like player. I knew that Gervase put up some pretty good competition with Snyder ... but Snyder ultimately won. However, without high quality game reps to supply context ... I cannot help but reserve some judgement as it relates to Gervase. Like you though ... on some level I "trust" Gervase too.

Again, my bigger issue differentiating between CB and S ... is that I simply think that S is arguably the harder position to play at Iowa. Thus, all else equal ... I'm still inclined to think that the CB situation is more likely to be "safe" than the S situation.

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

Can't disagree.......because I couldn't finish . JK-I had read 3 paragraphs before realizing this post rivaled a lord of the rings novel (in length not quality) so felt I was too far in to stop....totally forgot about coach Kaz and now I remember why, he was as awful!

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Greenway and Hodge were not worse LBs their senior year, but the DLine was weak and our defense suffered greatly. King and Kroul ended up being awesome, but were really young and inexperienced that year.

Going into the season everyone on these boards were saying,
"It will be OK, because Hodge and Greenway were so good, they would cover up any problems."

Do you remember that?

Bazata has infinitely more experience than those 2 had that year... but is.he.healthy?

Safety is a concern, yes, but Phil Parker's DBs have almost never let us down.

Going into the 2005 season Iowa's DL was necessarily going to be a work in progress. After all, our "most experienced" DT was Wilcox ... but injuries really derailed his career almost before it even started. After Wilcox, we also had Ewen ... but he got injured too and was't able to play until the '06 season.

Thus, our next most "experienced" DT candidates heading into the '05 season were the redshirt freshmen duo King and Kroul.

With perhaps even less experience than Wilcox ... our new DEs that season were poised to be Mattison and Iwebema. Backing them up was Follet ... a guy who switched positions so often that he never really had a permanent position home until his SR season. Mattison and Iwebema MAYBE had seen as many snaps as Lattimore had seen in '16.

The 2005 DL was not only young ... but it was also terribly undersized in the middle. Furthermore, because it was so young, it didn't have the steadying leadership of an experienced veteran. They didn't have a guy there to help make sure that they were doing things the right way on a daily basis. They didn't have a go-to guy to shoot questions to if they wanted to better understand the defensive playbook (or about improving their technique).

If you look at the 2017 DL, the situation couldn't be more different. Even injured ... Bazata still can be present in a leadership capacity. That is valuable ... because he can help guys prepare during game week. He can help guys know what to look for in film prep. The details matter!

Furthermore, Iowa not only returns a SR on the DL in Bazata ... but Hesse and Matt Nelson are, at this juncture, pretty experienced JRs. They've made mistakes and have learned from them. They can pass on those lessons to the guys behind them. More importantly, since they've learned from their mistakes ... they're less apt to repeat them.

Thus, the starting point for the 2017 DL is worlds ahead of where it was back in 2005.

Lastly, in 2005, Ed Miles, who was more of an inside backer, was our best candidate at the LEO spot. He was relatively new to the position ... he tried his best ... but his inexperience at the position showed. He flowed to the ball well, however he had trouble setting the edge like our LEO is supposed to do.

Thus, as good as Greenway and Hodge were ... they not only had newbies playing IN FRONT of them ... they also had a bit of a newbie playing beside them too!

Thus, to repeat this point ... Iowa's front 7 in 2005 returned ONLY 2 GUYS with prior starting experience!!! In contrast, Iowa's front 7 in 2017 returns 7 guys with prior starting experience!!! Because of this observation, I fail to see why the 2005 defense is supposed to be a good parallel (with the 2017 Iowa defense).

 

[deanhawk88]

That's just too much for me to read to have a friendly debate with you Homer, lol
I will agree that if the safeties aren't good, we'll get burnt on the big play. I just hope it's not because the opponent is getting 5 plus yards at will up the middle pulling the safeties up.

 

[cmhawks99]

You're very correct ... I anticipate that there likely will be "bumps" along the road. Furthermore, I'm sure that Phil is going to have an open mind during camp ... so I wouldn't be too quick to anoint Gervase, Manny, or Jackson as starters quite yet. Everybody will have their chance to earn their spots during camp. There WILL be a lot of competition.

I cannot help but remember back to the summer camp heading into the 2008 season. Entering camp, Tyler Sash, a redshirt freshman at the time, was the #3 strong safety. He left that camp as the #1 strong safety! Furthermore, while he messed up on a ton of coverages throughout the season ... he was pretty decisive with every move he made. When he made an error ... he made it fast. However, he'd also play with pretty good technique ... so when he'd make a dumb move ... he'd take good angles to get himself back into the play. IIRC, he was even in the wrong coverage in that "famous" pick he had against Clark in the PSU game ... what a game and what a time to make that play!

I echo everything Homer has said and I'll add, when our D is average it's because our safeties are average IMO. Furthermore just based off some observations from some really sound football minds. We have some outstanding CB prospects on campus and after watching Lowery, Spievey, Prater, Hyde, King et al....I also find the "3" Manny, Josh and Oj to be as long and capable as any 3 we have had. Then adding in the props Hawkeyegamefilm gave Boswell (which I wasn't expecting) and our propensity to identify DB talent coupled with the accolades of several of the guys coming in I feel awesome about the cornerbacks!

Safety play is just SO important to most defenses anymore, even in the NFL that it is there that I'm nervous.

Two other things....the point Homer made about "playing fast" is exceptionally relavent even when making mistakes and Hitchens is a great example of that. When he played tentative as a Jr he looked slow, as soon as he learned to play fast even when making a bad read he seemed to always be able to make up for it.

Finally I know Cam was slated to come in as a safety but from everything I've heard from his high school coach they have told him kick returner/wide receiver to start!

Not that that means anything and as far as that goes I don't think it's impossible one of the stud safety prospects we have coming in couldn't show up all of a sudden on the depth chart.

The best scenario though would be for Taylor to have a resurgence & Gervase/Hooker to man down the other spots.

Stop and remember Anthony Gair looked really good at the end of the season but he'd had some starts before and couldn't hold onto the job.

I'm not big on rating the ability of our coaches or coaches in general. But if anybody is trustworthy to put solid players out there it's probably Phil Parker! And honestly our defense as a whole!! IMHO

The final point as I've made before though is the middle of the field is exceptionally important on offense and defense....Can our quarterbacks make good throws over the middle & can our safeties keep things in check? Its those two spots that hold my concerns. At least as much as I'm willing to let football concern my already over filled life LOL