My point is we need guys NOW. Not projects, which he is. Now 2-3 years from now maybe I’m wrong and he’s a stud. I hope so. It’s really tough to play 2 sports and FB is is number 2. Would you not agree we need full time football players on offense, especially at receiver?
The Cavalry is Not On Its Way: ZERO WR Recruits Coming In Next Year?
- Thread starter IowasLaw
- Start date
hence me saying
"if brecht can get his control dialed in I don't think it's a stretch to think he'd leave college."
Arland Bruce and Keagan Johnson strike me as guys who will be leaders for the Hawkeyes for the next several years. I don't know what they are thinking, but I believe they both will play big roles in rejuvenating the offense throughout their careers.
this is on spot unfortunately.
right there with Fran whiffing on legitimate PGs over the years. We'll see this year if there is any hope that trend is improving.
But lack of big playmakers is an alarming concern. Of all the power 5 teams in America, at Iowa we are stuck with this crapshow offense. It's just amazing it has gotten this bad. And more amazing there seems to be little urgency to correct it.
As a quick update - the lone commit who could even remotely convert to WR (years down the road after development) finished his high school season. What were his stats?
I'm glad you asked. He had a grand total of 230 yards receiving. That amounts to about 25 yards per game...catching 1 or 2 passes at a small school Iowa high school that got blown out more often than not. Surely that kind of productivity translates well to immediate playing time at the Big 10 play next year. Nothing to worry about here.
Who needs playmaking WRs to fix a broken offense when you can throw 2 yard outs to super stars Wick, Johnson, and Mota next year.
I'm glad you asked. He had a grand total of 230 yards receiving. That amounts to about 25 yards per game...catching 1 or 2 passes at a small school Iowa high school that got blown out more often than not. Surely that kind of productivity translates well to immediate playing time at the Big 10 play next year. Nothing to worry about here.
Who needs playmaking WRs to fix a broken offense when you can throw 2 yard outs to super stars Wick, Johnson, and Mota next year.
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To be fair he had absolutely no one to help at Marion. That was one awful hs football team.
Well, hopefully he's juuuuuuust good enough to catch a 4-yard out once or twice a game. That's all we ask.
While we know @IowasLaw is trolling here he’s unfortunately not wrong. This is one terrible looking receiver room with nobody on the way and a brand new WB with zero experience next year. Damn.
I really like Arland Bruce and Keagan Johnson - I think they will excel IF we get a different OC, QB, and an OL that is not a sieve...unfortunately there are also WAY too many 'lunch pail' walk-on WRs on our roster right now. Hopeful that Vines and/or Brecht can squeeze out the Ritter's, Jack Johnson's, etc. for playing time next season...if not, it is not looking rosey at that position if Arland and Keagan are not healthy. (& still with Iowa!)
Those are two different guys, but yes, I think it looks promising for both?
I think that's why I posted updates for each, but I'll make sure the spacing is appropriate.
Just deceiving format I guess of your post I guess? Maybe my phone is the culprit?
It does sound like Iowa has a good shot with both.
Does anyone have any confidence that we could be active in the transfer portal? A year late, but maybe we have the NIL bribe figured out?
I would include Mooney in here too. From everything I've been reading, seems like Iowa has a great shot there.
I asked on another thread, anything about Vowell? He seemed like a possibility earlier.
No insider info on that, but my guess is Iowa will pass there. Mooney and ISF seem like better options at that X receiver spot.
I mean sure, Iowa could be active. My guess is Iowa's staff was active last year in going after guys. But there is being active and actually getting a guy to come to your school. Everyone that is good or potentially good in the portal is likely to be recruited by a school that is "guaranteeing" a specific amount of $. We saw it on the basketball side where Fran pursued several bigs who would have been a great fit, and from a playing time perspective would have got a lot of it on a good Iowa team. But here's the deal. When guys have options, they are going to choose a school that is guaranteeing a significant amount of money vs Iowa's approach, where they have the Swarm collective and distributes money evenly to participants. I'm not bad-mouthing what the Iowa alums/fans have set up, as good on them for contributing money and doing something and not just talking about it.
