WR Jacob Gill commits to Iowa

[Birky]

Seems overly optimistic. I love Kaleb Brown and Gill was a solid addition but Anderson and Buie are unproven, and not much depth.

O line is middling at best, and more likely below average if slightly improving.

QB was a dumpster fire a few months ago. I do like the addition of Sullivan even more than Cade, who just SEEMS to be a shell of what he was at UM. Marco is electric but looks to be a long putt to get him completing 60% of passes, or even in that ballpark.

Running back is deep but not elite.

It HAS to be better. But I fear we still don’t have the horses to get over the hump.

I think the OL and Cade are probably better than you think.

If Cade is healthy, and indications are he will be, then it will be the first time you’ve seen him healthy. The “shell” you saw was injured 100% of the time you saw him. I like the addition of Sullivan, but a healthy McNamara is a high level B1G QB. It’s not like the kid is Joe Namath with Rams.

I’m not sure about the OL, but those poor bastards have been trying to block 8 with 5 guys for three years. A competent scheme will do wonders. If they still look bad, then they just suck.

 

[BirdistheWord]

I think the OL and Cade are probably better than you think.

If Cade is healthy, and indications are he will be, then it will be the first time you’ve seen him healthy. The “shell” you saw was injured 100% of the time you saw him. I like the addition of Sullivan, but a healthy McNamara is a high level B1G QB. It’s not like the kid is Joe Namath with Rams.

I’m not sure about the OL, but those poor bastards have been trying to block 8 with 5 guys for three years. A competent scheme will do wonders. If they still look bad, then they just suck.

Seems reasonable but I think you are wearing old gold colored glasses. I will grant you QB/Cade. But our OL is still average at best, but that would be a step up. It has been a shitshow so scheme has to help somehow.

I still think we are MAC level at WR and competent at RB.

TE is very solid.

Buckle up right?

 

[thunderstruck1]

Seems reasonable but I think you are wearing old gold colored glasses. I will grant you QB/Cade. But our OL is still average at best, but that would be a step up. It has been a shitshow so scheme has to help somehow.

I still think we are MAC level at WR and competent at RB.

TE is very solid.

Buckle up right?

Well no we are not elite at rb but how many schools are? I would say our rb room has to be in the top 40 in the nation. Which is in the upper 1/3 or so. I agree our wr's need work, but having better routes and a better qb has to help. Our OL? As was said they have had it pretty rough for awhile now. I don't know if we have any all conference guys though. But I would say they are maybe better then half of the other schools out there, if for no other reason then their age and experience. So yeah, if we are within the top half of all D1 schools in every room, with a new system and play caller, it might be possible to improve a whole bunch. If we can burn defenses for stacking the box, we will be pretty good. Because then they can't stack the box and our OL and Rb's will look a lot better. What we have right now with the way we see things is what they have done, not what they are capable of doing.

 

[kceasthawk]

That puts us at 89 on scholarship. Coaches must know more than we do.

Lolol..Ya think? Someone out there put that quote in a time capsule.

 

[kceasthawk]

QB Sullivan and WR Gill each are graduate students heading to the U of I. Both used scholarships at Northwestern to obtain undergraduate degrees

Now, an opportunity to play in Kinnick Stadium seven to 14 games prior to leaving college 🤔

Pretty sure Sullivan has two years remaining, and knows up front IF Mac stays healthy he's QB 2 this season...

 

[RagnarLothbrok]

Bad reputations are tough to change.

Not really.

Kirk survived the “Iowa Exclusionary Culture-gate” and will also survive the “Tommy Boy Ran Daddy’s Offense Into The Ground-gate.”

Iowa racks up wins this season and the offense isn’t a national punchline, plenty of recruits will jump on board if…

 

[GunnerHawk]

Seems reasonable but I think you are wearing old gold colored glasses. I will grant you QB/Cade. But our OL is still average at best, but that would be a step up. It has been a shitshow so scheme has to help somehow.

I still think we are MAC level at WR and competent at RB.

TE is very solid.

Buckle up right?

