This appears to contradict Iowa's reputation for "developmental"
- Thread starter ctghawk
- Start date
Kind of surprising. They have a lot of linebackers on the roster, but apparently too few of them inspire confidence. That's not a good sign. Hopefully they land these guys, but I also hope the current guys are able to progress in the spring and in training camp. Otherwise, Parker might have to use more nickel next year since it seems Iowa's a bit deeper at CB (but only if Jackson stays). That would work out pretty well against the spread offenses, but against the power run games like MSU and UW, yikes!
Posters on this board every year: “We have to go for a juco to fill position X.”
(Iowa tries to fill gap with juco)
Posters now: “We’re fuc**d.”
(Iowa tries to fill gap with juco)
Posters now: “We’re fuc**d.”
Is it because we rarely/ never rotate in any backups?
My take is that the Hawks are "fishing" for instant experience. As others have said ... Iowa's current LBs don't have a wealth of collegiate game experience. That is an inherent advantage that a JUCO has ... albeit, at a lower level (than D1 ball). That game-experience brings with it confidence ... and that is an invaluable intangible.
Of course, Iowa DOES have some talented up-and-comers on the roster ... AND those guys who clearly be ahead of the JUCOs as it relates to familiarity with our D. However, the flip side of it ... is that they're less experienced and lack the confidence to consistently execute a collegiate defensive scheme.
At the very worst, I anticipate that the coaches are attempting to mitigate our transition at LB ... at least to some extent. Furthermore, I believe that the coaches are also anticipating some "natural" attrition at LB too ... as the LB situation shakes itself out ... and guys who are further removed from playing time decide to move on.
Of course, Iowa DOES have some talented up-and-comers on the roster ... AND those guys who clearly be ahead of the JUCOs as it relates to familiarity with our D. However, the flip side of it ... is that they're less experienced and lack the confidence to consistently execute a collegiate defensive scheme.
At the very worst, I anticipate that the coaches are attempting to mitigate our transition at LB ... at least to some extent. Furthermore, I believe that the coaches are also anticipating some "natural" attrition at LB too ... as the LB situation shakes itself out ... and guys who are further removed from playing time decide to move on.
I agree they are trying to get some experience into the LB core. This makes me wonder what the real story with hockaday is. It doesn't need to be a linebacker but someone is going to need to step up and be the vocal.leader of this team sounds like jewell/bower/kulick are those guys right now. Snyder could be that guy but who knows after a double acl, all reports of Stanley are he is quite and beat on the street is he was real nervous during wiscy...not good. Aj? Nelson?
Hockaday has been dinged for a quite a while ... he's had to knock off a lot of rust when playing this season ... and obviously all the injuries have slowed his development. If there is any good news to report ... Angerer's early seasons at Iowa were marred by immaturity and injuries ... and he was able to come out of nowhere and contribute at a very high level. Hopefully Hockaday can enjoy some extended health ... and then he has a chance to be the sort of contributor the coaches hope he can be.
Similar threads
