Lets talk recruits

[whatsup13579er]

The 2016 class is pretty well set with the 24 commits and probably a 25th in Jackson. Help me answer a few questions:

Rugamba - What position is he going to start at? We all know KF loves to take kids like this and put him at DB but the kid has a knack for catching the ball. Will he get a shot at WR?

Toks - I assume he was recruited as a RB? Discussions here have been that he is the fast, burner back in the class and Young is the bruiser. However, their height/weight are nearly identical around 6' 205. Is he a future every down back?

5 DEs - (Schulte, McKnight, Lattimore, Golston, Simon) Who stays at DE? Who puts on weight and moves inside? Lots of big athletic guys in this group.

5 LBs - (Wade, Welch, Taylor, Niemann, Jones plus maybe Fant or Beyer?) Who are you most excited about? Taylor and Niemann were the most heavily recruited. Who plays inside or outside?

 

[David1979]

The 2016 class is pretty well set with the 24 commits and probably a 25th in Jackson. Help me answer a few questions:

Rugamba - What position is he going to start at? We all know KF loves to take kids like this and put him at DB but the kid has a knack for catching the ball. Will he get a shot at WR?

Toks - I assume he was recruited as a RB? Discussions here have been that he is the fast, burner back in the class and Young is the bruiser. However, their height/weight are nearly identical around 6' 205. Is he a future every down back?

5 DEs - (Schulte, McKnight, Lattimore, Golston, Simon) Who stays at DE? Who puts on weight and moves inside? Lots of big athletic guys in this group.

5 LBs - (Wade, Welch, Taylor, Niemann, Jones plus maybe Fant or Beyer?) Who are you most excited about? Taylor and Niemann were the most heavily recruited. Who plays inside or outside?

Iowa is in need of corners and Rugumba is going to be a corner. Only way I see him moving is if they try him at corner and it doesn't work out.

I think Schulte and Lattimore move inside, maybe Simon as well.

I think Welch could play multiple positions so it will be interesting to see where he ends up, TE, DE, OLB. I really like the LBs in the class.
Fant and Beyer will be TEs and if one of them moves I don't think it would be to LB but rather DE.

 

[Roy-munson]

The 2016 class is pretty well set with the 24 commits and probably a 25th in Jackson. Help me answer a few questions:

Rugamba - What position is he going to start at? We all know KF loves to take kids like this and put him at DB but the kid has a knack for catching the ball. Will he get a shot at WR?

Toks - I assume he was recruited as a RB? Discussions here have been that he is the fast, burner back in the class and Young is the bruiser. However, their height/weight are nearly identical around 6' 205. Is he a future every down back?

5 DEs - (Schulte, McKnight, Lattimore, Golston, Simon) Who stays at DE? Who puts on weight and moves inside? Lots of big athletic guys in this group.

5 LBs - (Wade, Welch, Taylor, Niemann, Jones plus maybe Fant or Beyer?) Who are you most excited about? Taylor and Niemann were the most heavily recruited. Who plays inside or outside?

Welch to full-back.. alot of DE in this class and next..

Te is another position of curiosity. With fant, hockerson, beyer.. Hockerson and beyer both split out a lot in HS.

 

[David1979]

No way Welch is a fullback.

 

[madmax1191]

The one i'm sure about is Lattimore will be a DT. McKnight may be able to bulk up to a DT as well? Beyer to me is a huge sleeper at TE but not all three will remain there. The situation between Toks and Toren will be really interesting. The loser of that battle may not stick around for the long hall.Just a hunch.

 

[David1979]

The one i'm sure about is Lattimore will be a DT. McKnight may be able to bulk up to a DT as well? Beyer to me is a huge sleeper at TE but not all three will remain there. The situation between Toks and Toren will be really interesting. The loser of that battle may not stick around for the long hall.Just a hunch.

I don't agree on the TEs. After Kittle is gone they will have Wisnieski (who has struggled with injuries since he has been here) Outsey Jr. and Vejvoda on scholarship at TE. I can see them redshirting two of them and giving some time to the best kid on special teams.

 

[madmax1191]

None of three TE's will be ready this fall. All need to put on muscle. Look for Cook to swith to TE in the future and dont sleep on Pekar. The kid has great hands!

 

[millhawk]

The coaches have told Rugamba that he will start at cb.

Toks and Young are both every down backs.

Schulte, Lattimore both move to DT, don't be surprised if Golston moves to the OL.

LBers are all good players in time. Wade and Jones will be monsters.

 

[Roy-munson]

Is there any future long snappers in this class?

 

[whatsup13579er]

The coaches have told Rugamba that he will start at cb.

Toks and Young are both every down backs.

Schulte, Lattimore both move to DT, don't be surprised if Golston moves to the OL.

LBers are all good players in time. Wade and Jones will be monsters.

I think that both Taylor and Niemann have the chance to be very good in a couple years. Hopefully we are both right and we have 4 top notch guys rotating in 3 spots!

 

[redout]

Jackson is gone

 

[GarryO37]

No way Welch is a fullback.

Agree with Welch. I think the kid stays at LB. He came to camp at Iowa and after the coaches saw him, they immediately offered him a scholarship. So there was something that they saw they felt the need to offer him right away.

