College football linemen are just getting bigger and bigger each year. Iowa had 11 players go 300+ with Dunker topping the list at 320. Pretty big, right? I was pretty surprised watching some of the bowl games at how huge some guys are getting. Bama lists five guys OVER 330. Michigan lists 25 players over 300, topping out at 340. Wisconsin has 18 who are over 300+ including one who is 6’8”, 320 and one who is 6’9”, 340. Size isn’t everything but some of these guys are beasts. Does Iowa need to keep pace? I guess it depends on the style of athlete you want: faster and more agile or big and stout. Glad I don’t have to feed any of them.
The size of linemen these days. Woof!
- Thread starter HawkNorth
- Start date
I remember back in the '80's when William "the refrigerator " Perry was one of the first 300+ players in the league and Ditka used to call him out on the basis of it being hazardous to his health.
I don’t know that Iowa needs to worry so much about size. I think the staff really needs to find better athletes along the offensive line.
I focused on Michigan’s OL in the championship game and they are so much more athletically gifted than what Iowa puts out there. The Wolverine OL has good size, but they all seemed to be really quick and agile.
In addition to a complete overhaul of the offense, I think the staff needs to reassess how they evaluate high school OL prospects. Trevor Penning and Spencer Brown from UNI and now the NFL are a couple in-state prospects the staff really whiffed on. They were both athletic guys with good frames coming out of high school.
I focused on Michigan’s OL in the championship game and they are so much more athletically gifted than what Iowa puts out there. The Wolverine OL has good size, but they all seemed to be really quick and agile.
In addition to a complete overhaul of the offense, I think the staff needs to reassess how they evaluate high school OL prospects. Trevor Penning and Spencer Brown from UNI and now the NFL are a couple in-state prospects the staff really whiffed on. They were both athletic guys with good frames coming out of high school.
I worked with a guy that played offensive guard in college (not major conference) and he had to eat all day to keep his playing weight in the ~290 lb range. After college he dropped down to 210 lbs. Incredible what these guys have to do with both diet and weight lifting to gain that weight.
I think it was Nate Newton when he was with the Dallas Cowboys and known for his girth, when asked what he would do in retirement, quipped, "I going to work on getting seriously fat."
I think it was Nate Newton when he was with the Dallas Cowboys and known for his girth, when asked what he would do in retirement, quipped, "I going to work on getting seriously fat."
I think with the outside zone blocking schemes KIrk mainly used it was better to have Olinemen maybe without that extra 20 pounds on. But the hawks were not using outside stretch type zone much the last couple of years maybe because they didnt have the quickness and footwork
For the other end of the spectrum, the ESPN article about Marshall Yanda losing 60 pound immediately after retiring, because of the stress the weight put on his body.
www.espn.com
Bike, tuna and will: How Marshal Yanda lost 60 pounds in three months
The retired Raven went from being a burly 312-pound guard to resembling a rookie tight end at 245. Yanda: "There are two words: It's the ‘want to.'"
On a related note, Kennington Smith, on the Hawk Central podcast last week, reported that Kayden Proctor showed up for spring practice at Bama last spring at 380! Even as athletic as he is, that’s a lot of beef to carry around.
Here are the OL recruits at Iowa for the last five classes before this year’s freshman class. The weight listed for each player is what they were listed at by Rivals as a senior in high school.
2018
Plumb - 255
Ince - 260
Linderbaum - 260
Jenkins - 272
2019
Britt - 282
Fenske - 280
Endres - 305
Miller - 310
2020
Richman - 259
Volk - 306
Elsbury - 298
Jones - 260
2021
Myslinski - 290
Davidkov - 290
Stephens - 305
Liddle - 275
Colby - 299
Dunker - 290
2022
Krogh - 267
Dotzler - 265
So far, the only guys on the list you could say have proven they can play at a high level consistently are Linderbaum and Ince, both of whom came in at 260. Obviously, you take a guy like a Wirfs or Proctor if you can get them but I think the staff leaned way too hard toward heavier players for a while there.
