The Portal Giveth and the Portal Taketh Away

[ghostOfHomer777]

I think Vines not playing at the start of the year really hurt them too. Hoping he can stay healthy going into the season. Is Ragiani (spelling most likely wrong) coming back.

In 2022, Iowa WR injuries were unbelievable. Vines was injured, Brecht was injured, Johnson was injured, Ragaini was injured, and even our top walk-on, Ritter, was injured.

Our healthy scholarship WRs were all of Arland Bruce, a true SO, and Jacob Bostick, a true FR. What remained were walk-ons who were no better than our 2nd best walk-on.

To say that this put a cramp on our passing game would be an understatement.

Furthermore, Gavin Williams was a dude who was pretty proficient at catching the ball out of the backfield. He was, AT LEAST, a guy who could be a decent 3rd down option. He too was injured to start the season ... and that opened the door for Leshon Williams and Kaleb Johnson to both pass him on the depth chart (by gaining more experience).

 

[Steamboat529529]

In 2022, Iowa WR injuries were unbelievable. Vines was injured, Brecht was injured, Johnson was injured, Ragaini was injured, and even our top walk-on, Ritter, was injured.

Our healthy scholarship WRs were all of Arland Bruce, a true SO, and Jacob Bostick, a true FR. What remained were walk-ons who were no better than our 2nd best walk-on.

To say that this put a cramp on our passing game would be an understatement.

Furthermore, Gavin Williams was a dude who was pretty proficient at catching the ball out of the backfield. He was, AT LEAST, a guy who could be a decent 3rd down option. He too was injured to start the season ... and that opened the door for Leshon Williams and Kaleb Johnson to both pass him on the depth chart (by gaining more experience).

Who did we replace Charlie Jones and Tyrone Tracy and Desmond Hutson and Quavon Matthews with at receiver?

 

[Hawkeye Marching Band]

In 2022, Iowa WR injuries were unbelievable. Vines was injured, Brecht was injured, Johnson was injured, Ragaini was injured, and even our top walk-on, Ritter, was injured.

Our healthy scholarship WRs were all of Arland Bruce, a true SO, and Jacob Bostick, a true FR. What remained were walk-ons who were no better than our 2nd best walk-on.

To say that this put a cramp on our passing game would be an understatement.

Furthermore, Gavin Williams was a dude who was pretty proficient at catching the ball out of the backfield. He was, AT LEAST, a guy who could be a decent 3rd down option. He too was injured to start the season ... and that opened the door for Leshon Williams and Kaleb Johnson to both pass him on the depth chart (by gaining more experience).

I think Bostick was injured, too.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

I think Bostick was injured, too.

Damn ... things were even worse than I realized.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Damn ... things were even worse than I realized.

Just make me wonder what the hell were the expectations of people for our O given that horrendous state of our WR corps ... combined with the OL-inexperience ... combined with the past precedent of our prior QB play. How could it have been a recipe for anything other than disaster?

 

[MitchLL]

Just make me wonder what the hell were the expectations of people for our O given that horrendous state of our WR corps ... combined with the OL-inexperience ... combined with the past precedent of our prior QB play. How could it have been a recipe for anything other than disaster?

How about starting a "statue" at QB and thinking it wasn't going to be a disaster?
At least play a QB that could scramble.

 

[chuck285]

With our schedule, if we aren't improved by mid season, they should walk BF out.

The only walking he is going to be doing is all the way to the bank for the next three years!!!

 

[GunnerHawk]

My initial post was to look at position gains vs. losses in the portal.

I think McNamara is a huge improvement over Padilla.

All's speed is impressive, saw a video where he pulled away from Moss when he caught a pass. We didn't lose a TE so big plus from a portal perspective, reall big plus with LaPorta graduating.

Jackson is a three year starter with over 300 tackles. Jacobs was a part time starter. I feel this is a huge uptick. Don't understand why Jacob's left, he was going to see the field a lot in 23. Nike Money ??

K. Johnson showed flashes and may do well at K-state. Defenses in Big 12 are not as good. I liked Bruce but Anderson looks quicker and faster.

The two linemen are a huge plus'

Overall, the portal was good to us this year.

 

[Titanhawk2]

I thought our coaches didn't work the portal very hard?

 

[Steamboat529529]

I thought our coaches didn't work the portal very hard?

Desperate times call for desperate measures. And seeing what the inactivity cost us last offseason, they had no choice.

 

[Steamboat529529]

My initial post was to look at position gains vs. losses in the portal.

I think McNamara is a huge improvement over Padilla.

All's speed is impressive, saw a video where he pulled away from Moss when he caught a pass. We didn't lose a TE so big plus from a portal perspective, reall big plus with LaPorta graduating.

Jackson is a three year starter with over 300 tackles. Jacobs was a part time starter. I feel this is a huge uptick. Don't understand why Jacob's left, he was going to see the field a lot in 23. Nike Money ??

K. Johnson showed flashes and may do well at K-state. Defenses in Big 12 are not as good. I liked Bruce but Anderson looks quicker and faster.

The two linemen are a huge plus'

Overall, the portal was good to us this year.

