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Wegher, Derby, Hampton, McCall, Cleveland, etc....

Aegon_Targaryen

Aegon_Targaryen

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Which of the former players listed or another player not listed do you think would have made the biggest impact for Iowa Football had they not left early?

My vote would probably be for Wegher, with McCall being a close second. I think Brandon had a sort of dynamic that I hadn't quite seen in any of our RB's. Just awesome all around ability. Great speed, shiftiness, explosion, field vision, etc. Also good at catching the ball when needed.

Others that left I can think off of the top of my head are Coker, Garmon, Robinson, Brinson, Douglas(touchy subject I know), and Greene even. He of course had another year of eligibility and imagine had he been here during the 2009 season!!
 
Originally posted by IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life:

Originally posted by pink shizzle:
Dominique Douglas could have been a good one.
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This...Douglas would have been legit.

Also, Cleveland was a legitimate deep threat.
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Wasn't it Cleveland that went to Houston (?) or somewhere and put up some big numbers?
 
Wegher for sure. I have no doubt he would be earning an NFL paycheck today had he stayed at Iowa. He had it all - quickness, strength, vision, toughness, durability. Just an all around great athlete and arguably the best RB in Iowa high school football history.
 
Brandon Wegher-left Iowa due to undislcosed reasons(rumor he got a girl pregnant and had a bit of a meltdown or something). Went to Oklahoma, left before spring practice even started I believe?
The former Iowa high school football star was three years removed from his huge performance in the Orange Bowl, and he had to swallow his pride and play at an NAIA power in order to keep an NFL dream alive. He did just that. This past season at Morningside, Wegher rushed for 2,680 yards and 39 touchdowns, averaging eight yards per carry. He also caught 29 passes and scored another four times on receptions.
Currently looked at as an NFL sleeper, but DID NOT though participate in the combine.

Adam Robinson- Dismissed from the team in 2011 for getting arrested on drug charges. Made an attempt to rejoin team by speaking out to the media. Mother claimed concussions are what caused his problems. At this time, there is little else known about him at this time.

Jewel Hampton- Left the Iowa Hawkeyes after once again tearing an ACL. There were rumors that there was more to it than that, but nothing official. Eventually signed as a undrafted free agent with the San Francisco 49ers and remained on the roster for 2 years. Was eventually waived by them in 2012.

Marcus Coker- Left the team after being accused of sexual assault. Although supposed victim retracted the claim, and no charges were filed, he eventually left. Rumor was that Sally Mason was pressing for his release. Eventually ended up attending Stony Brook in 2012. Currently ranked 25th best in the NFL prospect list on Walterfootball.com for RB's. At this point it is unclear where he goes from here. He has stated that getting to the NFL is a goal.

Dominique Douglas- Left the team after the infamous "City Boyz" incident. Was in and out of jail afterwards, and there doesn't appear to be much information on him at this point.

James Cleveland- Transferred to Houston and excelled at WR. Was named Conference USA newcomer of the year. Signed as an undrafted free agent with the Dallas Cowboys in 2011, was cut same year. Now plays with the New Mexico Stars in the LSFL.(Lone Star Football League).

Mikail McCall- Left team after his first year with Iowa due to not being satisfied with playing time, despite an injury that had him miss most of the season. Eventually made it to Southern Illinois U, and shared starting duties at RB. Was kicked off the team for bad behavior. At this time not much else is known.
Fun fact, his father was former world Heavyweight Boxing Champion Oliver McCall, who famously knocked out Hall of famer Lennox Lewis, handing Lewis the first loss of his career. Lost the rematch to Lewis after having a perhaps even more infamous mental breakdown(panic attack) during the bout.

Jeff Brinson- left Iowa after multiple injuries to his knee. Transferred to UCF and had a short career there also due to more injuries. At this time he appears to be done with football.

AJ Derby- Left Iowa in order to pursue playing at QB, after being asked to move over to LB. First went to Stony Brook, and eventualy transferred to Arkansas. Actually started at QB a few games, but moved over to TE to finish out his career there. Had some moderate success, and is looking to try his hand in the NFL at this time.
Seen as an intriguing prospect due to size and athleticism, but is also seen as being very raw due to lack of experience at TE, with the need to work on his routes and blocking. Link attached.




