coming in has the speed and hands to challenge for a starting position. I believe WR is the second easiest spot for a freshman to make an impact after RB. Iowa has to have some threat to keep the DB's out of the box.
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Who is counting on a true freshman to start?Anytime we start counting on a true freshman to start you know we are in trouble.
This kid has a freakish athletic build. I absolutely expect him to see the field at times, especially in red zone situations ... And, hopefully our offense won't be so freaking complicated now where a freshman can come in and contribute.Any WR that can clear 6ft 8in High Jump... and it looks like he had room for more.... is my bet for a breakout freshman year....
With any luck, he can be like a McNutt 2.0 ... but only having the advantage of starting off as a WR from the get-go. Also, when McNutt was a WR, we didn't have the same depth at RB ... so a bit more pressure was on our WRs. I expect that Brandon Smith will be put in positions where he can help us ... but also where he can learn and grow.This kid has a freakish athletic build. I absolutely expect him to see the field at times, especially in red zone situations ... And, hopefully our offense won't be so freaking complicated now where a freshman can come in and contribute.
Depends on the position you are talking about, WR is a spot in which Freshman can and often do in fact come in and contributeAnytime we start counting on a true freshman to start you know we are in trouble.
I think it is well documented that we have WR production issues. I for one think Brandon Smith will be a major contributor. It is not like it is a new concept- Dom Douglas and DJK stick out immediately as contributing early and oftenCome in and contribute, absolutely agree, I hope at least one flashes, gets reps and contributes in the return game, preferably more than one.
Counting on one to start likely means injuries and other significant issues.
DJK contributed as a RS FR. He entered the picture at the exact same time as James Cleveland (Cleveland was a RS FR too). Both of them were about on par with one another ... and neither were lighting it up too much more than Paul Chaney Jr. (Chaney was a RS FR too).I think it is well documented that we have WR production issues. I for one think Brandon Smith will be a major contributor. It is not like it is a new concept- Dom Douglas and DJK stick out immediately as contributing early and often
A more likely scenario is to see something more akin to a McNutt-like breakthrough or a Keenan Davis-like breakthrough. In '08, McNutt switched over from QB to WR because it was apparent that Stanzi was the heir-apparent at QB. He saw some reps that year ... but his development propelled him to a great breakthrough year as a RS SO in '09. Keenan Davis was clearly a talented guy who middled a little through his first two seasons ... learning the ropes. Then, in '11, as a JR, he had a really nice breakthrough year. Too bad the whole O switched on him in '12 ... he likely would have put up another year of great production had it not changed.I agree and would love to see a first year like DJK or DD's.
I think so. He's still in the picture. He had more touches in '16 than Falconer did.Is Ronald Nash still a possibility?
I think I started the thread with that fact.Depends on the position you are talking about, WR is a spot in which Freshman can and often do in fact come in and contribute
Hmm that's interesting, can you name the last Freshman WR who wasn't forced into action that came in and contributed ?Depends on the position you are talking about, WR is a spot in which Freshman can and often do in fact come in and contribute
It depends what you mean by contributed. Usually when Iowa plays freshmen at WR ... they're not top reads for the QB. Consequently, they don't get many targets. Frankly, I was rather surprised at how many targets VandeBerg got in '13 ... he was weaker back then and had a harder time securing catches after getting hit (there were several balls that he almost caught over the middle that were dislodged by hits). Jerminic Smith had pretty nice production in '15 as a true freshman. In both of those cases, Iowa was simply trying to develop depth at WR ... they weren't "forced" to have to play those guys.Hmm that's interesting, can you name the last Freshman WR who wasn't forced into action that came in and contributed ?
I believe I read somewhere (perhaps it was something from Marc Morehouse) where Nick Easley was compared to Andrew Stone. I believe the comparison was drawn so as to measure possible expectations of Easley ... because Stone never saw many targets on the field as a Hawk. If you look at Stone's career IWCC, he was more of a possession receiver ... he was 5-11/175 ... and was competing against a plethora of other guys for that very same role (like VandeBerg, Hillyer, McCarron, and Martin-Manley).Easley looks pretty seasoned, and he's had more success than anyone outside of Vandeberg, so he's my choice to emerge this fall.