Brown can play for anybody. Certainly above MAC level. Anderson will be stronger and is a very good athlete. Wetjen has excellent speed. Gill will be a nice piece to add with Buie.

With Lester spreading the field with our WR's, teams won't be able to stack the box. Our running game will be much improved.

 

[BirdistheWord]

Brown can play for anybody. Certainly above MAC level. Anderson will be stronger and is a very good athlete. Wetjen has excellent speed. Gill will be a nice piece to add with Buie.

With Lester spreading the field with our WR's, teams won't be able to stack the box. Our running game will be much improved.

I was very complimentary of Brown (I have been going back and forth so have not restated every time) further up, he is a great player and with nice upside. I am not as sold on the rest of the group and our depth is poor. I was rating the entire group and stand by the point that they are not strong overall. Hope they blossom.

The elephant in the room is also our O line. Just don’t have the horses. They are a veteran group so even if they are average but improving would be nice to see.

 

[Birky]

Seems reasonable but I think you are wearing old gold colored glasses. I will grant you QB/Cade. But our OL is still average at best, but that would be a step up. It has been a shitshow so scheme has to help somehow.

I still think we are MAC level at WR and competent at RB.

TE is very solid.

Buckle up right?

If it seems reasonable, the glasses must be a pretty light shade of old gold.😉

I have no idea how good our OL is. They’ve had their hands tied. I suspect they’re a fair amount better than the scheme has made them look, but we shall see.

There is just no way all of these offensive players are this bad. It has to have a lot to do with the shit offense Iowa has been running.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Well no we are not elite at rb but how many schools are? I would say our rb room has to be in the top 40 in the nation. Which is in the upper 1/3 or so. I agree our wr's need work, but having better routes and a better qb has to help. Our OL? As was said they have had it pretty rough for awhile now. I don't know if we have any all conference guys though. But I would say they are maybe better then half of the other schools out there, if for no other reason then their age and experience. So yeah, if we are within the top half of all D1 schools in every room, with a new system and play caller, it might be possible to improve a whole bunch. If we can burn defenses for stacking the box, we will be pretty good. Because then they can't stack the box and our OL and Rb's will look a lot better. What we have right now with the way we see things is what they have done, not what they are capable of doing.

People forget that, in spite of teams stacking the box, we can still make defenses pay, and have done it. A couple examples would be the long TDs from LeShon, and most notably, Kaleb's game-winning TD against Illinois.

People forget that stacking the box AND leaving a single-high Safety, a la Illinois, is dangerous when you are defending in what at least is a semi-obvious passing situation. All it takes is one or two times with the RB getting second-level. Any RB with decent speed and ability to break or avoid tackles can go for good gains. LeShon and KJ have proven they can break tackles AND have good enough speed to turn ordinary gains into long runs, even to the end zone.

Our OL is good enough to accomplish that against B1G teams. We have seen it. What we have NOT seen is consistency, and at least some of that appears to be communication among the unit as a whole.

 

[RagnarLothbrok]

I was very complimentary of Brown (I have been going back and forth so have not restated every time) further up, he is a great player and with nice upside. I am not as sold on the rest of the group and our depth is poor. I was rating the entire group and stand by the point that they are not strong overall. Hope they blossom.

The elephant in the room is also our O line. Just don’t have the horses. They are a veteran group so even if they are average but improving would be nice to see.

I’m going to play devil’s advocate and state this is overly cynical.

If we are being honest, the shit show we have seen the last three seasons that has been the Iowa offense was almost exclusively on the shoulders of Brian Ferentz. Everything he touched got worse. On top of that, Brian’s system was designed to play offense inside a phone booth with little to no pre-snap movement. A below average defense facing the Iowa offense looked like the ‘85 Bears.

In short, I don’t think the OL was that bad last year. Yes, they had 1-2 weak links, but they were also facing 7-8 defenders flying downhill at the snap of the football every play because there was literally no mystery to what Iowa was running. The 2002 OL would have had their fair share of problems last season, especially with an immobile quarterback who had no pocket awareness whatsoever.

