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Speculations upon the '24 Iowa defense

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ghostOfHomer777

HR Heisman
May 20, 2014
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Who you got returning?

My projections are that Kirk's NFL contacts will advise Harris to stick around ... maybe a similar deal with Higgins too.

My guess is that another year likely doesn't appreciably helps the draft stock of Coop or Seb ... so I would anticipate that both of those guys leave. I could see Seb being a pleasant NFL surprise ... much like Geno Stone. I have absolutely no clue what way Schulte will lean. I haven't really gotten a bead on his NFL prospects. He wanna start the next chapter of his life ... or would NIL be able to lure him back? Similar sort of deal with Kyler Fisher too.

DE: Craig (think he stays)
DE: Hurkett (he's good)
DT: Black (beast!)
DT: Graves (beast!)
LB: Higgins (prayer beads and voodoo dolls ... do your magic! [i.e. to get him to stay])
LB: Sharar
CASH: Nestor
LEO: Harrell
FS: Entringer
SS: Nwankpa
LCB: Lee
RCB: Harris

Given how good our D is at developing guys ... seems like the makings of a strong unit.
 
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ghostOfHomer777 said:
Who you got returning?

My projections are that Kirk's NFL contacts will advise Harris to stick around ... maybe a similar deal with Higgins too.

My guess is that another year likely doesn't appreciably helps the draft stock of Coop or Seb ... so I would anticipate that both of those guys leave. I could see Seb being a pleasant NFL surprise ... much like Geno Stone. I have absolutely no clue what way Schulte will lean. I haven't really gotten a bead on his NFL prospects. He wanna start the next chapter of his life ... or would NIL be able to lure him back? Similar sort of deal with Kyler Fisher too.

DE: Craig (think he stays)
DE: Hurkett (he's good)
DT: Black (beast!)
DT: Graves (beast!)
LB: Higgins (prayer beads and voodoo dolls ... do your magic! [i.e. to get him to stay])
LB: Sharar
CASH: Nestor
LEO: Harrell
FS: Entringer
SS: Nwankpa
LCB: Lee
RCB: Harris

Given how good our D is at developing guys ... seems like the makings of a strong unit.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that breakdown Homer. You know after watching Castro this year and seeing how well Stone and Hooker have done I have no doubt he's going to go kick ass in the pros as well. I had to look up the height and weight of Stone and Castro as Castro is just an absolute missile out there. Both almost exactly the same measurables, 5-11-205. Castro seems to play much bigger than that. I don't remember Stone having as much of an impact on the run game as Castro has had. . Maybe I'm just forgetting.
 
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ghostOfHomer777 said:
LB: Higgins (prayer beads and voodoo dolls ... do your magic! [i.e. to get him to stay])
LB: Sharar
CASH: Nestor
LEO: Harrell
Click to expand...
This is the unit which is most concerning IMO. ALOT of inexprience there and if Higgins leaves, a collection of players who are ...well ...... green, to say the least. I hope Phil Parker probes the transfer portal for another experienced LB. I have little doubt that Sharar, Nestor, and Harrell are talented players -but- not many snaps there. Hopefully, Keuter wll explode on to the scene next year - that is one player that I'm very interested to see on the field (but probably another year away?)
 
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littlez said:
Thanks for that breakdown Homer. You know after watching Castro this year and seeing how well Stone and Hooker have done I have no doubt he's going to go kick ass in the pros as well. I had to look up the height and weight of Stone and Castro as Castro is just an absolute missile out there. Both almost exactly the same measurables, 5-11-205. Castro seems to play much bigger than that. I don't remember Stone having as much of an impact on the run game as Castro has had. . Maybe I'm just forgetting.
Click to expand...
Geno almost had a sixth sense as it related to finding the football. Where he lacked with measurables ... he was overflowing with intangibles. He's the epitome of smart, tough, and physical.

Castro has been a different flavor of CASH for us ... but he's been tremendously impactful. It feels to me that Seb has been the most physical player at CASH that we've had to date.
 
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ghostOfHomer777 said:
Geno almost had a sixth sense as it related to finding the football. Where he lacked with measurables ... he was overflowing with intangibles. He's the epitome of smart, tough, and physical.