There is still some hashing out of what if any NCAA rules will govern the NIL landscape, but Iowa to date just does not have the stomach to pay for players (legally). Paying doesn't automatically equate to wins. Texas A&M has spent millions on its last 2 recruiting classes and they are 3-6. Same with Auburn. I have zero idea how coaches maintain a semblance of team over self in the NIL world, especially if the team isn't winning. If the team doesn't win, guys just start worrying about staying healthy and if there's another team out there that will pay them more or give more PT.
Yes, Iowa should be active in the portal and try to uncover players that want an opportunity for PT at a Big 10 program. Iowa should also be active for a QB and for o-linemen. But it's not as simple as just online shopping and selecting what you want. There has to be interest from the other side.
I mean sure, Iowa could be active. My guess is Iowa's staff was active last year in going after guys. But there is being active and actually getting a guy to come to your school. Everyone that is good or potentially good in the portal is likely to be recruited by a school that is "guaranteeing" a specific amount of $. We saw it on the basketball side where Fran pursued several bigs who would have been a great fit, and from a playing time perspective would have got a lot of it on a good Iowa team. But here's the deal. When guys have options, they are going to choose a school that is guaranteeing a significant amount of money vs Iowa's approach, where they have the Swarm collective and distributes money evenly to participants. I'm not bad-mouthing what the Iowa alums/fans have set up, as good on them for contributing money and doing something and not just talking about it.
There is still some hashing out of what if any NCAA rules will govern the NIL landscape, but Iowa to date just does not have the stomach to pay for players (legally). Paying doesn't automatically equate to wins. Texas A&M has spent millions on its last 2 recruiting classes and they are 3-6. Same with Auburn. I have zero idea how coaches maintain a semblance of team over self in the NIL world, especially if the team isn't winning. If the team doesn't win, guys just start worrying about staying healthy and if there's another team out there that will pay them more or give more PT.
Yes, Iowa should be active in the portal and try to uncover players that want an opportunity for PT at a Big 10 program. Iowa should also be active for a QB and for o-linemen. But it's not as simple as just online shopping and selecting what you want. There has to be interest from the other side.
Iowa's "old strategy" relating to WR-recruiting was to bring in athletes ... often former QBs ... and try to develop them into WRs. Sometimes it worked ... sometimes it didn't.
When we've attempted to recruit more traditional "pure" WR recruits ... the results haven't always been particularly positive either. The problem there, I would infer, is that the average high school WR who considers Iowa believes that he can just walk into the program and start. Furthermore, such guys sometimes erroneously believe that only a backwards place like Iowa expects WRs to block ... whereas they completely ignore the fact that places like Ohio State and Alabama expect their WRs to block too (in fact, guys don't play if they don't block ... because there's always another ready and willing 4/5-star guy to take his place).
The prima donna and "soft" nature of the average WR recruit doesn't necessarily mesh with Iowa's workman-like, developmental philosophy. Consequently, it really CAN be difficult to recruit WRs into the program.
Non contenders like Nebby were really butthurt, though, which was fun. (Still are apparently) I agree with you that Iowa was his best offer.
Looking at how things shook out in the Big 10 this year, it should come as no surprise Iowa's top WR came in at 328th nationally in receiving yards (Ragaini). Also not surprisingly, many of the Big 10's top WRs this year were grad transfers. The top WRs at:
Palmer (Nebraska from LSU)
Purdue (Jones from Iowa)
Penn State (Tinsley from Western Kentucky)
Rutgers (Harris from Syracuse)
Maryland (Copeland from Florida)
Statistically, Iowa had the worst WR corp in Power 5 football. Like it or not, guys like Ragaini, Bruce, and Brecht would have never seen a down of playing time at any other 7 win team in college football.
Clearly help is needed to bolster Iowa's WR position. Going into December, how has staff addressed this enormous weakness?
