New Story ***Hawkeyes land QB Alex Padilla***

[Blair Sanderson]

Hawkeyes land QB Alex Padilla

Quarterback Alex Padilla is headed to Iowa to play for the Hawkeyes.

Blair Sanderson • HawkeyeReport.com
@BlairRIVALS

The Iowa Hawkeyes have landed their quarterback in the Class of 2019. After earning a scholarship offer this past week following an impressive performance at Iowa’s camp, Colorado native Alex Padilla decided there was no need to wait around any longer. The 6-foot-1, 191-pound Padilla made the call and committed to the Hawkeyes today.

“When I went to camp out there, just visiting the entire campus and seeing all of the facilities, it really just felt like home,” Padilla told HawkeyeReport.com. “That’s what really made the decision for me. It’s a place that I could see myself at even if football went away. I just really felt at home there.”

A three-star prospect, Padilla chose Iowa over scholarship offers from Colorado State, Nevada, Central Michigan, North Texas, Cornell, Columbia, Dartmouth, Penn, Yale, South Dakota, and Northern Colorado, along with interest from Utah, Oregon State, and Indiana, among others.

“I just don’t think there’s any other school that’s going to come along that would be a better offer or a better place for me to go than Iowa,” said Padilla. “I just love it there.”


Overall, Padilla is commitment No. 10 for the Hawkeye coaching staff in 2019 as he joins Ezra Miller, Logan Lee, Tyler Endres, Noah Fenske, Jack Campbell, Sebastian Castro, Jestin Jacobs, Desmond Hutson, and Jake Karchinski in Iowa's recruiting class.

Padilla is on track to graduate high school a semester early, which would allow him to enroll at Iowa in January of 2019 and go through spring practice next year. That will be the next step in a journey that started several years ago with a dream of becoming a Division I quarterback.

"It’s kind of like walking on water right now," Padilla said. "It’s been a dream of mine to play big-time college football since I was little kid, so it’s just a dream come true."

As a junior, Padilla put up big numbers at Cherry Creek High School, completing 67.7% of his passes for 2,678 yards and 40 touchdowns.

See highlights from Padilla’s junior year in the video below.

 

[nick21ia]

Awesome, welcome to the Hawkeye family

 

[Wasnt-drunk-didnt-troll]

Welcome to the swarm.

 

[Blair Sanderson]

 

[Blair Sanderson]

 

[mvhomerj]

As stated earlier, the Ivy league schools will be there for his masters, possible PHD.

 

[Blair Sanderson]

 

[Blair Sanderson]

 

[HumbleP1e]

Welcome to the crew. Go Hawks!

 

[Harbinger273]

Not a good look. I mean how effin desperate can this staff and program be to offer and take a commit from this kid? I'm so distraught I need to lock myself in the bathroom for 6 hours.

Welcome to the Swarm Alex. Look forward to seeing where the competition takes him! If he has the right stuff we'll see him. Go Hawks!

 

[ChrisVarick]

Not another potential doctor. Smh.

 

[Blair Sanderson]

 

[scotthawk1964]

Welcome aboard, looking forward to seeing the young man compete here for the next few years.

 

[bumpstock]

Fantastic! Great to have Alex onboard (Alexander the Great?) ~ we'll find out.

 

[H4wkfan4life]

“I just don’t think there’s any other school that’s going to come along that would be a better offer or a better place for me to go than Iowa,” said Padilla. “I just love it there.”

Um, ok. Glad to see he has lots of confidence in his abilities......

 

[SconnieAlum]

Um, ok. Glad to see he has lots of confidence in his abilities......

I bet you're fun at parties.

 

[H4wkfan4life]

I bet you're fun at parties.

I'm sure you guys love the pickup.
You're out picking up top notch qbs and wrs and we're going after guys no one even wants......

 

[hawkeyeinmo]

Um, ok. Glad to see he has lots of confidence in his abilities......

So you feel a player should feel they are “too good” to play at Iowa and there are better offers? THAT would show confidence in his abilities?

 

[nu2u]

Nice pick-up for the Hawks. O'Keefe likes him so I'm on board.

 

[nu2u]

we're going after guys no one even wants......

This is what happens when you smoke crack. Padilla has about a dozen scholarship offers.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

Not a good look. I mean how effin desperate can this staff and program be to offer and take a commit from this kid? I'm so distraught I need to lock myself in the bathroom for 6 hours.

Welcome to the Swarm Alex. Look forward to seeing where the competition takes him! If he has the right stuff we'll see him. Go Hawks!