Castro has been a different flavor of CASH for us ... but he's been tremendously impactful. It feels to me that Seb has been the most physical player at CASH that we've had to
Click to expand...
There was a play vs Michigan where Higgins stood Corum up and Castro just nailed him. NFL hit.
 
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littlez said:
Thanks for that breakdown Homer. You know after watching Castro this year and seeing how well Stone and Hooker have done I have no doubt he's going to go kick ass in the pros as well. I had to look up the height and weight of Stone and Castro as Castro is just an absolute missile out there. Both almost exactly the same measurables, 5-11-205. Castro seems to play much bigger than that. I don't remember Stone having as much of an impact on the run game as Castro has had. . Maybe I'm just forgetting.
Click to expand...
We can thank Terry Roberts for Castro's impact. Last year Coop played CASH and moved to CB when Jacobs (and later Higgins) played LB. When Roberts went down, then Coop played exclusively at CB and Castro filled the CASH spot. Maybe it would have stayed that way if Scary Terry had returned, but maybe it would have been Coop back to CASH and Castro to 2nd team.
 
Depending on who goes or stays, linebackers will be the biggest question mark and by far the largest drop off.
 
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HawkMachine said:
Depending on who goes or stays, linebackers will be the biggest question mark and by far the largest drop off.
Click to expand...
Being the biggest question mark, which it is, doesn't mean the biggest drop off though. I mean we lost Campbell, who won the Butkas, and his understudy leads college football in tackles with over 150! Remember that Iowa's defense is designed for those 2 guys in the middle to make the plays, and we keep plugging them in. We've got some dudes who have been here for three years now mostly on specials, but my bet is that Sharar, Twedt, Harrell, Telander will be the next guys in line.
 
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HawkMachine said:
Depending on who goes or stays, linebackers will be the biggest question mark and by far the largest drop off.
Click to expand...
It's kinda crazy ... in truth, the Hawks lost their 3 top LBs last season ... Campbell, Benson, and Jacobs. It's true that the coaches were super high on Higgins too ... and the injury to Jacobs opened up the door for Jay to make the most of his opportunities (which he did).

In his first "breakthrough" season Higgins saw action in 12 games and tallied 39 tackles. Part of this was reliant on them pushing Benson out to LEO (displacing Klemp) and then letting Jay see action at WILL.
In '21, he saw action in 14 games (mostly on special teams) and totaled 5 tackles.
In '20, he saw action in 5 games and had 2 tackles.

Then, as we saw ... he absolutely "exploded" in '23 ... through 13 games having had 155 tackles. Those are like freakin' Larry Station sort of numbers!

An obvious caveat is that most of our backup LBs are simply limited in terms of their positional game reps. However, at this stage, it just appears clear that they've just been playing behind exceptionally high-level players. It will be interesting to see who emerges and makes the most out of their opportunities.
 
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ghostOfHomer777 said:
It's kinda crazy ... in truth, the Hawks lost their 3 top LBs last season ... Campbell, Benson, and Jacobs. It's true that the coaches were super high on Higgins too ... and the injury to Jacobs opened up the door for Jay to make the most of his opportunities (which he did).

In his first "breakthrough" season Higgins saw action in 12 games and tallied 39 tackles. Part of this was reliant on them pushing Benson out to LEO (displacing Klemp) and then letting Jay see action at WILL.
In '21, he saw action in 14 games (mostly on special teams) and totaled 5 tackles.
In '20, he saw action in 5 games and had 2 tackles.

Then, as we saw ... he absolutely "exploded" in '23 ... through 13 games having had 155 tackles. Those are like freakin' Larry Station sort of numbers!

An obvious caveat is that most of our backup LBs are simply limited in terms of their positional game reps. However, at this stage, it just appears clear that they've just been playing behind exceptionally high-level players. It will be interesting to see who emerges and makes the most out of their opportunities.
Click to expand...
Anyhow, I guess my meandering point is that many could have rightly contended that the '23 should have marked a transition at LB too. In some cases ... it kinda was. However, as the season progressed ... it quickly became apparent that it would develop into a strength.
 