In terms of wide receivers, there are indeed a lot of unknowns. Still, on paper, with a competent OC, that group can give you average production. Frankly, assuming Iowa can start to run the football with a modicum of success, that’s all Iowa needs, especially when you factor in the TEs. Regardless, yes, that group will be better if for no other reason than the OC won’t be Brian Ferentz and the quarterback Deacon Hill.

No, the 2024 Iowa offense is not going to remind any one of the St. Louis Rams “Greatest Show on Turf.” But I think they are going to be better than “at least they don’t completely suck anymore.” If Cade McNamara stays healthy along with the OL, Iowa could even be in the middle of the pack of the Big Ten in a lot of statistical categories, especially if the defense continues to be lights out and affords the Iowa offense more T.O.P.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

I’m going to play devil’s advocate and state this is overly cynical.

If we are being honest, the shit show we have seen the last three seasons that has been the Iowa offense was almost exclusively on the shoulders of Brian Ferentz. Everything he touched got worse. On top of that, Brian’s system was designed to play offense inside a phone booth with little to no pre-snap movement. A below average defense facing the Iowa offense looked like the ‘85 Bears.

In short, I don’t think the OL was that bad last year. Yes, they had 1-2 weak links, but they were also facing 7-8 defenders flying downhill at the snap of the football every play because there was literally no mystery to what Iowa was running. The 2002 OL would have had their fair share of problems last season, especially with an immobile quarterback who had no pocket awareness whatsoever.

In terms of wide receivers, there are indeed a lot of unknowns. Still, on paper, with a competent OC, that group can give you average production. Frankly, assuming Iowa can start to run the football with a modicum of success, that’s all Iowa needs, especially when you factor in the TEs. Regardless, yes, that group will be better if for no other reason than the OC won’t be Brian Ferentz and the quarterback Deacon Hill.

No, the 2024 Iowa offense is not going to remind any one of the St. Louis Rams “Greatest Show on Turf.” But I think they are going to be better than “at least they don’t completely suck anymore.” If Cade McNamara stays healthy along with the OL, Iowa could even be in the middle of the pack of the Big Ten in a lot of statistical categories, especially if the defense continues to be lights out and affords the Iowa offense more T.O.P.

It's funny, I never considered BF as an "incompetent" OC. But my God, he was an incompetent play-caller and could NOT adjust in-game. At all. But that was also the problem with Greg Davis. Solid ideas, solid principles, but good Lord, he was the poster child for "zig-when-you-should-zag", and poor in-game adjustments. The 2014 game at Maryland was horrific, in that regard, to witness.

 

[RagnarLothbrok]

It's funny, I never considered BF as an "incompetent" OC. But my God, he was an incompetent play-caller and could NOT adjust in-game. At all. But that was also the problem with Greg Davis. Solid ideas, solid principles, but good Lord, he was the poster child for "zig-when-you-should-zag", and poor in-game adjustments. The 2014 game at Maryland was horrific, in that regard, to witness.

Where do you see Brian Ferentz as being competent in the way of OC? I’m just curious.

 

[thunderstruck1]

People forget that, in spite of teams stacking the box, we can still make defenses pay, and have done it. A couple examples would be the long TDs from LeShon, and most notably, Kaleb's game-winning TD against Illinois.

People forget that stacking the box AND leaving a single-high Safety, a la Illinois, is dangerous when you are defending in what at least is a semi-obvious passing situation. All it takes is one or two times with the RB getting second-level. Any RB with decent speed and ability to break or avoid tackles can go for good gains. LeShon and KJ have proven they can break tackles AND have good enough speed to turn ordinary gains into long runs, even to the end zone.

Our OL is good enough to accomplish that against B1G teams. We have seen it. What we have NOT seen is consistency, and at least some of that appears to be communication among the unit as a whole.

I am thinking more bang bang plays over the middle. Where the slot or TE gets open behind the LB's. Throws that can be made fast when the defense decides to bring the house. Do that enough times and they will learn to stop doing that. Especially if they have to run down someone with Wetjens speed from behind. Or have a safety come half way across the field trying to catch him. That is part of the reason I love the addition of Sullivan, he can make those throws. So can Cade, but it is nice to have both of them able to. Timing and touch.

