Special Teams in for a Special Year?

[HawkNorth]

Iowa has loaded up on DB's and LB's in the past couple of classes. Because only dozen or so will see significant playing time, you have to think that the staff brought in these numbers to shore up the special teams. With so many bodies, there should be a significant upgrade on our special teams.
A lot of course depends on the production and consistency of our kickers...

DB's
Wes Dvorak DB Jr. 6-0 197 Parkston, South Dakota / Parkston
3 Trey Creamer DB R-Fr. 6-0 190 Cartersville, Georgia / Cartersville
4 Josh Turner DB R-Fr. 5-11 188 Delray Beach, Florida / American Heritage
5 Manny Rugamba DB Jr. 5-11 193 Naperville, Illinois / Naperville Central
6 Max Duchow DB R-Fr. 6-1 186 Pewaukee, Wisconsin / Kettle Moraine
8 Matt Hankins DB So. 6-1 185 Lewisville, Texas / Marcus
9 Geno Stone DB So. 5-11 209 New Castle, Pennsylvania / Senior
11 Michael Ojemudia DB Jr. 6-1 199 Farmington Hills, Michigan / Harrison
18 John Milani DB Jr. 6-0 201 Iowa City, Iowa / West
27 Amani Hooker DB Jr. 6-0 210 Minneapolis, Minnesota / Park Center
28 Jack Koerner DB R-Fr. 6-0 200 Des Moines, Iowa / Dowling
30 Jake Gervase DB Sr. 6-1 212 Davenport, Iowa / Assumption
37 Brandon Snyder DB Sr. 6-0 214 Larchwood, Iowa / West Lyon
41 Colton Dinsdale DB Jr. 5-11 215 Reinbeck, Iowa / Gladbrook-Reinbeck
Julius Brents DB Fr. 6-2 180 Indianapolis, Indiana / Warren Central
Dallas Craddieth DB Fr. 6-0 197 St. Louis, Missouri / Hazelwood Central
D.J. Johnson DB Fr. 6-0 170 Indianapolis, Indiana / North Central
Kaevon Merriweather DB Fr. 6-2 195 Belleville, Michigan / Belleville
Terry Roberts DB Fr. 5-10 171 Erie, Pennsylvania / Cathedral Prep
Jaden Snyder DB Fr. 6-1 205 Larchwood, Iowa / West Lyon

LB's
29 Nate Wieland LB R-Fr. 6-1 223 Iowa City, Iowa / Iowa City
32 Djimon Colbert LB R-Fr. 6-1 234 Shawnee Mission, Kansas / Bishop Miege
34 Kristian Welch LB Jr. 6-3 238 Iola, Wisconsin / Iola-Scandinavia
35 Barrington Wade LB So. 6-1 233 Skokie, Illinois / Niles North
43 Dillon Doyle LB Fr. 6-3 227 Iowa City, Iowa / West
45 Ben Campos LB R-Fr. 6-1 225 West Des Moines, Iowa / Valley
45 Joe Ludwig LB R-Fr. 6-0 233 Middleton, Wisconsin / Middleton
47 Nick Anderson LB Jr. 6-2 225 Waukee, Iowa / Waukee
48 Jack Hockaday LB Sr. 6-1 235 Forsyth, Illinois / Maroa-Forsyth
49 Nick Niemann LB So. 6-4 232 Sycamore, Illinois / Sycamore
52 Amani Jones LB Jr. 6-0 238 Chicago, Illinois / Phillips
55 Kyle Taylor LB So. 5-11 228 Silver Springs, Maryland / Gonzaga, Washington, D.C.
Seth Benson LB Fr. 6-1 205 Sioux Falls, South Dakota / Washington
Joe Evans LB Fr. 6-2 210 Ames, Iowa / Ames
Logan Klemp LB Fr. 6-3 210 Jewell, Iowa / South Hamilton
Jayden McDonald LB Fr. 6-1 220 Suwanee, Georgia / North Gwinnett
Mitch Riggs LB Fr. 6-1 230 West Des Moines, Iowa / Dowling
Mike Timm LB Fr. 6-1 220 Delafield, Wisconsin / Kettle Moraine

 

[Wasnt-drunk-didnt-troll]

You know I was just thinking it had been a while since we had talked about the punter. Fwiw I fully expect the coverages to be solid and the kickoffs to be solid. Punting TBD.

 

[rivercityjazzman]

Iowa has loaded up on DB's and LB's in the past couple of classes. Because only dozen or so will see significant playing time, you have to think that the staff brought in these numbers to shore up the special teams. With so many bodies, there should be a significant upgrade on our special teams.
A lot of course depends on the production and consistency of our kickers...

