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Wagner to Wide Receiver?

Even though this topic always seems to get brought up during a slow time, obligatory:


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So you think he'll give up his full ride scholarship for bball so he can walk on to football and pay out of state tuition for a couple years? If he was going to quit and play football, he'd have much better luck finding a smaller school with an open scholly because Kirk isn't just going to give him one.
 
If he is serious about wanting to play football at any point this fall would be an ideal time. If he waits till after his senior year of basketball then he would miss spring ball. We know how picky Iowa is about WR's fully knowing the entire play book and being hall of fame level blockers and that would be tough to learn all of that in one camp. Plus I want him to be ready for 2019 cuz I think that's our year. I would be shocked if Kirk wouldn't give him a scholly. I'd take him over at least half of our WR's.
 
So you think he'll give up his full ride scholarship for bball so he can walk on to football and pay out of state tuition for a couple years? If he was going to quit and play football, he'd have much better luck finding a smaller school with an open scholly because Kirk isn't just going to give him one.
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I don't think paying tuition is a factor. I think this decision simply comes down to wanting to be a professional athlete or not. If he can get drafted into the NFL.... the decision is a no-brainer!
 
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He probably wouldn’t get drafted into the NFL, but has a slim possibility. I can safely say that he definitely won’t get drafted to the NBA and probably won’t get much of an opportunity to play overseas either.

If he wants to have a shot at being a pro athlete, it is on the football field where his hands and athleticism can come in very useful. In basketball his shooting is atrocious and his ball handling is only a bit better. His defense and rebounding are only ok as he is undersized for a PF and is way out of position as a SF. I give the kid tons of credit for sticking with us and working hard though. But working hard only gets you so far in b-ball before lack of talent kicks in.
 
I don't think paying tuition is a factor. I think this decision simply comes down to wanting to be a professional athlete or not. If he can get drafted into the NFL.... the decision is a no-brainer!
odds of that are incredibly slim....
 
So you think he'll give up his full ride scholarship for bball so he can walk on to football and pay out of state tuition for a couple years? If he was going to quit and play football, he'd have much better luck finding a smaller school with an open scholly because Kirk isn't just going to give him one.

You don't know that for sure. Wagner could participate in spring football, and the coaches could decide after spring ball if he's worthy of a football scholarship or not.
 
I’ll believe it when I see it. I guess I’m in the minority in that I’m just not sold he will be “megatron’ Calvin Johnson on the FB field. I think he would have a better chance putting on 20 pounds and be a Tyler Eiffert type TE.
 
I’ll believe it when I see it. I guess I’m in the minority in that I’m just not sold he will be “megatron’ Calvin Johnson on the FB field. I think he would have a better chance putting on 20 pounds and be a Tyler Eiffert type TE.
Who said he would be megatron? That’s slight hyperbole. I think he could be a nice red zone target at least....? Better than getting splinters on the carver benches imho.

Or maybe he draws double coverage to open things up other receivers.....? He’s definitely not getting double teamed on the court.
 
Who said he would be megatron? That’s slight hyperbole. I think he could be a nice red zone target at least....? Better than getting splinters on the carver benches imho.

Or maybe he draws double coverage to open things up other receivers.....? He’s definitely not getting double teamed on the court.

Of course it’s hyperbole. I’ll put it this way. I don’t think he has the explosiveness to play d1 WR. No you don’t need a ton of explosiveness when you’re 6’6’’ and he might be able to get away with it at the college level but no chance at NFL. TE=maybe. He’s closer to Fant than McNutt in my opinion.
 
It's been said that he has the quickest first step on the team. Dude's explosive and when you're 6'7 you only need to be fast enough to get a step on DBs.
 
This thread says alot about the state of the WR's.

I think it also speaks to the recent success of basketball players stepping into roles on teams as well. Doesn't mean it would happen, especially in this case. He had his chance to play D1 football in the SEC.
 
If it is going to happen, it will happen this Spring. BB season ends mid-March and Spring practice will probably begin soon after that. He could tryi it this Spring and see how he does The scholarship question is TBD after that.
Personally, he has physical attributes but I am not convinced he has hands to be WR. I have seen him fumble basketball passes so not sure if he has the hands to be receiver. Regardless his size and physical skills make him a good candidate.
 
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If it is going to happen, it will happen this Spring. BB season ends mid-March and Spring practice will probably begin soon after that. He could tryi it this Spring and see how he does The scholarship question is TBD after that.
Personally, he has physical attributes but I am not convinced he has hands to be WR. I have seen him fumble basketball passes so not sure if he has the hands to be receiver. Regardless his size and physical skills make him a good candidate.

