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Practice nuggets..

So both will pass 2 year starter merriweather?
Not this year, but I think I’d be shocked if they weren’t starters next year. Schulte is the expected starter at FS, but you wouldn’t shock me if Cooper and Xavier rotated in a lot.

sadly, I do expect to lose a DB or two after the semester.
 
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Richman, Plumb and DeJong were all undersized last year at 295 lbs or so. For Plumb, who has been in the program the longest, I thought he may have maxed out due to his height, but I thought I saw his updated weight close to 310 now. If true, that should help him a lot, although I still worry about his pass protection.

DeJong should be able to get to the same weight, but I haven't seen that updated. IMO he is a lot more agile than Plumb, but his lack of weight and strength (he wasn't a weight room warrior at Pella) made his flaws in technique way more obvious and consequential. I figured if he got to 305 or more with some more weight room time that he would pass Plumb on the depth chart again.

Good to have competition either way. The weight room gains could make this line quite a bit bigger than last year's version.
 
Richman, Plumb and DeJong were all undersized last year at 295 lbs or so. For Plumb, who has been in the program the longest, I thought he may have maxed out due to his height, but I thought I saw his updated weight close to 310 now. If true, that should help him a lot, although I still worry about his pass protection.

DeJong should be able to get to the same weight, but I haven't seen that updated. IMO he is a lot more agile than Plumb, but his lack of weight and strength (he wasn't a weight room warrior at Pella) made his flaws in technique way more obvious and consequential. I figured if he got to 305 or more with some more weight room time that he would pass Plumb on the depth chart again.

Good to have competition either way. The weight room gains could make this line quite a bit bigger than last year's version.
I expect the tackles to be much improved, and really, the oline in general. You know Kirk took last year personally.
 
I can see Davidkov working in at LG. Center is the biggest one to me. I wonder when Myslinski gets back. Seems like it is going to be a battle that lasts into fall. Same with LG. I think Richman is going to be really good this year. Same with Colby.
Some buzz around that Richman and Davidkov are the first team tackles and Colby is in solid at guard. If Jones and Elsbury are close to even at center I just wonder if Jones doesn't start at center and Elsbury doesn't get the other guard slot. I just wonder what is going on with Britt-----ongoing injury problems or maybe peaked as a freshman?
 
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Some buzz around that Richman and Davidkov are the first team tackles and Colby is in solid at guard. If Jones and Elsbury are close to even at center I just wonder if Jones doesn't start at center and Elsbury doesn't get the other guard slot. I just wonder what is going on with Britt-----ongoing injury problems or maybe peaked as a freshman?
Britt just can’t stay healthy. He’s out again this Spring.
 
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Some buzz around that Richman and Davidkov are the first team tackles and Colby is in solid at guard. If Jones and Elsbury are close to even at center I just wonder if Jones doesn't start at center and Elsbury doesn't get the other guard slot. I just wonder what is going on with Britt-----ongoing injury problems or maybe peaked as a freshman?

I think they’re also hoping to give Myslinksi a fair shot at the C position as well, another guy who’s out this spring.

Feel bad for guys like Britt. Sometimes it’s just so hard to shake the injury bug.
 
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On Iowa Live on 4/18:

Reese Morgan - Iowa 8-10 deep along D-line when 2 injured guys get healthy. Said Shannon has had a great spring. Lee setting up for a fine year. Van Ness could become a star. Named all the usual suspects in a favorable way.

Reese said last Saturday's practice was the best one all spring, so far. Both OL and DL were very physical.

Reese also said the OL has made great strides since beginning of spring drills.

Also said both OT positions are set. Pencil Colby in at one G spot.

Dolph reiterated the other OG spot and C are still competitions.

Dolph also said Petras is the guy. Well ahead of others. More relaxed and confident.

Somebody said A. Bruce has stood out this spring. The game has slowed down for him.

Everybody praised Moss, not only for coming back, but has practiced harder than ever this spring. Great example and leader.

Reese was asked about success recruiting Iowa kids after Kirk and new staff arrived in 1999. He said Kirk gave him the entire coaching staff for 2 weeks to start building a new recruiting base by scouring the state for talent and making contacts. That laid the foundation for better in-state recruiting they enjoy today.