 

[BirdistheWord]

I’m going to play devil’s advocate and state this is overly cynical.

If we are being honest, the shit show we have seen the last three seasons that has been the Iowa offense was almost exclusively on the shoulders of Brian Ferentz. Everything he touched got worse. On top of that, Brian’s system was designed to play offense inside a phone booth with little to no pre-snap movement. A below average defense facing the Iowa offense looked like the ‘85 Bears.

In short, I don’t think the OL was that bad last year. Yes, they had 1-2 weak links, but they were also facing 7-8 defenders flying downhill at the snap of the football every play because there was literally no mystery to what Iowa was running. The 2002 OL would have had their fair share of problems last season, especially with an immobile quarterback who had no pocket awareness whatsoever.

In terms of wide receivers, there are indeed a lot of unknowns. Still, on paper, with a competent OC, that group can give you average production. Frankly, assuming Iowa can start to run the football with a modicum of success, that’s all Iowa needs, especially when you factor in the TEs. Regardless, yes, that group will be better if for no other reason than the OC won’t be Brian Ferentz and the quarterback Deacon Hill.

No, the 2024 Iowa offense is not going to remind any one of the St. Louis Rams “Greatest Show on Turf.” But I think they are going to be better than “at least they don’t completely suck anymore.” If Cade McNamara stays healthy along with the OL, Iowa could even be in the middle of the pack of the Big Ten in a lot of statistical categories, especially if the defense continues to be lights out and affords the Iowa offense more T.O.P.

We have gotten better at QB, and did add one transfer at WR. At least Alec Wick is not in the two deeps.

I hope you are right on the O line. Deacon didn’t do them any favors nor did Bif. But they just don’t seem to have a high ceiling- but as you noted, we just need improvement. And new scheme could/should help too.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Where do you see Brian Ferentz as being competent in the way of OC? I’m just curious.

He had knowledge of the game, was a competent OL Coach, and had several games that were lights-out. Just not enough of them.

 

[littlez]

People forget that, in spite of teams stacking the box, we can still make defenses pay, and have done it. A couple examples would be the long TDs from LeShon, and most notably, Kaleb's game-winning TD against Illinois.

People forget that stacking the box AND leaving a single-high Safety, a la Illinois, is dangerous when you are defending in what at least is a semi-obvious passing situation. All it takes is one or two times with the RB getting second-level. Any RB with decent speed and ability to break or avoid tackles can go for good gains. LeShon and KJ have proven they can break tackles AND have good enough speed to turn ordinary gains into long runs, even to the end zone.

Our OL is good enough to accomplish that against B1G teams. We have seen it. What we have NOT seen is consistency, and at least some of that appears to be communication among the unit as a whole.

4-5 plays in an entire season is not enough, it just isn't. Not when the other 95% of plays are minus 1-2 yards or gains of 1-2 yards. Being consistently behind the sticks on 3rd down kills almost any offense and has really killed us the last 3 years. We've got to be better on 1st down. Plain and simple. Until the 1st game comes and we actually see new wrinkles and something to keep teams from stacking the box I'm definitely on the wait and see train. I do think our RB's ard actually pretty solid. But nobody looks good w/what we've been doing the last 3 years.

 

[cidsports]

One good year won't change things.

Two might not do it, unless they shoot to the top half in the country.

Bad reputations are tough to change.

Last season, Northwestern went from one win to 8-5, so let's see how the new offense and the 2024-25 team plays ▶️

 

[cidsports]

Pretty sure Sullivan has two years remaining, and knows up front IF Mac stays healthy he's QB 2 this season...

Yes, they both do, but graduate transfers can also enter portal again, as can all student-athletes within the windows allowed.

 

[MitchLL]

Last season, Northwestern went from one win to 8-5, so let's see how the new offense and the 2024-25 team plays ▶️

I'm not saying Iowa can't show significant improvement next fall, but I am saying I don't think a recruit would see a one year improvement as a "trend".