Our defense got worse in the portal. Jacobs and Roberts left with Jackson coming in. Jackson was a huge get though. Wide receiving room got worse in the portal. But after these past two years what can we expect? I really think Cade is the answer. And All helps a lot too.

 

[GunnerHawk]

Our defense got worse in the portal. Jacobs and Roberts left with Jackson coming in. Jackson was a huge get though. Wide receiving room got worse in the portal. But after these past two years what can we expect? I really think Cade is the answer. And All helps a lot too.

Hated losing Roberts but our secondary is generally pretty stellar. He really played well on special teams but we have some good young athletes to fill the void.

WR? Anderson vs. Bruce. K. Johnson had two catches for 11 yards. I think Andersonbrings more big play ability than Bruce and I really like the three freshman with great size. 22 vs. 23, we should be stronger.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Who did we replace Charlie Jones and Tyrone Tracy and Desmond Hutson and Quavon Matthews with at receiver?

There's an inherent time-lag/phase-shift (usually) with such roster-management decisions. Tracy, Hutson, and Matthews were, at the time, effectively replaced by Bruce, Johnson, and Brecht. In terms of personnel, Jones was the lone guy who was unaccounted for. Part of the issue there was based upon how LATE he left the program. The Hawks likely had checked the portal to get guys (I doubt you know any better than I in that regard) ... however, our NIL system wasn't as firmly in place back then, so it may have made it a little more challenging to land our targets.

In terms of offensive scheme, the Hawks don't go deeper than about 5-deep at WR anyhow ... with only really 3 guys being more significant contributors. Consequently, it probably would have been safe to say that the Iowa O could have been okay had Bruce, Johnson, and Ragaini all been healthy. Even with Johnson nursing an issue ... with guys like Vines and Brecht on the roster ... the situation at WR still likely seemed like we had adequate personnel.

If you cannot recognize the extreme probabilistic unlikelihood that we faced in 2022 at WR ... then I cannot help you overcome your math-challenged state. All the same, we were just a few plays away from being a 10-win team!

 

[Steamboat529529]

There's an inherent time-lag/phase-shift (usually) with such roster-management decisions. Tracy, Hutson, and Matthews were, at the time, effectively replaced by Bruce, Johnson, and Brecht. In terms of personnel, Jones was the lone guy who was unaccounted for. Part of the issue there was based upon how LATE he left the program. The Hawks likely had checked the portal to get guys (I doubt you know any better than I in that regard) ... however, our NIL system wasn't as firmly in place back then, so it may have made it a little more challenging to land our targets.

In terms of offensive scheme, the Hawks don't go deeper than about 5-deep at WR anyhow ... with only really 3 guys being more significant contributors. Consequently, it probably would have been safe to say that the Iowa O could have been okay had Bruce, Johnson, and Ragaini all been healthy. Even with Johnson nursing an issue ... with guys like Vines and Brecht on the roster ... the situation at WR still likely seemed like we had adequate personnel.

If you cannot recognize the extreme probabilistic unlikelihood that we faced in 2022 at WR ... then I cannot help you overcome your math-challenged state. All the same, we were just a few plays away from being a 10-win team!

So we had let’s say 12 receivers. We lost four. And somehow you are saying we replaced them with guys that were already on the team?? So instead of only having eight guys we just multiplied Bruce, Johnson, and Brecht by two to get to 12?!? 🤦‍♂️

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Our defense got worse in the portal. Jacobs and Roberts left with Jackson coming in. Jackson was a huge get though. Wide receiving room got worse in the portal. But after these past two years what can we expect? I really think Cade is the answer. And All helps a lot too.

Roberts was a positive member of the team PRIOR to him turning negative. After "he turned" ... then it was an addition-by-subtraction scenario. I feel for the young man's frustration for being oft-injured ... but his personal trials-and-tribulations are not an indictment upon the entire program (even though he may have felt that way).

I'll fully admit that Jacobs WAS a significant loss. He had good speed and his length and ranginess was quite impressive. On the flip side, he was a guy who was seemingly oft-injured. A guy can only contribute for the time that he's on the field.

Given the continued health issues experienced by Jacobs ... I'd argue that a healthy Jackson would obviously be a net gain over an injured Jacobs. Of course, a healthy Jacobs for a full season would have been an ideal situation. However, if we can benefit from a healthy Jackson for a full season ... a guy who has something like 3 prior years as a full-time starter. How is that not a big positive for the program?

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

So we had let’s say 12 receivers. We lost four. And somehow you are saying we replaced them with guys that were already on the team?? So instead of only having eight guys we just multiplied Bruce, Johnson, and Brecht by two to get to 12?!? 🤦‍♂️

Have you not observed how Iowa recruits some positions?

We often recruit guys in bunches ... the top guys rise above the others ... and our recruiting at that position slows down significantly. This pattern especially occurs at DB ... because Phil's exacting style of coaching has been known to run off some guys (love conveyed via yelling).

Iowa's offensive style doesn't NEED 12 WRs on the roster. In fact, that would be an enormous waste of personnel resources.

What I was indicating is that both Johnson and Bruce "rose early" ... thereby displacing several guys who were previously ahead of them. That contributed to some of the attrition.