Great to see Reese still involved and sharp as a tack.

Saville asked Dolph how long he was going to continue to be the Learfield voice for the Hawks? He said at least a couple more years. He said Eddie wants to go on for another 20 years. LOL.
Eddie has a great radio voice and is not just a fan boy commentator.
 
I am encouraged at least to learn that Plumb has pulled ahead enough to lock it down though. Must mean there have at least been improvements.
This is also the first time he's been listed over 300lbs, so maybe he's finally growing into the position....
 
I think it's fair to say that when Padilla made his appearance last year the offense seemed to run far more smoothly and decisively at the beginning. The stats were not much, if any at all, better with Padilla but the offense "looked" confident and fans no longer had to clench on every play anticipating something outlandish. Without Padilla we might've even dropped 1-2 more last season -- for instance the NW game. The stats were nothing special but the lack of jitters by the qb was critical for that win. That said, the advantage of trotting out padilla was neutralized after a couple games once (my take) opponents had enough tape to peg him down. This might be a somewhat harsh take but Padilla is a good qb who really is best suited to play the role of a steady backup, which he did really well for us last year.
I also don’t think Iowa beats Minnesota last year if Petras played in that game. The Iowa offense didn’t have the ball that much, but Padilla had a couple long key TD passes.
 
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Hopefully SP finally makes that improvement in his last season to become at least an average QB. That would be bucking an Iowa trend. It's also something that isn't seen in general at this level for a guy to have as many starts and as much PT at the qb position that he's had to suddenly have the lights come on. But, it's where things are at as it seems more than likely that he will again be the starter.
Hopefully, Iowa’s QB starter hasn’t been determined yet.
 
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Hopefully, Iowa’s QB starter hasn’t been determined yet.
The players determine the competition. It's up to Alex and Joey to close the gap. It's up to Spencer to try to hold them off. All the guys compete ... to both better themselves, each other, and the team.

Given all the starts that Spencer has - he has a larger body of work upon which he can improve upon. If he doesn't take advantage of that ... then that is all on him.
 
Please let this be so
We saw what it was like for lots of inexperienced guys to start last year.

It was rough!

You have to be careful what you ask for ... with a young guy, the talent level might potentially be high ... but the consistency level isn't always there. That tends to lead to more broken plays.

On the flip side ... IF Davidkov DOES win the job, then he's not so far removed from guys like Richman, Colby, and Elsbury. Since they're peers who are relatively so close in experience-level ... they can relate to each other that much better. That usually implies that they can tend to learn more from each other too.
 
We saw what it was like for lots of inexperienced guys to start last year.

It was rough!

You have to be careful what you ask for ... with a young guy, the talent level might potentially be high ... but the consistency level isn't always there. That tends to lead to more broken plays.

On the flip side ... IF Davidkov DOES win the job, then he's not so far removed from guys like Richman, Colby, and Elsbury. Since they're peers who are relatively so close in experience-level ... they can relate to each other that much better. That usually implies that they can tend to learn more from each other too.

They rotated a third-year and fourth-year player at RT last year. Both were bad. It would be hard for nearly anyone they put at RT to underperform what was there last year.
 
They rotated a third-year and fourth-year player at RT last year. Both were bad. It would be hard for nearly anyone they put at RT to underperform what was there last year.
Plumb had played smattering in '20 before - mainly right at the end of the season.

Actually, he's long been an enigma to me ... because his play in some of those games wasn't that bad given his experience level. Similarly, in the Kentucky game ... against, he didn't play too bad. But yeah ... other games ... he could get beat ... and beat bad.

To argue that EITHER DeJong or Plumb were truly experienced guys is laughable. You have to remember that covid seriously impacted their development because of the impact it had on spring and fall-camp. Already, at this juncture, Richman is more experienced than Plumb.
 
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Plumb had played smattering in '20 before - mainly right at the end of the season.

Actually, he's long been an enigma to me ... because his play in some of those games wasn't that bad given his experience level. Similarly, in the Kentucky game ... against, he didn't play too bad. But yeah ... other games ... he could get beat ... and beat bad.