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My uneducated opinion is that Lee is too small at corner. The fact that Michigan worked him so bad seems to indicate they thought the same.

PP is going to find some guys.
 
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pistachio1999 said:
He is a rookie. Teams are gonna target rookies and win a lot of those matchups because he needs the experience. He did awesome this year for a rookie.
Click to expand...
I know he's a rookie, but he played because there were apparently no better options.

A 5'10" 180lb corner is a problem in the B1G.

I'll be surprised if he's starting next fall.
 
MitchLL said:
A 5'10" 180lb corner is a problem in the B1G
Click to expand...
Desmond King 5ft10, 190lbs
OIP.tOYCRv8rw2AdYvns3M3_mwHaLG


I thought Deshaun Lee played well against Michigan. Parker has talked about Lee's work ethic. Bottom line: if Phil Parker trusts him, I won't argue.
 
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MitchLL said:
My uneducated opinion is that Lee is too small at corner. The fact that Michigan worked him so bad seems to indicate they thought the same.

PP is going to find some guys.
Click to expand...

Do you mean the Michigan that threw 30 times for 4.9 yds per pass? Also why did they recruit him and then play him a frosh if they thought he was to small?

Curious ?

FWIW the average height of an NGL cornerback is still a tiny bit below 6ft
 
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MitchLL said:
I know he's a rookie, but he played because there were apparently no better options.

A 5'10" 180lb corner is a problem in the B1G.

I'll be surprised if he's starting next fall.
Click to expand...

nu2u said:
Desmond King 5ft10, 190lbs
OIP.tOYCRv8rw2AdYvns3M3_mwHaLG


I thought Deshaun Lee played well against Michigan. Parker has talked about Lee's work ethic. Bottom line: if Phil Parker trusts him, I won't argue.
Click to expand...
Jovon Johnson was 5'9" and Bob Sanders was 5'8".

Lee got exploited less due to height and more due to the fact that he was giving plenty of cushion (a good strategy for a more inexperienced guy to use). Earlier in the season PSU were exploiting Nwankpa and Jackson (due to Nick's inexperience in our system). It's commonplace for inexperienced guys to get singled-out by opposing teams ... because they're perceived as a relative "weak" point.

Anyhow, it is true that Phil has come to like "longer" DBs ... particularly at corner. However, ultimately, he's looking for guys who are consistent and who continue to improve.

I fully expect that Lee will do nothing but improve.

Lee deserves credit for passing TJ Hall on the depth chart ... Hall being a guy listed at 6'1". Of course, nothing is stoppping TJ from winning a spot. Nestor is another guy who is considered "on the rise" ... and he's listed at 5'11".

It will be interesting to see how things shake out.
 
Last edited:
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MitchLL said:
My uneducated opinion is that Lee is too small at corner. The fact that Michigan worked him so bad seems to indicate they thought the same.

PP is going to find some guys.
Click to expand...
Worked him "so bad how". We held them to their lowest yds/play, rush yds and pass yds, ALL season, and they ZERO big chunk plays, other then the punt return. How exactly, did they work him?
 
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ghostOfHomer777 said:
Who you got returning?

My projections are that Kirk's NFL contacts will advise Harris to stick around ... maybe a similar deal with Higgins too.

My guess is that another year likely doesn't appreciably helps the draft stock of Coop or Seb ... so I would anticipate that both of those guys leave. I could see Seb being a pleasant NFL surprise ... much like Geno Stone. I have absolutely no clue what way Schulte will lean. I haven't really gotten a bead on his NFL prospects. He wanna start the next chapter of his life ... or would NIL be able to lure him back? Similar sort of deal with Kyler Fisher too.

DE: Craig (think he stays)
DE: Hurkett (he's good)
DT: Black (beast!)
DT: Graves (beast!)
LB: Higgins (prayer beads and voodoo dolls ... do your magic! [i.e. to get him to stay])
LB: Sharar
CASH: Nestor
LEO: Harrell
FS: Entringer
SS: Nwankpa
LCB: Lee
RCB: Harris

Given how good our D is at developing guys ... seems like the makings of a strong unit.
Click to expand...
Don’t forget about Jaxon Rexroth @ LB too. He’s played real well on special teams this year!
 