I'm not always good at detecting sarcasm, so perhaps that's what you were aiming for in the first paragraph.

It's hard to put too much stock on what you see in highlight videos. From what I observed, it looks like the kid has really nice touch on the deep ball and is pretty accurate. Highlight videos obviously don't show the throws he missed, so it'd be interesting to see how he looked on the deep balls he missed on.

Overall, though, there's a lot to like on film. He seems to have good pocket awareness, is accurate on all types of throws (posts, outs, flags, deep balls, etc.), and scrambles well enough to extend plays and throw an accurate ball on the run.

Iowa seems to be set for the next 4 + years at quarterback between Stanley and Petras/Mansell, so the kid has a chance to come in, develop, and maybe become a serviceable backup or more. Who knows. With the list of Ivy League offers, stands to reason he's not a dumbass.

I don't think it's a bad offer/commit at all. The coaches obviously saw something they liked during camp that led them to believe he has the chance to be pretty good. The only thing that concerns me is his comment basically saying he pounced on the Iowa offer because it's the best he could expect to get. The negative side of that comment obviously is it would appear he lacks the confidence that his abilities merit more P5 interest/offers. The plus side could be the kid is humble and recognizes a need to come in and work hard to get better.

At the end of the day, whether these high school kids are rated 2-stars or 5-stars, success is largely determined by attitude and work ethic. Yes, absolutely, talent is wonderful, but if it doesn't work hard and develop it doesn't mean much. I don't know exactly what happened with Jake Christensen, but I believe he was Iowa's highest ranked QB recruit under Ferentz, and needless to say he didn't exactly pan out. So, you never know.

 

[globalhawk]

Do you people understand he was saying "there is no better offer in the world for me than Iowa" not this is my best offer at the time .. I need to commit

 

[H4wkfan4life]

This is what happens when you smoke crack. Padilla has about a dozen scholarship offers.

yup look at all those power 5 offers!
you think I care who north texas offers?

 

[H4wkfan4life]

Do you people understand he was saying "there is no better offer in the world for me than Iowa" not this is my best offer at the time .. I need to commit

then why didn't he say there is no better school instead of
“I just don’t think there’s any other school that’s going to come along that would be a better offer or a better place for me to go than Iowa,”

 

[H4wkfan4life]

So you feel a player should feel they are “too good” to play at Iowa and there are better offers? THAT would show confidence in his abilities?

i feel he should have said it was the perfect fit, not "well they're the best offer I'm gonna get"

you feel differently, that's cool.....

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

I'm sure you guys love the pickup.
You're out picking up top notch qbs and wrs and we're going after guys no one even wants......

Speaking of guys "no one even wants," here's a fairly decent list:

2014: Josh Jackson 2-star (other offers included Colorado St., Nevada, New Mexico St.)

2013: Josey Jewell 2-star (other offer: Northern Iowa)
Akrum Wadley 2-star (other offer: Temple)
Desmond King 3-star (originally committed to Ball State, mostly MAC
offers)

2010: Anthony Hitchens 2-star (other offers: Akron, E. Michigan, IU, KU)

2009: Micah Hyde 2-star (other offers: all MAC schools)

I could continue but I think that would belabor the point. Also, Iowa's most successful QBs under Ferentz in terms of wins were rated 3-stars (Stanzi, Beathard), just like Padilla. Neither Stanzi nor Beathard received a plethora of P5 interest, so, in short, let's step back from the ledge and just see what happens.

 

[H4wkfan4life]

Speaking of guys "no one even wants," here's a fairly decent list:

2014: Josh Jackson 2-star (other offers included Colorado St., Nevada, New Mexico St.)

2013: Josey Jewell 2-star (other offer: Northern Iowa)
Akrum Wadley 2-star (other offer: Temple)
Desmond King 3-star (originally committed to Ball State, mostly MAC
offers)

2010: Anthony Hitchens 2-star (other offers: Akron, E. Michigan, IU, KU)

2009: Micah Hyde 2-star (other offers: all MAC schools)

I could continue but I think that would belabor the point. Also, Iowa's most successful QBs under Ferentz in terms of wins were rated 3-stars (Stanzi, Beathard), just like Padilla. Neither Stanzi nor Beathard received a plethora of P5 interest, so, in short, let's step back from the ledge and just see what happens.

they sure are the norm, aren't they?

as for stanzi and cj, pretty sure both had at least 1 other p5 offer

I just look at who wiscy is getting and can't see how we are gaining ground on them. btw wiscy has turned plenty of low ranked recruits & walk ons into top notch players

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

then why didn't he say there is no better school instead of
“I just don’t think there’s any other school that’s going to come along that would be a better offer or a better place for me to go than Iowa,”

I do agree that comment is a bit concerning and should give Hawkeye fans pause, for a coupe reasons.

