Welsh, Wadley, & Fant earn All Big Ten honors

[Blair Sanderson]

All Big Ten Offense for Iowa
Sean Welsh, 1st team (media) & 2nd team (coaches)
Akrum Wadley, 3rd team (media & coaches)
Noah Fant, 3rd team (media & coaches)

Honorable Mention: James Daniels (coaches & media), Nate Stanley (media)

 

[NorthDSMHawk]

Looks about right. Possibly could have seen Welsh make it to both 1st teams, but hard to argue. Our line shakeups really hurt him this year.

 

[RogerKint]

I was hoping to see Daniels make the top 3 teams. But he should have next year to really have a great year!!

 

[ichawk24]

Great news for all of them.

Fant will be first team next year.

 

[LarryMullenJr.]

Kind of an eye-opener to see the top WR's from Indiana and Maryland.

 

[Quintana]

regarding Welsh voted second team by the coaches... there's no shame in finishing behind Michael Jordan for any sports award.

 

[kceasthawk]

Great news for all of them.

Fant will be first team next year.

Did Fumagalli really have a better year then Fant, or did he just win that because he's playing for Wisky? Fant had some drops, but he was a major difference maker from the TE spot.

 

[El Simbolo]

So at least someone in the media thinks Nate is one of the top 3 QBs in the conference, right?

 

[IAHWKGUY]

Did Fumagalli really have a better year then Fant, or did he just win that because he's playing for Wisky? Fant had some drops, but he was a major difference maker from the TE spot.

Fants speed is a difference maker from the TE spot. If he cleans up drops and Stanley improve his deep throws (already appears to be doing so) he is easily First team. Barring injury or some big setback, I would predict him First team next year.

 

[IAHWKGUY]

Agreed on Stanley. Especially in comparison to Thorson.

Stanley: 25 td’s, 6 Int’s, 2,333 yards on 56% completion rate, 6.9 yards per attempt, and a 135.3 QBR.

Thorson: 15 Td’s, 12 Int’s, 2809 yards on 60.6% completion rate, 6.6 yards per attempt, and a 121.9 QBR.

The TD’s to Int is telling, as well as the QBR difference. Overall yards mainly a function of attempts. Completion percent not that bad given our WR’s had a huge case of the drops this year. And should have had another TD in overtime against NW that was a drop. On paper and in game, Stanley had the better year.

 

[David1979]

I think McSorely should be above Barrett and Thorson being on there is dumb.

 

[LarryMullenJr.]

Agreed on Stanley. Especially in comparison to Thorson.

Stanley: 25 td’s, 6 Int’s, 2,333 yards on 56% completion rate, 6.9 yards per attempt, and a 135.3 QBR.

Thorson: 15 Td’s, 12 Int’s, 2809 yards on 60.6% completion rate, 6.6 yards per attempt, and a 121.9 QBR.

The TD’s to Int is telling, as well as the QBR difference. Overall yards mainly a function of attempts. Completion percent not that bad given our WR’s had a huge case of the drops this year. And should have had another TD in overtime against NW that was a drop. On paper and in game, Stanley had the better year.

I know it all comes out in the wash, but I know we can all think of TD's "left on the table" by Nate overthrowing guys that we can safely say would've been scores. Now I also get that all the drops reflect in those numbers too, so like I said....

 

[IAHWKGUY]

I think McSorely should be above Barrett and Thorson being on there is dumb.

Agreed even Hornibrook was a better option. 6 more TD’s, to just one more Int, but a 63.9% completion rate (so again, his fewer yards a function of attempts only given the better completion rate) and his yards per attempt was a whopping 8.8, making his 63.9 completion rate even better. To cap it off his QBR was a whopping 155, compared to Thorson’s 122. And oh yeah, his team went undefeated and is on the cusp of a playoff berth.

 

[IAHWKGUY]

Also, not just Thorson overstated compared to say Stanley or Hornibrook, but Wadley deserved second team over Jackson.

Wadley: 1,021 yards, 4.4 avg, 9 TD’s, 329 receiving and 3 receiving TD’s. Total yards 1,350 and 12 TD’s.

Jackson: 1154 yards, 4.5 avg, 9 TD’s, 244 receiving and 0 receiving TD’s. Total yards 1,398 and 9 TD’s.

Jackson only has him in rushing yards, and not by much. Avg is a virtual wash, total yards a virtual wash and rush TD’s a wash. But Wadley has him by 3 in total TD’s. In my mind the difference on paper and advantage Wadley.

And anyone who watched Wadley knows how dynamic he is in open space. Most his TD’s are long with several juked or missed tackles, or out running the D. Not many cheap 1-2 yard TD runs. Also, his avg and overall yards were hurt by our stupid desire to continuously rush him up the gut into a stacked box, a no win situation. In game eye test, advantage Wadley.