I’d like to see them look for more of the Robert Gallery/Eric Steinbach/Riley Reiff type guys who are good athletes with a frame to build on. It doesn’t always work out, but the results of late indicate that the big, lumbering type OL have a really low success rate at Iowa. Hopefully the early success of Kade Pieper reminds the staff to look harder at the more athletic OL types.
2018
Plumb - 255
Ince - 260
Linderbaum - 260
Jenkins - 272
2019
Britt - 282
Fenske - 280
Endres - 305
Miller - 310
2020
Richman - 259
Volk - 306
Elsbury - 298
Jones - 260
2021
Myslinski - 290
Davidkov - 290
Stephens - 305
Liddle - 275
Colby - 299
Dunker - 290
2022
Krogh - 267
Dotzler - 265
So far, the only guys on the list you could say have proven they can play at a high level consistently are Linderbaum and Ince, both of whom came in at 260. Obviously, you take a guy like a Wirfs or Proctor if you can get them but I think the staff leaned way too hard toward heavier players for a while there.
I’d like to see them look for more of the Robert Gallery/Eric Steinbach/Riley Reiff type guys who are good athletes with a frame to build on. It doesn’t always work out, but the results of late indicate that the big, lumbering type OL have a really low success rate at Iowa. Hopefully the early success of Kade Pieper reminds the staff to look harder at the more athletic OL types.
I've seen him this last year and you would never know that dude was an NFL O lineman.For the other end of the spectrum, the ESPN article about Marshall Yanda losing 60 pound immediately after retiring, because of the stress the weight put on his body.
Bike, tuna and will: How Marshal Yanda lost 60 pounds in three months
The retired Raven went from being a burly 312-pound guard to resembling a rookie tight end at 245. Yanda: "There are two words: It's the ‘want to.'"
I think even more important than size-weight is how much of an athlete the player is and his speed - agility. There are all kinds of huge kids today but most of them fail when it comes to athleticism especially when it comes to pulling guards and the likes
Wirfs and Jackson were the first tackles I remember playing over 315. Prior to that, it seemed KF tackles were between 305-315, guards were 300-305, and centers 285-295.
I would be very hesitant to recruit a 300 plus pound high schooler. Chances are most of that isn't "good weight."
KF/BF have been taking guys that don't have athleticism to play out in space at the OT spot. The staff has taken more guys with smaller frames and they end up at OG. The bigger framed guys have been poor athletes. Seeing Colby, Richman, Plumb, etc at OT---they had the size but were not been quick enough and good enough balance/feet to play the OT position.
Iowa ends up sticking some of the OT flops at OG but even there, you'd prefer better athletes. Scouting raw OL recruits ought to be a strength for BF/KF, like scouting DB's is a strength for Phil Parker. Instead the scouting/recruiting results speadk for themselves on the OL.
I agree earlier in KF's tenure, he had success turning TE's to OL...not much success like that over past 10 years.
Recruit athleticism and strength over weight. OL don’t need to be 300 plus. At one point Iowa bulked up some TE’s that turned out to be pretty good on the line.
Boy that 2021 OL class fizzled out. Injuries, etc. That has really hurt.
Problem is we don't do that with regularity anymore.
Plumb, Richman, L Jones, Dejong.
Thats 2 HS TE's, a former DT, and a walkon. All play at maybe a 3rd Team All-Big Caliber. MAYBE.
Anyone remember Chris Doyle? He really built our linemen up and made them BAMF's.
Somehow that's all changed since he left. Odd
Somehow that's all changed since he left. Odd
I think Herb Wester was the first 300 pounder Hayden had. That was so much more than any other lineman, but he didn't awe anybody with his talent. Today they are so much more athletic, and bigger
Herb Wester became a State Trooper after his playing days. A buddy I played football with in high school also became a State Trooper and knew Herb. Herb told my buddy about the following interaction he had when pulling over a semi:
Herb: “Sir, I’m going to need you to step out of the cab for a bit.”
Trucker: “I will as soon as you get down off my step!”
Herb: “Sir, I’m not standing on your step.”
I saw him in line at an Iowa wrestling meet and lost a bet that he was Marshal Yanda. He looked like a regular dude. I could not believe it.
Similar threads
