Next year?

[INXS83]

The defense could be outstanding next year, especially if King stays and Ott gets medical redshirt. If Parker trusts the corners to cover like he did tonight, Taylor will be free to be a roving playmaker.

Finding/developing a kicker and punter is key.

Also need J. Smith to emerge as a deep thereat and other young WR's to step up and be a compliment to Vandeberg. Need more playmakers in the passing game.

 

[INXS83]

If Iowa could get farniok and/or Alaric Jackson wouldn't be that surprising if they play right away.

If you read some of the other threads about the OL, you will see there are plenty of good, young OL's ready to compete for the 2-deeps during spring ball. Both the Paulsen's, Waetcher, Render and Ferguson have all been mentioned having made good strides this fall. This makes it less likely that any incoming true FR pulls off the RS and sees the field in 2016 unless the injury bug hits.

 

[broth87]

Here's something else no one has talked about that has to be major point of emphasis in the spring in fall. We have to develop more depth on the defensive line. We need more than a 3 man rotation at tackle and end. At tackle we have some stability and obvious talent with the trio of Johnson, Bazata and Ekakitie. But what if we sustain an injury there with any of the 3? Who's next in and are they ready to play at the level we need? I think Johnson and Bazata have a chance to be a King/Kroul kind of tandem but they have to stay healthy.
At end, a lot depends on Drew Ott. If he's back, we know the trio will be Ott, Hesse and Nelson. But again, what if there's an injury? I think Ott and Hesse can be outstanding. Hesse is only gonna get bigger and more explosive off the edge, plus he can adjust to the left side away from better left tackles. But who's the next man in if someone gets hurt? Even more troubling is what if we don't get Ott back? Then we have Hesse and Nelson? Where's the depth at end in that situation?
The defense has every chance to be devastating next year and better than this year's version if some things fall right (the returns of King and Ott), but depth development is gonna be huge. Reese Morgan has a very important job to do between now and the start of next season.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Here's something else no one has talked about that has to be major point of emphasis in the spring in fall. We have to develop more depth on the defensive line. We need more than a 3 man rotation at tackle and end. At tackle we have some stability and obvious talent with the trio of Johnson, Bazata and Ekakitie. But what if we sustain an injury there with any of the 3? Who's next in and are they ready to play at the level we need? I think Johnson and Bazata have a chance to be a King/Kroul kind of tandem but they have to stay healthy.
At end, a lot depends on Drew Ott. If he's back, we know the trio will be Ott, Hesse and Nelson. But again, what if there's an injury? I think Ott and Hesse can be outstanding. Hesse is only gonna get bigger and more explosive off the edge, plus he can adjust to the left side away from better left tackles. But who's the next man in if someone gets hurt? Even more troubling is what if we don't get Ott back? Then we have Hesse and Nelson? Where's the depth at end in that situation?
The defense has every chance to be devastating next year and better than this year's version if some things fall right (the returns of King and Ott), but depth development is gonna be huge. Reese Morgan has a very important job to do between now and the start of next season.

At defensive tackle, Terlouw rotated in frequently earlier in the season. Against stiffer competition, we seemingly tried to stick more with our proven commodities. Another part of the issue here was the fact that both Bazata and Johnson were first year starters. You don't want to take them away from learning opportunities if you don't have to ... because nothing can be a better teacher than your own game-tape. Also, past Ekakitie and Terlouw, our only other "hyped" DT is a true freshman (Slater). Thus, younger guys need to close the development gap before they can justify earning playing time.

At defensive end, we were initially looking at a decent 4-man rotation ... with Ott and Meier as starters and Hesse and M. Nelson as their back-ups. Obviously, the injury to Ott really undercut what initially seemed to be adequate depth. To exacerbate the issue, another possible up-and-comer in Terrence Harris was injured ... thus, our only other option was a little-used SR in Bud Spears.

As for depth at DE, entering this season, we were already caught in a bind having to rely upon freshmen to man the back-up spots. Thus, depth was an obvious problem entering the season. As we enter 2016, depth at DE will probably not be any cleared ... particularly if Ott doesn't get the medical hardship waiver. I would probably guess that Reiff (redshirt freshman in '16) has the potential to jump in and contribute ... and Lattimore (true freshman) could have a shot to contribute as a back-up too.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

If Iowa could get farniok and/or Alaric Jackson wouldn't be that surprising if they play right away.

If we got a top-flight OT ... I would agree that it would be possible for them to play early. However, they'd have to earn the opportunity and grade-out higher than guys ahead of them. Furthermore, they'd also have to be willing to forego their redshirt season.

However, I do expect that Iowa's OT play to be much improved in 2016. Thus, unless a starter got injured ... I see little chance that a true freshman would jump in and start right away. The situation could be similar to James Daniels's situation this year OR to Dace Richardson's situation in 2005.

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

You and I don't. but the voters will be falling all over themselves all summer hoping to see khakis take care of unfinished business and get them back to the REAL old fashioned scUM. They'll be pre-season top 10 every year unless they somehow end up being absolutely horrible.

Not sure they will be top ten based on replacing QB and questions regarding that position....I will say they will be over rated no matter where they end up

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

If Iowa could get farniok and/or Alaric Jackson wouldn't be that surprising if they play right away.

I doubt they play as true freshman being that we have some at least 5 established players this year that have played pretty darn well

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

I certainly respect your opinion and many share your view. Stanzi his junior year seemed a little more willing to take risks and with risk comes greater rewards- especially remember him making some big plays in the Michigan game at home that year that he probably wouldn't have made as a senior. At the end of the day I think defense wins games but having a playmaker and leader at quarterback plays a really big part in it.

The Rick sixes "were forgiven" in 2009 because the defensive play was that much better in '09. Also, while Iowa's '09 OL situation was somewhat similar to MSU's '15 OL situation ... at the end of the day, Iowa's '09 OL was really impressive when they were healthy.

The '09 O was called more aggressively simply because we featured 2 freshmen at RB - so a lot more of the O had to flow through Stanzi in the passing game. It didn't hurt that the '09 WRs included DJK and McNutt and we were ridiculously deep at TE. In '10, at least when ARob was healthy, we were able to count on decent consistency from our running game - and that made it easier for Stanzi to make smarter decisions.

While I do feel as though the whole '10 squad was "weak" in terms of leadership ... without question, Stanzi improved leaps and bounds over prior seasons. Furthermore, he HAD to be more cautious because the D wasn't nearly what it was the prior season ... and, to make matters worse, the D got hit pretty hard by injuries too (particularly at LB).