Again better on paper and in game.

Wadley over Jackson any day of the week.

 

[El Simbolo]

The evidence that our QB and RB are better makes our loss to NU even harder to stomach

 

[ichawk24]

Did Fumagalli really have a better year then Fant, or did he just win that because he's playing for Wisky? Fant had some drops, but he was a major difference maker from the TE spot.

I would say Fumagalli did, but not Gesecki. Fant had at least four receptions longer than Gesecki's long. Fant is a game-changer.

I was going to complain about Fant being 3rd team, but decided to take the high road and crow about him being first team next eyar.

 

[David1979]

I would say Fumagalli did, but not Gesecki. Fant had at least four receptions longer than Gesecki's long. Fant is a game-changer.

I was going to complain about Fant being 3rd team, but decided to take the high road and crow about him being first team next eyar.

Yeah, they could potentially have two guys on there next year.

 

[doughawk]

The Northwestern boys benefit from the Chicagoland Media versus the limited media in Iowa.

 

[IAHWKGUY]

The evidence that our QB and RB are better makes our loss to NU even harder to stomach

Agreed, should have never happened. And do you see MSU qb or RB on there? We are the better team over MSU, NW and Purdue. We should have won those games. Would be hard to imagine 10-2 with that schedule. Honestly, winning those games like we should, and blowing ourt OSU and Nebbie, and beating a solid ISU team on the road in overtime, and losing to PSU on a walk off TD an inch away from being blocked, would have been a really magical year. Instead a little of a letdown.

 

[kceasthawk]

I would say Fumagalli did, but not Gesecki. Fant had at least four receptions longer than Gesecki's long. Fant is a game-changer.

I was going to complain about Fant being 3rd team, but decided to take the high road and crow about him being first team next eyar.

Thanks. To be honest I really didn't know. Just seemed like Fant was a game changer on a team that did not have a strong core of WR's, this season. The number of times I watched him run across or down the field, and he was literally running away from the DB's was amazing.

 

[BigOHawk]

Fant can and will continually get better IMO. One area he needs to tighten up is route running, just being more crisp in and out of breaks..perhaps a reason for some of the drops. His TE talent is obviously off the charts and can leave Dbacks in the dust, will be a lot of fun to watch next 2 years.

 

[HawkTex]

Agreed, should have never happened. And do you see MSU qb or RB on there? We are the better team over MSU, NW and Purdue. We should have won those games. Would be hard to imagine 10-2 with that schedule. Honestly, winning those games like we should, and blowing ourt OSU and Nebbie, and beating a solid ISU team on the road in overtime, and losing to PSU on a walk off TD an inch away from being blocked, would have been a really magical year. Instead a little of a letdown.

Tough to defeat Above Aversge Defenses when your Rushing Offense ranks #90 in the Country and your Total Offense ranks #103.

 

[millah_22]

Also, not just Thorson overstated compared to say Stanley or Hornibrook, but Wadley deserved second team over Jackson.

Wadley: 1,021 yards, 4.4 avg, 9 TD’s, 329 receiving and 3 receiving TD’s. Total yards 1,350 and 12 TD’s.

Jackson: 1154 yards, 4.5 avg, 9 TD’s, 244 receiving and 0 receiving TD’s. Total yards 1,398 and 9 TD’s.

Jackson only has him in rushing yards, and not by much. Avg is a virtual wash, total yards a virtual wash and rush TD’s a wash. But Wadley has him by 3 in total TD’s. In my mind the difference on paper and advantage Wadley.

And anyone who watched Wadley knows how dynamic he is in open space. Most his TD’s are long with several juked or missed tackles, or out running the D. Not many cheap 1-2 yard TD runs. Also, his avg and overall yards were hurt by our stupid desire to continuously rush him up the gut into a stacked box, a no win situation. In game eye test, advantage Wadley.

Again better on paper and in game.

Wadley over Jackson any day of the week.

Watched Jackson do the same thing vs Iowa. He broke 5 tackles for a big dump off gain in OT. He had 131 APY against Iowa's D.

 

[millah_22]

The Northwestern boys benefit from the Chicagoland Media versus the limited media in Iowa.

I think they benefit this year being 9-3 vs Iowa's 7-5. The media views the more the wins the more valuable the player.

 

[H4wkfan4life]

And anyone who watched Wadley knows how dynamic he is in open space. Most his TD’s are long with several juked or missed tackles, or out running the D. Not many cheap 1-2 yard TD runs. Also, his avg and overall yards were hurt by our stupid desire to continuously rush him up the gut into a stacked box, a no win situation. In game eye test, advantage Wadley.

Again better on paper and in game.

Wadley over Jackson any day of the week.

They aren't that long when his longest run on the year is 35 yards .
Wadley and jackson had disappointing numbers, so oh well. You can blame play calling as much(more?) as the media imo!