To argue that EITHER DeJong or Plumb were truly experienced guys is laughable. You have to remember that covid seriously impacted their development because of the impact it had on spring and fall-camp. Already, at this juncture, Richman is more experienced than Plumb.
Yeah, while Plumb wasn’t TERRIBLE, more just inconsistent imo…I don’t think especially at the start of the season how inexperienced last years line truly was. Losing Kallenberger moved everyone up a spot before they were ready, and then Schott‘s injury and Ince’s never-ending stretch of knocks that kept him limited really impacted the depth of the line far more than anyone expected.
 
Hopefully, Iowa’s QB starter hasn’t been determined yet.
Sorry, but I can't join you there. I think that ship has sailed.

I'm going with what is BAU for Kirk, but open to being pleasantly surprised should it play out otherwise.
 
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So both will pass 2 year starter merriweather?
How things shake out at S might prove fascinating.

In 2019, Merriweather was the guy initially slated to start at FS ... opposite Stone. However, he got injured ... Koerner stepped in and then never relinquished the spot.

Later in the '19 season ... Belton ended up proving that he could handle the CASH spot.

Consequently, for the past 2 years ... when Hawks used the CASH look ... our S/CASH guys were Koerner, Merriweather, and Belton. However, when we went "big," using our 4-3 look ... then we'd swap out Merriweather ... and Belton would come in at SS.

By all accounts it sounds like Merriweather is pretty darn good leader. Now the question will concern if he can continue to round-out his game - and continue to hone his craft.

Let's suppose that Merriweather continues to improve ... then he could potentially nudge out Schulte at FS. That then would open up the opportunity for us to have a full-time CASH/SS-type ... and then have a rotating SS who goes out when we go 4-3.

However, Phil initially gave the indication that Schulte was currently the most consistent guy at FS. FS is also typically the spot that is considered the QB of our secondary. Thus, knowing the D down pat is a MUST ... and the guy should also communicate well and play with great consistency. When I saw Schulte see positional action for us last year - he acquitted himself quite well.

Unlike some folks here ... I don't think that it is a given that Schulte gets beaten out.

It IS possible that Phil might just make the CASH the rotational spot ... and just have the SS be full-time.
 
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Sorry, but I can't join you there. I think that ship has sailed.

I'm going with what is BAU for Kirk, but open to being pleasantly surprised should it play out otherwise.

I’ve decided every time I’m on this board and I see someone say this bullshit I’m calling them out… Over the years I would wager there have been 20 to 30 posters in 400 different threads point out how asinine, stupid and irresponsible this position is…good job you’re one of the people that refuses to understand .

And before you start with the Banks and Stanzis bullshit keep in mind they are both on record with either saying they weren’t ready or they weren’t taking football seriously so that leaves you with CJ and Jake Rudock. Rudock who went onto Michigan and kicked ass & then made the NFL so honestly you don’t have no “business as usual“ bullshit to stand on!!

Just saying’….
 
Assume 1 or 2 departures yet post spring ball?

If you’re talking D backs, yes possibly. It truly is amazing not only the amount of defensive backs that we’ve had that have starred but also the amount that have gone on elsewhere and played well…

The one good thing is we pretty typically play around 8, D-backs a year either because of necessity as a result of injury or just because we like to find spots for them.

Aa a result we probably don’t lose as many transfers as we could, but we also have had a load of D backs leave early for the NFL,so I think that’s another reason why kids stick around. You honestly can’t hardly find any fault at all with our talent identification in the defensive back field. They’ve come in every single shape, size. ranking, etc.… Starting with Phil Parker but clearly there are other people involved in that evaluation process.

We are beyond repute at finding D back talent. We’re pretty damn good at linebacker D line and TE too…
 
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Assume 1 or 2 departures yet post spring ball?
Typically there are 4-5 departures after Spring practice or end of semester. With portal, the trend will probably continue as third or fourth year players see their chances of playing time diminish
 
would you please just shut the **** up?

without you this thread is 5 pages long and has practice nuggets ..... I think you might have a problem
Ok doucher….I’m assuming you think I’m playing both the protagonists AND the antagonist here?
 
