Willies is currently on a NFL roster.. end of story.. the kid has talent that’s obvious.. He had like 40 major college career receptions and still made an NFL roster.. good for him..
Derrick Willies
- Thread starter hawkster03
- Start date
Reading all of these posts makes me believe that Iowa should have never offered him a scholarship. I would imagine he had the same bad habits in high school. If I remember correctly, Willies became very vocal about CJB not starting over Ruddock.
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He was an undrafted free agent. Sure he’s makin some nice money now but that can end real fast. He still has a lot to prove to NFL teams.
The kid made an NFL 53 roster, more than any receiver at Iowa can say in last 10 years.
Well any guy not named Marvin McNutt, Tevaun Smith or Riley McCarron anyway.
Marvin & Riley only had a cup of coffee in the NFL. Tevaun and Derrick are both sitting at the table eating regular meals. I'm happy for the young man and I'd bet he doesn't really care about his college career. NFL is about $$$$
As I've said before ......I'm so happy we have the coaches in place we have! If some of the people on this thread were coaching this team the this team would be a disaster. Some have no clue what coaching means ......letting players do as they please (Talent or not) is not coaching .....these players end up being a cancer to the team. Some people dont understand that!!
This. People think KF is just a dick or stubborn or whatever, but he understands what it takes to have a team...not a collection of players. Rewarding slackers and whiners is a recipe for disaster.
The fact that he's on an NFL roster now does not mean he was all that 4 years ago. His results after he left Iowa indicate he wasn't ready even 2 years ago. I'm guessing he finally got it when he got into the NFL (or maybe decided it was worth the effort when he was getting paid).
There are absolutely no doubts Willies had some sort of an attitude issue.
There are absolutely no doubts Willies possessed the talent to be an NFL WR. Unless you somehow believe he "developed" that talent in the last year?
There are absolutely no doubts that the biggest single issue with Iowa's offense in the last decade or two has been a lack of playmakers at WR. Any time Iowa can get decent WR talent on the field, the team is much better because of it. Admitting this is not going to make anybody less of a fan.
All told, I stand by my posts in this thread - BOTH Derrick and KF / Staff messed this one up together.
Having ability and having the dedication to do the other things necessary to make that talent translate into on-field results are two completely different things. The fact that he did not have significant success at two other schools after Iowa says a lot. Had he transferred to another school and lit it up, I might feel differently.
Iowa needed better WR talent. They did not, however, need the discord that comes with making special considerations for a given player. They also did not need a player using a scholarship who was not going to make the commitment necessary to succeed at the P5 level.
I think Kirk tried to teach him what it takes to succeed at the P5 level and he was not willing to do what was necessary. You can lead a horse to water....not sure how you hang that on KF.
Clearly he's figured out out...just a few years too late. He's like the kid in high school who does the bare minimum on classwork, just eeks into college and figures out his study habits in college and ultimately succeeds. I had a friend like that...barely accepted at Iowa due to grades, then pulled a 3.8GPA in engineering. Willies did just enough in college to get his foot in the NFL door where he finally made the commitment. He found a path (good for him), but that doesn't mean he was ever going to do much in college. In fact, the evidence shows he was not going to have significant success in college.
Based on that, freeing up his scholly was probably a good thing. Too bad, because the evidence suggests he could have lit it up in college, but it appears he just never put in the effort.
Feel sorry the kid he was just about to get big playing time
Willies fractured his collarbone in Friday's practice. He's likely headed to injured reserve.
Willies fractured his collarbone in Friday's practice. He's likely headed to injured reserve.
He was replying to the “he made an NFL roster that’s better than any Hawkeye receiver in the last TEN YEARS”. Those 3 Hawkeye receivers have made rosters in the last 10 years.
Not a current one, but they've been on one in the last ten years which the poster apparently thought hadn't happened. McCarron was literally on the Patriots just last month. McNutt was on teams for parts of 3 seasons before he went into coaching. Willies isn't on an active roster as of today either.