DB's
Wes Dvorak DB Jr. 6-0 197 Parkston, South Dakota / Parkston
3 Trey Creamer DB R-Fr. 6-0 190 Cartersville, Georgia / Cartersville
4 Josh Turner DB R-Fr. 5-11 188 Delray Beach, Florida / American Heritage
5 Manny Rugamba DB Jr. 5-11 193 Naperville, Illinois / Naperville Central
6 Max Duchow DB R-Fr. 6-1 186 Pewaukee, Wisconsin / Kettle Moraine
8 Matt Hankins DB So. 6-1 185 Lewisville, Texas / Marcus
9 Geno Stone DB So. 5-11 209 New Castle, Pennsylvania / Senior
11 Michael Ojemudia DB Jr. 6-1 199 Farmington Hills, Michigan / Harrison
18 John Milani DB Jr. 6-0 201 Iowa City, Iowa / West
27 Amani Hooker DB Jr. 6-0 210 Minneapolis, Minnesota / Park Center
28 Jack Koerner DB R-Fr. 6-0 200 Des Moines, Iowa / Dowling
30 Jake Gervase DB Sr. 6-1 212 Davenport, Iowa / Assumption
37 Brandon Snyder DB Sr. 6-0 214 Larchwood, Iowa / West Lyon
41 Colton Dinsdale DB Jr. 5-11 215 Reinbeck, Iowa / Gladbrook-Reinbeck
Julius Brents DB Fr. 6-2 180 Indianapolis, Indiana / Warren Central
Dallas Craddieth DB Fr. 6-0 197 St. Louis, Missouri / Hazelwood Central
D.J. Johnson DB Fr. 6-0 170 Indianapolis, Indiana / North Central
Kaevon Merriweather DB Fr. 6-2 195 Belleville, Michigan / Belleville
Terry Roberts DB Fr. 5-10 171 Erie, Pennsylvania / Cathedral Prep
Jaden Snyder DB Fr. 6-1 205 Larchwood, Iowa / West Lyon

LB's
29 Nate Wieland LB R-Fr. 6-1 223 Iowa City, Iowa / Iowa City
32 Djimon Colbert LB R-Fr. 6-1 234 Shawnee Mission, Kansas / Bishop Miege
34 Kristian Welch LB Jr. 6-3 238 Iola, Wisconsin / Iola-Scandinavia
35 Barrington Wade LB So. 6-1 233 Skokie, Illinois / Niles North
43 Dillon Doyle LB Fr. 6-3 227 Iowa City, Iowa / West
45 Ben Campos LB R-Fr. 6-1 225 West Des Moines, Iowa / Valley
45 Joe Ludwig LB R-Fr. 6-0 233 Middleton, Wisconsin / Middleton
47 Nick Anderson LB Jr. 6-2 225 Waukee, Iowa / Waukee
48 Jack Hockaday LB Sr. 6-1 235 Forsyth, Illinois / Maroa-Forsyth
49 Nick Niemann LB So. 6-4 232 Sycamore, Illinois / Sycamore
52 Amani Jones LB Jr. 6-0 238 Chicago, Illinois / Phillips
55 Kyle Taylor LB So. 5-11 228 Silver Springs, Maryland / Gonzaga, Washington, D.C.
Seth Benson LB Fr. 6-1 205 Sioux Falls, South Dakota / Washington
Joe Evans LB Fr. 6-2 210 Ames, Iowa / Ames
Logan Klemp LB Fr. 6-3 210 Jewell, Iowa / South Hamilton
Jayden McDonald LB Fr. 6-1 220 Suwanee, Georgia / North Gwinnett
Mitch Riggs LB Fr. 6-1 230 West Des Moines, Iowa / Dowling
Mike Timm LB Fr. 6-1 220 Delafield, Wisconsin / Kettle Moraine

Good thought. After seeing Coach Woods demonstrate how the use ST drills/game performance to select guys for other roles, it’s clear that the program greatly values ST core skills. Having more guys to chose from, who may represent an upgrade in base talent, could certainly help improve performance.

I’m very interested to see what coach Wood’s response will be to the new kickoff rule (which I think is a really dumb rule; I agree with the rationale, but the implementation is what I have issue with). Iowa was among the best in the country last year in terms of KO coverage. I’m hoping this will be like NASCAR: when a new rule is implemented, all teams scramble to incorporate the change and work to push performance right up to the limits of the new rule, without crossing the line.