Well...Iowa just received a commit this late in the recruiting cycle from a guy with a grand total of ZERO scholarship offers. A classic fallback/project who will unquestionably have zero impact on next year's squad and may see the field 3 years from now. Who else? The Hawks picked up Jarriett Buie. Could he be good someday? Sure. But he's not even one of the top 100 recruits out of the state of Florida this year and is unrated as a WR recruit nationally.
The guys Iowa is bringing in are not going to make a dent in next year's problem. If the Hawks can't land a highly touted WR, there is no doubt they need to hit the portal full time to bring in as many WRs as they can. There are guys at Loras and Iowa Western who are better than what Iowa has put on the field this year.
Palmer (Nebraska from LSU)
Purdue (Jones from Iowa)
Penn State (Tinsley from Western Kentucky)
Rutgers (Harris from Syracuse)
Maryland (Copeland from Florida)
Statistically, Iowa had the worst WR corp in Power 5 football. Like it or not, guys like Ragaini, Bruce, and Brecht would have never seen a down of playing time at any other 7 win team in college football.
Clearly help is needed to bolster Iowa's WR position. Going into December, how has staff addressed this enormous weakness?
Well...Iowa just received a commit this late in the recruiting cycle from a guy with a grand total of ZERO scholarship offers. A classic fallback/project who will unquestionably have zero impact on next year's squad and may see the field 3 years from now. Who else? The Hawks picked up Jarriett Buie. Could he be good someday? Sure. But he's not even one of the top 100 recruits out of the state of Florida this year and is unrated as a WR recruit nationally.
The guys Iowa is bringing in are not going to make a dent in next year's problem. If the Hawks can't land a highly touted WR, there is no doubt they need to hit the portal full time to bring in as many WRs as they can. There are guys at Loras and Iowa Western who are better than what Iowa has put on the field this year.
The scheme has to change before they’ll get any traction with any decent wide receiver recruit. Even then, recruits are likely going to be in the “believe it when I see it” mode and have to see some level of success at that group. They might be able to land somebody out of the transfer portal but it’s unlikely to be a game changer.
I wonder if anyone bad mouthing Iowa's WR's or recruits has ever played the position, or played at a D1 level or ever played the game. If not, you should apologize for your degrading remarks and shut your pieholes.
This is such a lame duck response.
You do know the WR coach said himself it's very difficult to get guys to come play in our offense right?
The guy who just won the b10s best receiver award was buried on our depth chart, trying to win time via punt returns.
We don't know how to use the talent we have.
KP is an amazingly talented young man. One o lineman isn't going to right this ship. You guys remember when we had Wirfs and were piss poor on the other side? Teams just move guys to go against the weak link.
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You know how many nationwide analyst who are well regarded never played D1? It doesn’t take someone to have played the game to know Iowa’s offense, qb and wr were sub par to put it nicely.
The only thing he said that can’t be proven is that not one of our receivers would have played a down on another 7-win team. But it’s a good bet based off everything we’ve seen.
Everything else is factual.
A big-time P5 program (Iowa) extending an offer and receiving a commitment from a guy with NOT a single other offer (I didn’t look it up to confirm no other offers)?? Man…. It’s just a sad sad situation.
Don’t be mad at the guy you’re responding to…be mad at the product, the lack of results, and the consequences of those “results”
Alaric Jackson is still in the NFL. We weren't piss poor on the other side then like we are now.
Alaric struggled mightedly his first year of service at Iowa, just because he grew into an NFLer doesn't mean teams didn't target him (or whoever the weakest link would be IF KP joins).
Long story short: one guy ain't fixing our problems, especially a 18 year old going against grown men.
I agree Alaric was and is no Tristan. And yeah Alaric struggled his first year and maybe even into his second but he kept getting better and hung in there. He was a good OT by the time he was done here.
Don't disagree he came on later. My point of emphasis remains. One guy, especially a guy playing high school right now, isn't going to cure all ails.
I thought we just picked up 2 wr commits? A 6'3" and 6'5" that look really good. Am i wrong?
