I think it's the receiving corps and the fullback position. Looking at what we lose and what we have back, I think the loss of Tevaun Smith and the big play receiver, and the loss of Cox and Plewa will be hard to replace.
Looking at the losses on defense first since they seem a lot more straight forward.
We lose Meier, which would be a huge loss if we don't get Drew Ott back. The only thing about the end spot is we are missing that explosive edge guy like a Clayborn. Ott has that potential if he gets another year and can just stay healthy. Hesse back is big and I think Nelson works into the rotation much more next fall. Maybe a chance for a true frosh to work in this rotation next year?
We lose Cole Fisher. I've heard from Iowa coaches that we were 7 deep at linebacker this year and all were very skilled and looked an awful lot alike. Bo Bower gets first dibs and he's had plenty of starting experience.
The biggest defensive loss to me is Jordan Lomax at strong safety. He turned into what we've grown accustomed to out of strong safeties at Iowa. A hard hitting athletic kid who flies around the field. Brandon Snyder gets the first crack at this. I'm a little nervous about this position but the corner combo with King coming back and Mabin's development might help hide any deficiencies here.
Offensively, we'll start with the line.
We lose Austin Blythe and Jordan Walsh. James Daniels steps in to one of the spots. I'm actually thinking he might roll in at guard with the young Ferentz's development at center. If we're putting our 5 best out there, i think they both gotta play. Ike Boettger is probably in the rotation somewhere too. The good news is there's plenty of experience to play with here and talent to build a really good offensive line. My hunch is those guys will be incredibly hungry this off season after that Rose Bowl performance. We need the tackles to really develop in he next 8 months.
Tight end we lose Henry Krieger Coble and Duzey. We have Kittle back and he will be a stud next year. Jameer Outsey got some experience this year but it seemed to be in much more of a blocking capacity. But he could factor in. I also think Wisnieski could work into the rotation and factor in. Is Hockenson good enough to factor in here?
Quarterback we're even more solid next year. Another year for CJ and I think he'll be hungry. I also don't see him going into the Ricky Stanzi shell and losing his willingness to throw the ball vertically. Boyle comes off his redshirt and I think wins the back up job and starts working towards being CJ's heir apparent.
Backfield is strong. We lose Canzeri, but obviously have Daniels, Wadley and Mitchell back. Not worried about this position although we've seen attrition before so hopefully having Parker back there and hopefully a freshman that could be ready would be nice. Fullback is a huge question mark and a very important position in our offense with what we do.
Wide receiver, we lose Tevaun and Jacob Hillyer. Hillyer is a loss a lot of people will dismiss but shouldn't. He's a terrific blocker for a receiver, as is Tevaun Smith. That part of their respective games is very underappreciated. We have Vandeberg back which is a good thing. He has great chemistry with CJ and he's the quintessential possession receiver who is more than sneaky enough to turn things into big plays. But he's not Tevaun. He's a short route guy with excellent hands. Would be nice to see Jay Scheel take a big step forward this spring along with Jerminic Smith. If we could get legitimate competition out of those 2 opposite Vandeberg, it would be huge. I think Frank Darby could sneak in this rotation as a true frosh as well. We also have Riley McCarron back for another year. I'd love to see him utilized in kind of a Danny Woodhead role since he's pretty undersized but he's a talented kid. I think this whole position group hands down has the most question marks.
Special teams, lose Koehn. Hard to determine his loss. He was terrific on kickoffs and he made some big field goals. But the missed extra points? Never hurt us luckily but could have. Recinos is the returning guy with the most potential. There's clearly a spot for a true freshman to kick at Iowa but unfortunately there's no scholarship for it. I'm hoping we kind find a kicker in this recruiting class. Caleb Shudak out of Council Bluffs? He would be a great kickoff guy at the very least to start. Hoping that situation works out.
TONS of talent back next year. A lot riding on Drew Ott's situation. And how do we handle the off-season and the expectations going into next fall. We need continued evolution in our running game and designs. We could definitely take a page out of Stanford's playbook and use more of their creativity within our schemes and designs. It will be an interesting off-season.