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ghostOfHomer777 said:
Who you got returning?

My projections are that Kirk's NFL contacts will advise Harris to stick around ... maybe a similar deal with Higgins too.

My guess is that another year likely doesn't appreciably helps the draft stock of Coop or Seb ... so I would anticipate that both of those guys leave. I could see Seb being a pleasant NFL surprise ... much like Geno Stone. I have absolutely no clue what way Schulte will lean. I haven't really gotten a bead on his NFL prospects. He wanna start the next chapter of his life ... or would NIL be able to lure him back? Similar sort of deal with Kyler Fisher too.

DE: Craig (think he stays)
DE: Hurkett (he's good)
DT: Black (beast!)
DT: Graves (beast!)
LB: Higgins (prayer beads and voodoo dolls ... do your magic! [i.e. to get him to stay])
LB: Sharar
CASH: Nestor
LEO: Harrell
FS: Entringer
SS: Nwankpa
LCB: Lee
RCB: Harris

Given how good our D is at developing guys ... seems like the makings of a strong unit.
Click to expand...
besides Higgins the other 2 LB spots & cash position are shaky if Jackson or Castro don't come back!
 
ghostOfHomer777 said:
Who you got returning?

My projections are that Kirk's NFL contacts will advise Harris to stick around ... maybe a similar deal with Higgins too.

My guess is that another year likely doesn't appreciably helps the draft stock of Coop or Seb ... so I would anticipate that both of those guys leave. I could see Seb being a pleasant NFL surprise ... much like Geno Stone. I have absolutely no clue what way Schulte will lean. I haven't really gotten a bead on his NFL prospects. He wanna start the next chapter of his life ... or would NIL be able to lure him back? Similar sort of deal with Kyler Fisher too.

DE: Craig (think he stays)
DE: Hurkett (he's good)
DT: Black (beast!)
DT: Graves (beast!)
LB: Higgins (prayer beads and voodoo dolls ... do your magic! [i.e. to get him to stay])
LB: Sharar
CASH: Nestor
LEO: Harrell
FS: Entringer
SS: Nwankpa
LCB: Lee
RCB: Harris

Given how good our D is at developing guys ... seems like the makings of a strong unit.
Click to expand...
I agree with most of what you wrote. I really think Castro is under appreciated on a national level. IMO, he was Iowa's best defender this year and that's saying something considering the year Higgins had and the future Cooper is set up for.
 
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ghostOfHomer777 said:
Who you got returning?

My projections are that Kirk's NFL contacts will advise Harris to stick around ... maybe a similar deal with Higgins too.

My guess is that another year likely doesn't appreciably helps the draft stock of Coop or Seb ... so I would anticipate that both of those guys leave. I could see Seb being a pleasant NFL surprise ... much like Geno Stone. I have absolutely no clue what way Schulte will lean. I haven't really gotten a bead on his NFL prospects. He wanna start the next chapter of his life ... or would NIL be able to lure him back? Similar sort of deal with Kyler Fisher too.

DE: Craig (think he stays)
DE: Hurkett (he's good)
DT: Black (beast!)
DT: Graves (beast!)
LB: Higgins (prayer beads and voodoo dolls ... do your magic! [i.e. to get him to stay])
LB: Sharar
CASH: Nestor
LEO: Harrell
FS: Entringer
SS: Nwankpa
LCB: Lee
RCB: Harris

Given how good our D is at developing guys ... seems like the makings of a strong unit.
Click to expand...
No more free rides vs crappy qbs. No more prevent D all game long, falling behind by 3 TDs. Where will he lean 😂 😂😂🙄
 
Dr.PhilSuess said:
No more free rides vs crappy qbs. No more prevent D all game long, falling behind by 3 TDs. Where will he lean 😂 😂😂🙄
Click to expand...
You're talking about perhaps the best coordinator in CFB. Same guy that won all the awards this year. Same guy that's delivered a top 10 offense every year for the past 5 years. I'm sure he'll be just fine.
 
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