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yes honestly I just see your endless desire to share all your “knowledge” as the single most annoying part of trying to follow the thread and pick up on the content the title suggested would be in here

why don’t you and Homer take a break give someone else a chance to talk ❤️ you two could start your own thread and just let that fountain of knowledge flow 👍
If you could start the trend and contribute something other than a personal comment that would be great. You know, to stay on topic.
 
yes honestly I just see your endless desire to share all your “knowledge” as the single most annoying part of trying to follow the thread and pick up on the content the title suggested would be in here

All my knowledge?! You’ll need more time😉
 
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Didn’t see anything about Davidkov at tackle today from Barnett. Talked about Plumb and Richman and Colby starting to play a little tackle. Elsburry Stephens and Jones in the interior. Myslinski back in June.
Edit: NM just saw he said he is progressing and fun to work with.
 
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Didn’t see anything about Davidkov at tackle today from Barnett. Talked about Plumb and Richman and Colby starting to play a little tackle. Elsburry Stephens and Jones in the interior
NM just saw he said he is progressing and fun to work with.
I claim to be no expert but to me, Beau Stephens looked like a better prospect than Davidkov. The sheer power and aggressiveness he displayed on his highlight film was off the charts. Can't wait to see Stephens play once he gets a little experience under his belt. Impressed by Elsbury also and surprised he hasn't seen more snaps already.

Jones/Mylinski/Colby/Stephens/Elsbury.... that's some solid, young interior OL talent to work with.
 
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I’ve decided every time I’m on this board and I see someone say this bullshit I’m calling them out… Over the years I would wager there have been 20 to 30 posters in 400 different threads point out how asinine, stupid and irresponsible this position is…good job you’re one of the people that refuses to understand .

And before you start with the Banks and Stanzis bullshit keep in mind they are both on record with either saying they weren’t ready or they weren’t taking football seriously so that leaves you with CJ and Jake Rudock. Rudock who went onto Michigan and kicked ass & then made the NFL so honestly you don’t have no “business as usual“ bullshit to stand on!!

Just saying’….
Do you have the Banks and Stanzi quotes?
 
Do you have the Banks and Stanzi quotes?

Id wager a guy like Homer does and as I said I’m like the 30th person that has referenced it. It wasn’t done in a dark corner as your query suggest you’re questioning it, but don’t, it happened!

Now back on track, this is a “practice” thread!! I don’t want the Gestapo to show up and chastise everyone!
 
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Id wager a guy like Homer does and as I said I’m like the 30th person that had referenced it. it wasn’t done in a dark corner ad your query suggest you’re questioning it, but don’t, it happened!

Now back on track, this is a “practice” thread!! I don’t want the Gestapo to show up and chastise everyone!
I was just asking, I googled it and couldn't find anything. I'm sure there was a quote but I was interested in the context. Did they come out and say it on their own, or were they asked a question by the press and he was covering for his coach?
 
I was just asking, I googled it and couldn't find anything. I'm sure there was a quote but I was interested in the context. Did they come out and say it on their own, or were they asked a question by the press and he was covering for his coach?

Brother I do apologize because it appears you’re being sincere. I have never had a problem with the coaches & their general treatment of the Banks & Stanzis situation. Because I watched all those games and I’m not a start stop guy. I can see nuance, I can see why coaches would’ve struggled & I’ll use Stanzi as my example because I loved Ricky Stanzi but he was a turnover machine. Not hard to see why they were nervous about playing him extended minutes early on…

The quote you were referencing was new to me several years ago. I didn’t know it but the people that espouse them are trustable forthright folks so. I’m not at all surprised by the quotes…

I vaguely remember Stanzi saying he didn’t take football serious enough early on & the Banks quote fits with the kind of personality he had…

You are seriously getting me in trouble with the board brown shirts here though….

All you need to know about this board and that group of people I’m talking about is…“Riley McCarron“.

Riley was much panned for being on the team. I’m sure they’ve revised their memories since then but he was not thought of to be a high-quality receiver. Then he goes and runs a 4.37, 40-yard dash at his Pro day and had a drink of coffee with the Patriots & suddenly those same bozos couldn’t figure out how we wasted his talent LOL….dumb coaches!

That’s how they roll!
 
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