Man this kid can play. Appears he should have be playing more before now. Came within a finger nail of making a possible game saving tip. He's gonna be fun to watch.
Hooker
- Thread starter Kurt Warner
- Start date
I have a feeling that when Snyder comes back, Miles Taylor sits.
Hooker was inserted at the right time. Too bad his hand wasn't a couple inches higher on that final play.
Good game indeed.
Good game indeed.
Really active and quite productive. Made plenty of mistakes ... but reminded me a bit of Sash out there. He'll continue to improve and be a really good one!
There was a week 8 prediction somewhere. I'm not sure if I'd want that or to try to get a medical hardship.
It would be an uphill climb for the medical hardship waiver - he'd be trying to get a 6th year.
Yeah ... Stone has those unteachable intangibles .... seems to have an impressive nose for the football. Furthermore, the kid is lights-out smart ... with offers from Columbia, Cornell, and Yale ... that tells some of the story too. I'm willing to bet that the young man picks up the defense pretty quickly.
If I were to bet, I think Iowa's starters next year will be Snyder and Hooker ... however, I think that Stone will be one of the first guys in. Anyhow, I anticipate that he'll ultimately win the starting spot vacated by Snyder.
I'm hoping Stone is playing safety with Hooker before November....
I'd be fine with Snyder growing into a LB for next season too take one of those vacated spots.
I haven't thought about that but I'd be better with him playing LB than being our last man to beat. He could actually cover there too. Interesting thought...
I was really impressed with Hooker. He likes to hit and is very athletic. I think he'll be a good one.
You may be fine with it happening ... but I'd be honestly shocked if it would happen. When was the last time we had a former regular starting safety switch over to LB? When has that happened that late in a player's career? If it were to happen, it would be exceedingly rare. Besides, the Hawks have other guys developing at LB whom they're grooming to start next year.
Of course, that is not to say that it wouldn't happen ... I just don't think that it is as likely to happen.
Taylor just got juked out of his shoes on that last play and didn't have the speed to catch up. He tries hard but still is not good in coverage and tries too many times to hit guys without wrapping up. I like the kid though and he is the best option right now. So all you can hope for is him getting better as the year goes on. I just don't see how Snyder would be ready to come in and play this year. once he gets cleared he still isn't in game shape.
How little do you pay attention to Iowa football?
A healthy Bazata was every bit as good as Faith. Faith saw all those reps last season because Bazata had a bum ankle. Faith saw his reps increase BOTH because he earned them ... but also because the window of opportunity was there due to another's injury.
As for Gair ... did you watch him during ANY of the prior seasons when he saw prior game reps? You do realize that he had stepped in before for injured safeties, right? To his great credit, his play at the very end of his career was of very high quality ... that's a reflection of him putting in all the hard work of preparing like a starter so that he could make the most of his opportunity. He improved a ton ... because his prior action wasn't nearly that good.
Similarly, we would have been in poor shape in 2013 or 2014 if we had to rely upon Fisher being a starting LB for us THEN ... however, by the time 2015 rolled around, he was ready to play at a very high level.
I recommend dropping this fantasy football attitude baloney ... it doesn't respect the players and the effort that they have to invest in order to improve and develop. The players don't come ready-made. Heck, even AJ Epenesa had to show improvement before he was ready to start seeing snaps on early downs.
Last edited:
Ahealthy Bazata was every bit as good as Faith. Faith saw all those reps last season because Bazata had a bum ankle. Faith saw his reps increase BOTH because he earned them ... but also because the window of opportunity was there due to another's injury.
Really? So #30 was clearly better than #27 until last week?
Really? So #30 was clearly better than #27 until last week?
Really, you're going to criticize Phil Parker's track record with his DBs? When Phil doesn't see execution at the level he expects of his DBs ... but another guy has been elevating his game, Phil has shown, time and again, that he'll let the guy play.
Do you recall how well Gervase played against Wyoming? Gervase is a guy who knows the D, can execute the D with pretty decent consistency, and he can play pretty well. What likely troubled Phil concerning Gervase were some of the bad steps he was taking AND how tentative he had been with his run fills.
Phil KNOWS that there will be bumps along the road with Hooker ... after all, Hooker is only starting his 2nd year in Iowa City. He knows that there will be some issues in consistency ... however, I think that he also figures that Amani can help us more in the long term (particularly against the run).
Also, if you read the tea leaves ... Phil isn't just playing Hooker because he has more raw ability. Given how Amani had been moved around ... he clearly was getting groomed to take over as a starter in 2018. The young man must have been showing a lot of positives on the practice field. Phil likely was trying to figure out the right time to transition Amani in.
However, as I alluded to before ... while I'm sure that Phil had plenty of confidence in Gervase ... Gervase's play on the field forced Phil's hand. Miss your fills against Barkley, that's not just a big play ... that is a TD for PSU. That is WHY Hooker got his shot. To Amani's credit ... while his play was far from perfect, he was very productive ... if he keeps on playing like that, I don't think that Gervase will be able to push him off the field.
Similar threads