Sorry but 4.77 is slow for a B1G WR he'll need to improve his speed.Needs to improve speed.....
- brandon28255 has a tremendous ceiling! Major college football programs better wake up!
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Considering that we know very little about his running motion ... we still have no idea how fast he actually might be. If he's already well drilled about wasted motion and he still puts up a 4.77 ... then it would require a crap-ton of speed work in order to improve the sort of explosiveness needed to speed up more quickly. However, if he's a guy who isn't as trained in the fine-art of running the 40 .... it could be a smaller matter for him to cut time.Sorry but 4.77 is slow for a B1G WR he'll need to improve his speed.
Jerry Rice had a 40 worse than that. Just saying. The kid is 6-3, high jumps 6-10, and has size 3X hands. He will get some jump balls. I think he us going to wow us all.Sorry but 4.77 is slow for a B1G WR he'll need to improve his speed.
Amazing what you can find on google, just saying.Jerry Rice had a 40 worse than that. Just saying. The kid is 6-3, high jumps 6-10, and has size 3X hands. He will get some jump balls. I think he us going to wow us all.
Thank you. Rice ran 4.9 and 5.0s when he entered college per NCAA News in 1984. Rice's words, "I didn't know how to run the 40." Don't worry about Smith's 40. He's special.Amazing what you can find on google, just saying.
Huh??? Its not 1950Anytime we start counting on a true freshman to start you know we are in trouble.
You don't watch the combine do you? 4.77 is FAST especially when you KNOW where you are going and the DB doesn't. To argue speed with a slow guy is a never ending battle. The amount of legit 4.5 guys that are walking the streets is very very very low.Sorry but 4.77 is slow for a B1G WR he'll need to improve his speed.
I believe I read somewhere (perhaps it was something from Marc Morehouse) where Nick Easley was compared to Andrew Stone. I believe the comparison was drawn so as to measure possible expectations of Easley ... because Stone never saw many targets on the field as a Hawk. If you look at Stone's career IWCC, he was more of a possession receiver ... he was 5-11/175 ... and was competing against a plethora of other guys for that very same role (like VandeBerg, Hillyer, McCarron, and Martin-Manley).
In contrast, Nick Easley is a more strongly built WR (5-11/203) that averaged around 2 yards more per reception than Stone. Thus, Easley isn't necessarily just an example of Stone version 2.0. Furthermore, J. Smith, Falconer, and Young were each recruited more as outside WRs. In fact, VandeBerg has played at each of our WR spots ... so he could play on the outside ... or be more of an inside possession receiver too. If I were to guess, I'd think that Easley might be battling against Nash and Cooper for the same niche in the WR corps ... perhaps even against D. Young.
Thus, I guess that is my long-winded way of agreeing with you ... Easley definitely could work his way into the WR rotation because of his seasoning.
I think that Marc had just been going off the fact that they both had gone to IWCC and that they both had comparable total career stats. The big differences are that Easley got more of his production in a single year, Easley had a higher yard per reception average, and Easley is simply a more strongly built guy.Morehouse is usually spot on but comparing Easley to Stone is way off base. Easley will make an impact...Stone has not.
I'm pretty sure Marvin Mcnutt wasn't much faster then that either, and I'd be glad to have the "NUT" lined up outside again! This kid is a freaky athlete with huge hands. He'll be a welcome addition day one.Considering that we know very little about his running motion ... we still have no idea how fast he actually might be. If he's already well drilled about wasted motion and he still puts up a 4.77 ... then it would require a crap-ton of speed work in order to improve the sort of explosiveness needed to speed up more quickly. However, if he's a guy who isn't as trained in the fine-art of running the 40 .... it could be a smaller matter for him to cut time.
Tim Dwight was super fast where did his parents run college track ? Michael Jordan could jump super high how high could his kids jump ? The facts are he ran a 4.77 and you have no prove of other offers. Have ever seen this young man play live or just watching video ?Both of Brandon parents ran college track at ole miss and Mississippi state.. so I'm sure he is plenty fast enough.. the kid kept quiet about a lot of things. He had more offers then reported. And only went to 3 camps Iowa, fsu and bama..
Totally agree. We may need 3 WR's to step up this year if Meerkat can't go.