Of all the LB's, I think he comes in the most ready to play. 6'3, 220+ and runs a 4.52 40 yd dash. He's a track guy, so it's not outside the realm of possibility. Nonetheless, he has the size and speed to be a special player.

 

[broth87]

2017 is a HUGE year for recruiting for us. We need another strong fall next fall preferably with another trip to the CCG and chasing another big 6 bowl. And we need to parlay it into a HUGE recruiting class. We got a window of opportunity here to elevate our program and we can NOT lose out on this momentum and opportunity. We have some nice players in this class, but nothing that strikes fear in anyone in the East. Next year, we need to add guys like Eno Benjamin and some of these higher rated bigger upside kids.
Just my $.02. Don't wanna see us squander this opportunity to take control in the west division. Nebraska feels really good about their California connection in next year's class and it looks like they could be putting something together. I still don't like Riley as a coach tho and I think it's our time.

 

[Qued18]

Need to do well next year in Illinois..off to a great start with AJ. I've seen that a big oline man and a WR are very interested from the Land of Lincoln. OT from Bettendorf recently got an offer. Off to a good start for next season with 4-5 already giving verbal commitments.

 

[broth87]

HUGE opportunity. I hope everyone realizes where we are. It's a crossroads moment for Iowa football. We've been here a couple of times under Kirk and each time it's gotten away from us. The first time, Wisconsin capitalized and turned it into a real nice run for them. The latest we failed and Michigan State has taken it and seriously elevated their program.
The West is completely up for grabs. A lot of coaching uncertainty and program instability in the other programs, coupled with some really favorable schedules for us including next fall. This is our chance to step forward and claim it as our division and put a really nice run together. But we have to take advantage of the talent we have next fall and put together another really strong season culminating in back to back CCG and another big 6 bowl. Anything less will be disappointing.
And then we need to use it to catapult recruiting. Epenesa is a gigantic start for us but we gotta keep going with it. We need to start adding some players like Eno Benjamin and loading up on some 4 star kids. I know stars aren't everything. I'm just saying targeting and landing some of these higher thought of players. Quality kids, not Cedric Eversons. But top flight talent. I think Eno Benjamin is a monster recruit for us and we need to keep trying to land dynamic playmakers at wide receiver and defensive end. Can't just be content with Epenesa. Get him a running mate to play opposite. And for God's sakes, we gotta do a better job recruiting offensive linemen. I don't understand our struggles there.
Huge huge huge opportunity for Kirk and his program. Please do NOT let this one get away. Iowa fans deserve a run where we're on top for a little while and so does Kirk.

 

[Qued18]

We need to minimize attrition. Gotta keep them here and develope. It's hard to compete for championships when there are several walkons and freshman starting. Our linebackers 2 years ago would be an example. This year they were very solid. Our tackles on o were this years version of young and inexperienced. I hope they have the same improvement the linebackers showed this year.

 

[Drew003]

HUGE opportunity. I hope everyone realizes where we are. It's a crossroads moment for Iowa football. We've been here a couple of times under Kirk and each time it's gotten away from us. The first time, Wisconsin capitalized and turned it into a real nice run for them. The latest we failed and Michigan State has taken it and seriously elevated their program.
The West is completely up for grabs. A lot of coaching uncertainty and program instability in the other programs, coupled with some really favorable schedules for us including next fall. This is our chance to step forward and claim it as our division and put a really nice run together. But we have to take advantage of the talent we have next fall and put together another really strong season culminating in back to back CCG and another big 6 bowl. Anything less will be disappointing.
And then we need to use it to catapult recruiting. Epenesa is a gigantic start for us but we gotta keep going with it. We need to start adding some players like Eno Benjamin and loading up on some 4 star kids. I know stars aren't everything. I'm just saying targeting and landing some of these higher thought of players. Quality kids, not Cedric Eversons. But top flight talent. I think Eno Benjamin is a monster recruit for us and we need to keep trying to land dynamic playmakers at wide receiver and defensive end. Can't just be content with Epenesa. Get him a running mate to play opposite. And for God's sakes, we gotta do a better job recruiting offensive linemen. I don't understand our struggles there.
Huge huge huge opportunity for Kirk and his program. Please do NOT let this one get away. Iowa fans deserve a run where we're on top for a little while and so does Kirk.

I'll forgive the lack of paragraphs because the content is dead on. We just had a nationally relevant year, but to elevate the program long-term, we need to string those years together. We will see an uptick in recruiting for 2016, but we will see a much larger uptick in 2018 if we can have another nationally relevant year.

The opportunity is there. The west is undergoing a lot of transition, and is relatively weak. This is our chance to elevate our program as the king-pin of the West for the next 5 years. All we have to do is be the best in the West on a consistent basis. If we can do that, we eventually will upgrade our brand enough to compete nationally.

 

[freemanbrenner]

Lattimore I think had a chance to play early and be a very good pass rusher off the edge. Niemann, Taylor and Hooker will all be very good players also.

 

[grosie#2]

Jackson is gone

I love when redneck Husker trolls come on to the Iowa site and predict who's gone. If I where a Nebraska troll I would worry about how long Riley stays and if Frost still thinks Nebraska is a good job.