The personnel issue is more like this ... suppose that from some pool of individuals, you need to count upon 4 guys to be able to be high-level contributors. The overall objective has less to do with keeping the size of the pool fixed ... and more to do with being able to have that number of 4 high-level contributors remain steady.

 

[Steamboat529529]

Have you not observed how Iowa recruits some positions?

We often recruit guys in bunches ... the top guys rise above the others ... and our recruiting at that position slows down significantly. This pattern especially occurs at DB ... because Phil's exacting style of coaching has been known to run off some guys (love conveyed via yelling).

Iowa's offensive style doesn't NEED 12 WRs on the roster. In fact, that would be an enormous waste of personnel resources.

What I was indicating is that both Johnson and Bruce "rose early" ... thereby displacing several guys who were previously ahead of them. That contributed to some of the attrition.

The personnel issue is more like this ... suppose that from some pool of individuals, you need to count upon 4 guys to be able to be high-level contributors. The overall objective has less to do with keeping the size of the pool fixed ... and more to do with being able to have that number of 4 high-level contributors remain steady.

And what I’m saying is when the pool you have loses four guys out of 12 ( and 12 was just a guess, I don’t know Iowa’s scholarships at the position). That’s a third. And when you don’t replace those guys, and then injures happen to four of the other guys, you are stuck with whatever you have. So yes, injuries and not replacing guys in the portal last offseason created 2022 iowa wide receiving.

 

[BonzoFury]

My initial post was to look at position gains vs. losses in the portal.

I think McNamara is a huge improvement over Padilla.

Based on the bowl game (small sample) I think Labas was an improvement. Alex had his upper classman union card so he was #2 on the depth chart.

 

[obfuscating]

My initial post was to look at position gains vs. losses in the portal.

I think McNamara is a huge improvement over Padilla.

All's speed is impressive, saw a video where he pulled away from Moss when he caught a pass. We didn't lose a TE so big plus from a portal perspective, reall big plus with LaPorta graduating.

Jackson is a three year starter with over 300 tackles. Jacobs was a part time starter. I feel this is a huge uptick. Don't understand why Jacob's left, he was going to see the field a lot in 23. Nike Money ??

K. Johnson showed flashes and may do well at K-state. Defenses in Big 12 are not as good. I liked Bruce but Anderson looks quicker and faster.

The two linemen are a huge plus'

Overall, the portal was good to us this year.

WE needed some STUD WR's and OL. We really don't know how the OL that came through the portal will work out at this level. Cade is an improvement over AP and Special P, All is a good TE and will help.

LB's are helped with Jackson, had Jacobs stayed I would feel MUCH more confident in our D. now all 3 will be new to the field as starters. Our D will not be as good as last year, but still very serviceable; the OFF had better hammer the 1st 3 teams.

 

[BonzoFury]

'Catch the ball' wasn't a strong suit his FR year.

and he still had more TDs than any of our WRs in 2022.

 

[cidhawkeye]

and he still had more TDs than any of our WRs in 2022.

Did he out score CDJ?

 

[ItsAllBallBearingsNowadays]

a healthy Jacobs is better than a 3 year starter 100+ tackle All ACC linebacker? lol

Don’t get me wrong. It hurts losing Jacobs but it’s more important now to have a tackle machine on the inside. One of the reasons Jacobs left was because of the increase in usage of the cash position that usage is only going to go up with Wisconsin changing there offensive philosophy really. Minnesota and Illinois is the only ground and pound team left in the West.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

Oh we're winning the national championship for sure........

 

[BonzoFury]

Did he out score CDJ?

and there you have the problem...or rather, evidence there of.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

And what I’m saying is when the pool you have loses four guys out of 12 ( and 12 was just a guess, I don’t know Iowa’s scholarships at the position). That’s a third. And when you don’t replace those guys, and then injures happen to four of the other guys, you are stuck with whatever you have. So yes, injuries and not replacing guys in the portal last offseason created 2022 iowa wide receiving.

I don't disagree in that regard. It can (and does) lead our depth being depleted at times. However, the problem is that it's kinda hard to recruit guys to a position when you already have young starters at a position. Furthermore, if you DO manage to recruit guys ... and they realize that they cannot beat out the starters ... then they often transfer out anyhow.

I urge you to watch a common pattern in our DB recruiting (among other positions). We'll recruit guys in big bunches ... a few guys rise to the top and many of the others leave (or never break onto the depth chart). Consequently, the Hawks often try to recruit developmental guys at that position ... with the knowledge that a developmental guy understands that he has work to do ... and is more likely to stick around. The problem is that such developmental guys don't always pan out. On the flip side, when we try to recruit high-level guys AFTER we have already have settled starters ... those guys are rarely patient enough to stick around. If they do ... they sometimes feel like they're "more athletic (or talented)" than the starters ... and that leads them to be a negative influence in the locker room.

There are a lot of variables that go into roster-management. It's far from an exact science. Ideally, you try to keep the depth levels fixed for each position group. However, that is not always tenable given the changing needs of the roster and the talent available who has a shared interest in your program.