BB the WR production dropped off a cliff since Stanley left. We are just going to blame all of this on Ragaini and Tracy? We have no idea what sort of effort Bruce and Johnson have put in compared to Tracy and Ragaini.
I agree that the body language was not great last year from Tracy. It wasn't great at all from Smith and Smith-Marsette either in 2020, because they have a QB that won't look at them and throws the ball all over when they do. Were Smith and ISM not hard workers in 2020 when they looked frustrated?
It's hard to say. Usually, when a QB is an inexperienced first-year starter ... there is often a "transition year." At Iowa, that usually means that the ball gets distributed to a lot of targets ... because the QB really hasn't yet developed the trust/chemistry with a WR to be his "go-to" guy. Circumstantial evidence lends credibility to this hypothesis when you look at the numbers in '13 when Rudock took over ... and in '20 when Petras took over (just to name but two examples).
So this explains what we saw in 2020 ... but how about 2021? Well, going by the numbers, there were plenty of targets going to TEs, RBs, and FBs. That paints a picture that is consistent with a few things ... we KNOW that Petras and Padilla usually didn't have a ton of time to pass the ball ... so TEs and RBs are often high-percentage targets. Given the circumstances of the season, it's also possible that Petras and Padilla were attempting to be risk averse. This is consistent with the coaches probably coaching those guys to be cautious with the football ... that the D and the special teams still have their backs.
Lastly, an element that folks aren't necessarily recognizing this - is the role that defensive preparation plays in the production of the opposing O. In 2019, not only was Nate Stanley a veteran QB ... however, Tracy was forced to take over Brandon Smith's position because of Brandon's injury. Opposing Ds simply didn't have much tape on Tracy at the time. Furthermore, Stanley was veteran enough to throw some real dimes back then ... he was willing to pass the ball into some tighter windows.
I don't think that anybody doubts the capability of Tracy to do something once the ball is in his hands. The thing is ... he needs to get the ball first. That is on BOTH him and the QB ... and the quality of the coverage on him. Once Tracy was a starter and played a few games ... opposing teams immediately then had tape on him. While there were certainly some occasions when Tracy managed to break open ... plenty of other occasions, the QB had pretty small windows to throw into. I think that we all know that Petras wasn't confident enough in '21 to thread some of those needles. Even when he tried, I counted many times when it resulted in drops ... despite hitting his guy in the hands.
Furthermore, in '21 ... by body language alone, I can tell you that were I the top QB, I'd have serious problems trusting Tracy. Part of the whole point of TEAM is to have each other's back.
The proof in the pudding last season was the increased prominence of Bruce and Johnson. Had the issue JUST been the QB ... then more of those snaps would have been retained by Ragaini and Tracy. Ragaini and Tracy lost snaps to the TR FR. In this case, I think that we were seeing an instance of the hunter and hunted ... wherein the young WRs were playing like they had nothing to lose ... whereas the Ragaini and Tracy were the hunted ... and in a position to try to NOT lose their positions. In such instances, it's all about how you respond. I don't think that there was necessarily a lack of effort or work by Ragaini or Tracy ... however, I bet that their execution suffered by playing too tight, too tentatively, not aggressively enough, etc. Ultimately, I've articulated this several times - but it struck me that those guys seemed to demonstrate a little bit of a crisis of confidence.
If you look at the history of Iowa's passing game ... usually Iowa's #1 and #2 WRs are the guys who get the most looks and targets. This season, without even guys being injured ... we saw WR touches get distributed between 5 different guys (Tracy, Ragaini, Jones, Bruce, and Johnson). Say what you will ... but that is usually a sign of guys not "locking things down." When a guy wins his starting gig ... he needs to "lock it down" and take full ownership.
Lastly, to answer your closing question ... when ISM and Smith were "looking frustrated" ... that's on them caring too much about individual stats/accolades rather than having the back of their QB. The QB has so much more on their shoulders than a WR - it's foolish for a WR to not cut his QB some slack (particularly when the guy is a first-year starter ... coming off of all the covid-shortened pre-season prep). It's a team game ... you cannot let the ME outweigh your priority in the WE.