Looking at the losses on defense first since they seem a lot more straight forward.
We lose Meier, which would be a huge loss if we don't get Drew Ott back. The only thing about the end spot is we are missing that explosive edge guy like a Clayborn. Ott has that potential if he gets another year and can just stay healthy. Hesse back is big and I think Nelson works into the rotation much more next fall. Maybe a chance for a true frosh to work in this rotation next year?
We lose Cole Fisher. I've heard from Iowa coaches that we were 7 deep at linebacker this year and all were very skilled and looked an awful lot alike. Bo Bower gets first dibs and he's had plenty of starting experience.
The biggest defensive loss to me is Jordan Lomax at strong safety. He turned into what we've grown accustomed to out of strong safeties at Iowa. A hard hitting athletic kid who flies around the field. Brandon Snyder gets the first crack at this. I'm a little nervous about this position but the corner combo with King coming back and Mabin's development might help hide any deficiencies here.
Offensively, we'll start with the line.
We lose Austin Blythe and Jordan Walsh. James Daniels steps in to one of the spots. I'm actually thinking he might roll in at guard with the young Ferentz's development at center. If we're putting our 5 best out there, i think they both gotta play. Ike Boettger is probably in the rotation somewhere too. The good news is there's plenty of experience to play with here and talent to build a really good offensive line. My hunch is those guys will be incredibly hungry this off season after that Rose Bowl performance. We need the tackles to really develop in he next 8 months.
Tight end we lose Henry Krieger Coble and Duzey. We have Kittle back and he will be a stud next year. Jameer Outsey got some experience this year but it seemed to be in much more of a blocking capacity. But he could factor in. I also think Wisnieski could work into the rotation and factor in. Is Hockenson good enough to factor in here?
Quarterback we're even more solid next year. Another year for CJ and I think he'll be hungry. I also don't see him going into the Ricky Stanzi shell and losing his willingness to throw the ball vertically. Boyle comes off his redshirt and I think wins the back up job and starts working towards being CJ's heir apparent.
Backfield is strong. We lose Canzeri, but obviously have Daniels, Wadley and Mitchell back. Not worried about this position although we've seen attrition before so hopefully having Parker back there and hopefully a freshman that could be ready would be nice. Fullback is a huge question mark and a very important position in our offense with what we do.
Wide receiver, we lose Tevaun and Jacob Hillyer. Hillyer is a loss a lot of people will dismiss but shouldn't. He's a terrific blocker for a receiver, as is Tevaun Smith. That part of their respective games is very underappreciated. We have Vandeberg back which is a good thing. He has great chemistry with CJ and he's the quintessential possession receiver who is more than sneaky enough to turn things into big plays. But he's not Tevaun. He's a short route guy with excellent hands. Would be nice to see Jay Scheel take a big step forward this spring along with Jerminic Smith. If we could get legitimate competition out of those 2 opposite Vandeberg, it would be huge. I think Frank Darby could sneak in this rotation as a true frosh as well. We also have Riley McCarron back for another year. I'd love to see him utilized in kind of a Danny Woodhead role since he's pretty undersized but he's a talented kid. I think this whole position group hands down has the most question marks.
Special teams, lose Koehn. Hard to determine his loss. He was terrific on kickoffs and he made some big field goals. But the missed extra points? Never hurt us luckily but could have. Recinos is the returning guy with the most potential. There's clearly a spot for a true freshman to kick at Iowa but unfortunately there's no scholarship for it. I'm hoping we kind find a kicker in this recruiting class. Caleb Shudak out of Council Bluffs? He would be a great kickoff guy at the very least to start. Hoping that situation works out.
TONS of talent back next year. A lot riding on Drew Ott's situation. And how do we handle the off-season and the expectations going into next fall. We need continued evolution in our running game and designs. We could definitely take a page out of Stanford's playbook and use more of their creativity within our schemes and designs. It will be an interesting off-season.