The first day of the Big Ten tourney is Feb 28th. We may not make it to March this year.
 
The first day of the Big Ten tourney is Feb 28th. We may not make it to March this year.
Forgot about that schedule change. That will give him more time to adjust if he chooses to try football.
 
He played one year of HS football, right? Three years ago?

Yes. But I don't get the people who act like this is a wild, crazy idea to even talk about. I think it makes perfect sense, and the timing is right this spring. Dude had a Kentucky football offer and looks from Ohio State. If he's interested in trying to play a sport professionally, this is his last option.

It aint happening in basketball. And we all know Fran could use Ahmad's scholly on a point guard.

George Fant was out of football for 4 years while playing basketball at Western Kentucky. He then played one year of football there, and the following year was starting for the Seattle Seahawks.

This is not crazy talk nor should it be out of bounds for discussion.
 
I believe KC's backup TE (Harris?) was a basketball guy. And we all know about Jimmy Graham and Antonio Gates.

Not far fetched at all...but to assume is crazy.
 
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If it is going to happen, it will happen this Spring. BB season ends mid-March and Spring practice will probably begin soon after that. He could tryi it this Spring and see how he does The scholarship question is TBD after that.
Personally, he has physical attributes but I am not convinced he has hands to be WR. I have seen him fumble basketball passes so not sure if he has the hands to be receiver. Regardless his size and physical skills make him a good candidate.

Not sure about his hands? Did you watch the video? How many of our receivers currently on scholarship can make that catch?

I completely understand why a kid would want to stay away from football, especially a WR or TE that tends to get blown up by DBs with some regularity. If that is his reason I think we all need to respect that. But if that isn't the reason, we could really use him on the football field more than on the basketball court. He'd probably be a receiving TE with his height and weight, similar to Fant, since he doesn't have any blocking experience. Considering our history of putting TEs into the NFL, he'd have a shot at getting paid if it turns out that he can actually play well in the Big Ten.
 
He had a scholarship offer from Kentucky. All the WR currently on our roster had a scholarship offer from Iowa, and have spent their time since then dedicated to become the best WR they can be, while Wagner has played hoops.

In the dream scenario of Wagner playing spring ball this year, there is almost zero chance the coaches would decide to offer him a scholarship after that. There are walkons who've been busting their asses for the program for years, and now they're going to give one of the few scholarship openings to a guy who has been there for a few weeks? After not playing football for 3 years?

There is a chance he could transition to football. But it isn't going to happen as easily as some hope it will.
 
Don't think it's far fetched at all and I'd love to see him make the move but I just don't see WR. And I know our fanbase. If/when he doesn't see the field we will hear on here how Kirk/Brian have lost their minds "we have the one of the deadliest goal line/mismatch weapons in the country in Wagner standing on the sidelines! Just throw him a jump ball!" I read a post after the NC game that said if Ridley was on the Hawkeyes our staff would have him standing on the sideline not seeing the field. Now, I think our WR recruiting has "left a little to be desired" (to put it mildly) but do fans really believe we have NFL talent standing on the sideline holding their helmet the entire game? Yes, I saw the video of the one handed catch that has everyone so excited and he has some rare physical attributes. But there is a reason we don't see many WRs in the NFL over 6'4''-6'5''. I'd like to be wrong but I see his best chance is TE (where I really like the young TEs on the roster now).
 
He is an elite athlete with fantastic conditioning and according to the coaches and teammates, he has the quickest first step on the team.

I will wager he is faster in the first 20 yards than anyone in the WR corps, and is a big target.

If he chooses to play football there is no guarantee, but I think the odds are very good that he will be successful. I don’t know (or care) whether he is s TE or WR, the coaches need to find a way to get him on the field and get him the ball.

He looks to be the 2nd coming of Antonio Gates or Jimmy Graham. Why wouldn’t you want to at least try it? It might be different if we were really stacked at WR, but let’s face it - we are NOT even average for Power 5 football teams at that position.

Seriously, for you naysayers- what is the downside of this move? Losing all of his “production” on the basketball team?! What if he is a bust and never climbs higher than Quarrels did?

Nothing ventured, nothing gained! It could pay off in a really big way, though. Both for himself and for the Hawks.
 
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Seems like we used to see guys play two sports a lot more than we do now. I think Kyle McCann and Jon Beutjer both played basketball as well. Bo Porter and Danan Hughes played baseball as well as football. Of course many Hawks have participated in track over the years. Have the rules changed to prevent players from playing two sports whose seasons overlap or is it just more rare these days to see this?
 
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