1) Is he essentially saying he doesn't believe he's good enough to get offered by other P5 schools?

2) Since we are talking about a verbal, if another school steps in and offers whom he deems as "better" than Iowa, does he immediately jump on that offer?

Obviously, those are the pessimistic views of his comments, which are within the realm of being completely reasonable. With that said, the other possibility to consider is he views Iowa as a successful program with top-notch coaches and whatever else he likes about Iowa per his impressions while visiting and that what he is actually saying, albeit rather poorly, is that he is extremely excited about Iowa and can't imagine anywhere better.

 

[HoustonHawkeye]

He did show up and perform at Iowa's camp. O'Keefe has worked with him and believed he has a winner. That says a lot. He gets the ball out of his hands pretty quickly on his release. His highlights looked very good to my untrained eye.

 

[DEREKoh2]

Not a good look. I mean how effin desperate can this staff and program be to offer and take a commit from this kid? I'm so distraught I need to lock myself in the bathroom for 6 hours.

Welcome to the Swarm Alex. Look forward to seeing where the competition takes him! If he has the right stuff we'll see him. Go Hawks!

Thanks. I'm really excited to join this program! I will prove myself to be a valuable piece of future Hawk teams! I'll be following you on the bulletin boards. I recently joined Hawkeye Report because of my amazing camp in IC. I think KOK is a QB whisperer!!! And our receivers are top notch!!! Thank you for the love Hawk Nation! I am having appliances, including a refrigerator, moved into an apartment off of E. Burlington soon. Can't wait!

 

[nu2u]

yup look at all those power 5 offers!
you think I care who north texas offers?

You're an idiot. FYI - what follows is a partial list of a fraction of more recent NFL QBs players who were either ignored or very lightly recruited by major college/FBS programs...….
Steve McNair
Phil Simms
Kurt Warner
Rich Gannon
Doug Williams
Duante Culpepper
Byron Leftwich
Chad Pennington
Joe Flacco
Ben Rothlisberger
Tony Romo
Josh McCown
Ryan Fitzpatrick
Blake Bortles
Jimmy Garappolo
Carson Wentz

For a simpleton like you, I listed only FCS recruits who started for NFL teams. The list grows substantially if you include FCS players who were either drafted or signed to an NFL contract.

You would think by now that an Iowa fan would know better than to trash a recruit who had no other P5 offers. You have no clue.

 

[Wasnt-drunk-didnt-troll]

You're an idiot. FYI - what follows is a partial list of a fraction of more recent NFL QBs players who were either ignored or very lightly recruited by major college/FBS programs...….
Steve McNair
Phil Simms
Kurt Warner
Rich Gannon
Doug Williams
Phil Simms
Duante Culpepper
Byron Leftwich
Chad Pennington
Joe Flacco
Ben Rothlisberger
Tony Romo
Josh McCown
Ryan Fitzpatrick
Blake Bortles
Jimmy Garappolo
Carson Wentz

For a simpleton like you, I listed only FCS recruits wo started for NFL teams. The list grows substantially if you include FCS players who were either drafted or signed to an NFL contract.

You would think by now that an Iowa fan would know better than to trash a recruit who had no other P5 offers. You have no clue.

Yes some guys blossom late and have solid NFL Careers. Idk about you but I could give 2 $hits about the NFL. How many guys on that list won a college championship?

 

[HungryHawk]

then why didn't he say there is no better school instead of
“I just don’t think there’s any other school that’s going to come along that would be a better offer or a better place for me to go than Iowa,”

I know there are different ways to interpret here, and I see where you are coming from, but I was thinking the emphasis should be placed as follows: “I just don’t think there’s any other school that’s going to come along that would be a better offer or a better place for me to go than Iowa”.

I take it to mean that no matter what offers come along (not excluding other P5 offers) they won't be a better fit. So basically blue bloods could come offering but they wouldn't be a better offer for him.

 

[QChawks]

Looks like an Iowa QB to me.