AJ Derby draft profile
 
Originally posted by nu2u:
Wegher for sure. I have no doubt he would be earning an NFL paycheck today had he stayed at Iowa. He had it all - quickness, strength, vision, toughness, durability. Just an all around great athlete and arguably the best RB in Iowa high school football history.
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Yup, and he still very much has a chance to do so. I quoted some of this article linked in my previous post.

Sleeper?
 
Originally posted by nu2u:
Wegher for sure. I have no doubt he would be earning an NFL paycheck today had he stayed at Iowa. He had it all - quickness, strength, vision, toughness, durability. Just an all around great athlete and arguably the best RB in Iowa high school football history.
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Definately in my top 5 of Iowa HS backs;
1. Roger Craig
2. Tavian Banks
3. Wegher
4. Tim Dwight
5. David Johnson

I guess I should say in the 'modern era', because there were a lot of great backs prior to 1975 (Jim Jensen?), I just don't know them and never saw them play. I've seen these guys play and a few of them from the field....
 
Originally posted by SigMaintHawk:
Didn't know Derby went to Stony Brook
Thought he went to a Juco in Ks?
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He didn't. He went to Coffeyville(?) CC.
And Hampton had some 'legal' issues that contributed to him leaving.
This post was edited on 3/12 11:18 AM by MattFoleyHawk
 
I don't remember legal issues being the reason for Hampton. More so that he got hurt again and had others that were playing well and he wanted to play. Left and had a solid season or 2 at SIU and then was on the 49ers practice squad for a few years
 
Originally posted by Curt Furence:
I don't remember legal issues being the reason for Hampton. More so that he got hurt again and had others that were playing well and he wanted to play. Left and had a solid season or 2 at SIU and then was on the 49ers practice squad for a few years
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The rumor was that he had failed a drug test(marijuana), and was quietly told to look elsewhere. Probably because he was an overall good kid, and had some seriously tough breaks while at Iowa.
 
To answer the OP though, I think for me it was Douglas and Wegher

Cleveland ended up having a productive career at Houston but it was in a very pass happy offense, who knows what he would have done here.
 
Originally posted by Curt Furence:
I don't remember legal issues being the reason for Hampton. More so that he got hurt again and had others that were playing well and he wanted to play. Left and had a solid season or 2 at SIU and then was on the 49ers practice squad for a few years
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Here is a link discussing what may or may not have happened with Jewel.
Lots of lost oppurtunity in this picture.

iafb_medium.jpg


EDIT: Not sure what happened there, if the link was removed by the mods I apologize, I'm not sure though if I just didn't paste it or not.
This post was edited on 3/12 11:53 AM by Aegon_Targaryen

Hamptons reasons for leaving?
 
Good but not as good as some- like a certain back from davenport or Ronny harman
 
Sorry but Tavian Banks was much much better running back than Roger Craig. I watched them both play in high school college and pro. There was no comparison in the two. Roger wasn't even the starting running back at Nebraska. He was a very good diverse back that fitted the 49ers offense perfect. He was lucky enough to be in SF when they were on top and won all of the Super Bowls. I have an autographed super bowl picture Roger give me and I love him but Tavian was in a class buy himself.
 
Originally posted by Aegon_Targaryen:

Originally posted by Curt Furence:
I don't remember legal issues being the reason for Hampton. More so that he got hurt again and had others that were playing well and he wanted to play. Left and had a solid season or 2 at SIU and then was on the 49ers practice squad for a few years
Click to expand...
Here is a link discussing what may or may not have happened with Jewel.
Lots of lost oppurtunity in this picture.

ec


EDIT: Not sure what happened there, if the link was removed by the mods I apologize, I'm not sure though if I just didn't paste it or not.

This post was edited on 3/12 11:53 AM by Aegon_Targaryen
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He was going to have to serve a 2 game suspension for public intox and a fight that Jordan Berstein was also involved in, but he got hurt and never served it. Don't remember the legal ramifications on that one. When I said 'legal' issue I was subtly talking about the 'rumours'.
 
illhawkdvv get your facts straight...Craig started at Nebraska but was a team player his Sr year and moved to FB so Mike Rozier could win the Heisman. How can you say there is no comparison with a one dimensional back like Banks to a complete all around RB like Craig..??
 
Wegher would have been a SR for the 2013 season and him being here means that MW would have been blocking for him as the FB what a combination they would have made in 2012 and 2013.
 
