Making lemonade from all the spring-camp DL injuries ... ?

[ghostOfHomer777]

First off ... there are the OBVIOUS negative consequences, namely:

• many of the guys originally listed on the depth chart were there for a reason ... likely because they may have had a leg up on others in terms of size, athleticism, and ability
• its never ideal when your "top guys" have their development slowed by injuries
• slowed development can translate in the short-term to a less stalwart defensive line (given how Iowa football is "built" this is significant)
• slowed development also increases the need for graduate transfers to make an immediate impact to give the "new guys" more of a window over which to develop
• specifically, the injuries made it harder for Waggoner to hone his craft more specifically at DE in order to be more of all-purpose guy who can contribute at BOTH DE and DT.

Pretty crazy to note ... heading into the spring camp, Black was listed as a starter at DT, Jones and Lee were listed as 2nd team at DT, and Reames was listed as 2nd team at DE. That's a significant portion of the DL right there!

But maybe, just maybe are there any possible silver linings?

• with Waggoner getting more reps on the interior ... that opened up more reps at DE seen by Craig and Hurkett (maybe that positively impacted the development of our young DEs?)
• with all the injuries at DT, we "discovered" Stec as a guy who could be a legit contributor
• with all the injuries at DT, Van Ness saw more high-team reps than he ordinarily would
• with the injuries ... maybe it makes it an "easier sell" to lure in a transfer DT?

I can name numerous occasions where injuries negatively impact teams in the short term ... but often lead to the development of greater depth in the longer term. Will that be more to our advantage or detriment?

 

[The Deplorable Sleeping Dog]

Bad outcomes often produce a hidden benefit in unexpected ways. It sounds like the wounded were mostly able to play were they real games.

 

[91hawki]

We need Jones to get healthy, need his physical play

Would have been great to land the Air Force or ILL State transfer

 

[INXS83]

We need Jones to get healthy, need his physical play

Would have been great to land the Air Force or ILL State transfer

Maybe the 335# 25 year old grad transfer from UAB could come in and be Jack Heflin 2.0.