Welcome aboard

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

they sure are the norm, aren't they?

as for stanzi and cj, pretty sure both had at least 1 other p5 offer

I just look at who wiscy is getting and can't see how we are gaining ground on them. btw wiscy has turned plenty of low ranked recruits & walk ons into top notch players

At Iowa? Yes, fairly normal. The players at Iowa who tend to get drafted and move on to the NFL were not 4 and 5 star players. If you took a list of the players who came into Iowa 4 stars or better and compared it to the list of players 3 stars or lower who ended up getting drafted and/or playing in the NFL, the latter would be much larger. In fact, I am hopeful AJ Epenesa will be the first 5-star player, out of a handful of 5-star players Ferentz has landed during his tenure, who will actually pan out and have an All-American career at Iowa before moving on to the NFL.

Wisconsin is without question the standard bearer for all non blue-blood programs in the B1G. I don't follow their recruiting that closely, although I've heard they are getting much better rated players in recent classes. Regardless, Wisconsin has been successful not because they outrecruit Michigan, Ohio State, etc., they are successful because they have perfected a system and do it better than anyone. They are consistent. Iowa is not. They are what many Iowa fans thought/hoped Iowa would become during the 2002-2004 run. What's so impressive is how Wisconsin has maintained consistency despite head coaching changes. Regardless, I think a couple things stand out in comparison to Wisconsin. 1) Wisconsin is consistent and rarely, if ever, get beat by inferior teams. Iowa has had too many seasons hindered by one or two WTF? losses. That has been a consistent problem in the Ferentz era, losses to MAC schools, pitiful ISU teams, or bottom of the barrel B1G teams. Some years, it's been the difference between going 7-5 and 9-3. 2) After the Orange Bowl win, it SEEMS, and I emphasize seems, Ferentz got a little too comfortable and lax and the program got a little stale. While Ferentz will never divert from his philosophies and style of play, there have been noticeable changes, such as shaking up his coaching staff, recruiting a little better, etc.

I think Iowa will compete well with Wisconsin this year and one can only speculate what the years to come will look like. The greater point is Iowa has been close to having similar success, and at times throughout Ferentz's tenure they've been more successful than Wisconsin. The issue has always been consistency, which is an issue for a lot of teams not named Alabama, which makes the fact Wisconsin has had 3 different coaches since Alvarez stepped down and has still managed to maintain mostly 10 win seasons that much more impressive.

 

[nu2u]

Yes some guys blossom late and have solid NFL Careers. Idk about you but I could give 2 $hits about the NFL. How many guys on that list won a college championship?

Utter nonsense. The standard for determining a player's talent is not whether or not the player won a national college championship.

 

[Wasnt-drunk-didnt-troll]

Looks like an Iowa QB to me.

Welcome aboard

He looks like Jake Ruddock.

 

[Harbinger273]

Thanks. I'm really excited to join this program! I will prove myself to be a valuable piece of future Hawk teams! I'll be following you on the bulletin boards. I recently joined Hawkeye Report because of my amazing camp in IC. I think KOK is a QB whisperer!!! And our receivers are top notch!!! Thank you for the love Hawk Nation! I am having appliances, including a refrigerator, moved into an apartment off of E. Burlington soon. Can't wait!

Haven't caught on yet have ya pal? Kid had a good Junior year and presumably improves in his senior season. I think he has the tools and is worthy of joining the program.

 

[TheHawkeyeDudeAbides]

He did show up and perform at Iowa's camp. O'Keefe has worked with him and believed he has a winner. That says a lot. He gets the ball out of his hands pretty quickly on his release. His highlights looked very good to my untrained eye.

We (Hawk Fans) should be happy with this commitment for the sake of the program. Until Iowa become a fairly regular NFL producer of QBs, Iowa's Midwest base is not going to attract a lot of megastarred QB prodigy from the major HS hotbeds like a blue blood program. We will likely have Stanley for another year after 2018 and Mansell and Petras seem to be very sound and highly capable QB backups.

Frankly, Padilla might bring a little Drew Tate (mobility and gunslinging) qualities back to the program. Personally, I don't believe the 2019 QB class was any too deep and kinda happy Iowa did not landthe instate QB. JMO.
Petras's pedigree and Stanley's hold on the starting QB position may have been factors for why this year's hunt taking longer to fill out our quota.

There is always next year's campaign. Go Hawks! Welcome to Iowa, AP.

 

[Wasnt-drunk-didnt-troll]

Utter nonsense. The standard for determining a player's talent is not whether the player won a national college championship.

QBs are judged off their ability to win games. The person that wins the most is the natty champ. I'm going back through and have not found a QB rated lower than a 4 star who has won a natty yet. (By one service or another) Wisconsin got arguably the best QB in the class... I hope this kid makes me look foolish. I just dont see the need to always take a qb, especially in a VERY shallow QB class. It's all good, I hope he comes in and is amazing.