I think, the biggest loss we had was Greene leaving early. If he had come back in 2009, the Northwestern game would have been won, and most likely the Ohio State game. That would have been our most complete team.
 
Originally posted by OtayLake Hawkeye:

I think, the biggest loss we had was Greene leaving early. If he had come back in 2009, the Northwestern game would have been won, and most likely the Ohio State game. That would have been our most complete team.
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True.
 
Originally posted by OtayLake Hawkeye:

I think, the biggest loss we had was Greene leaving early. If he had come back in 2009, the Northwestern game would have been won, and most likely the Ohio State game. That would have been our most complete team.
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The biggest loss? We still won 11 games without him.


Wegher would have helped us during this 4/7/7 win seasons
 
Originally posted by CuttyDoesIt:

Originally posted by OtayLake Hawkeye:

I think, the biggest loss we had was Greene leaving early. If he had come back in 2009, the Northwestern game would have been won, and most likely the Ohio State game. That would have been our most complete team.
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The biggest loss? We still won 11 games without him.


Wegher would have helped us during this 4/7/7 win seasons
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I see what you are saying and do not necessarily disagree, but having Greene in 09 (and assuming all else being equal-such as him being healthy) no way we lose NW. I think we also pull out OSU on the road. One could argue that having SG in the backfield for the NW game would change the game enough that Ricky would never get hurt in the first place.

That great season would have been even more special since there is a strong possibility Iowa goes undefeated regular season, B10 champions, and playing in the Rose bowl (still wouldn't have made the NC game). But again, I understand what you are saying and think it is pretty valid.
 
Bennie Sapp, maybe; but he was really more of a run stopper up to that point. Bank's arm/hand cramping had a lot to do with the loss as much as what Sapp might have done. Either way, I still think If we had remained undefeated, there was no way in hell, the powers that be, would have selected Iowa over Ohio State for the National championship.
 
Michael Burger from Harlan who went to Iowa and played fullback. Pretty damn good running back and pretty damn good representative for Iowa. Now a very big wig at Abbott Lab in Chcago.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
 
Originally posted by nu2u:
Wegher for sure. I have no doubt he would be earning an NFL paycheck today had he stayed at Iowa. He had it all - quickness, strength, vision, toughness, durability. Just an all around great athlete and arguably the best RB in Iowa high school football history.
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Tim Dwight and Tavian Banks disagree.
 
Originally posted by soybean:

Originally posted by OtayLake Hawkeye:

I think, the biggest loss we had was Greene leaving early. If he had come back in 2009, the Northwestern game would have been won, and most likely the Ohio State game. That would have been our most complete team.
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True.
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Yup. Didn't blame him for leaving, but with him in 2009, oy, scary team.

For me, two. Wegher and Coker. Tell me, wouldn't you have preferred Coker to Weisman (nothing against the Hebrew Hammer) this past season? Wegher is obvious for any number of reasons.

Coker doesn't get enough credit it seems to me. I think he played in what, 17 total games at Iowa (he was hurt for half the season his freshman year) and rushed for almost 2,000 yards and 17 TDs. Of course, for some, he just wasn't fast enough, but his whole situation with the bogus sexual assault-Sally Mason brou-haha was horrible. He should have finished his college career here.

Kid was a tough runner.
 
Originally posted by FlickShagwell:

Originally posted by downtown hawk redux:

Originally posted by soybean:


Originally posted by OtayLake Hawkeye:

I think, the biggest loss we had was Greene leaving early. If he had come back in 2009, the Northwestern game would have been won, and most likely the Ohio State game. That would have been our most complete team.
Click to expand...
True.
Click to expand...

For me, two. Wegher and Coker. Tell me, wouldn't you have preferred Coker to Weisman (nothing against the Hebrew Hammer) this past season?
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Coker would've been gone after 2013. He played as a freshman in 2010.
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Yeah, you're right, I think he got injured at Stonybrook and sat out the 2013 season there. He played 11 games for them in 2014. I forgot he was hurt for a season. And that injury or injuries must have reduced his effectiveness. He ran for 514 yards and four TDs for Stonybrook last year.

But I'm still going to stick with my story that he would have been better than Weisman (sans injury) and not let a minor thing like eligibility get in the way. LOL.
 
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