Keenan Davis

If you had any doubt about Davis' athletic ability, check out this video at the 37 second mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypzxh2jjWF4&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmarcmwm%2Ewordpress%2Ecom%2F2009%2F04%2F10%2F37%2Dseconds%2Dthats%2Dkeenan%2Ddavis%2F&feature=player_embedded

Night Games

In a recent interview with ESPN.com Kirk Ferentz let it out that Iowa will have three night Big Ten games this year, the only problem is that two of those will be away. Their first contest underneath the lights will be on September 26th at Happy Valley against the Penn State Nittany Lions. They then have a home night game against Michigan on October 10th. The final night Big Ten contest of the season will be in East Lansing against Michigan State. There is also a possibility that the Arizona home game on September 19th will be at the very least an afternoon game as they probably won't make Arizona start a game at 9 AM their time. Stay tuned for more details about night games played by the Hawks. Also don't look for the matchup against Ohio State to be a true night game as there is a rule in the Big Ten that doesn't allow night games in November. The latest that game could start is 2:30, but that probably depends on how both teams start the season.

Offensive Line

In the Kirk Ferentz era there has always been a constant and up until a couple years ago it was line play. That all changed last year when the Hawks got great offensive line play. The unit really gelled last season and executed the zone blocking scheme to perfection in paving the way for Shonn Greene to win the Doak Walker award. Even more than the rushing yards the Hawks were able to gain, the best thing the line did was keep their QB upright, something they had problems with in '07. Gone from last year's starters are Rob Bruggeman and Seth Olsen who will both be in NFL camps this fall. While they are huge losses for Iowa, there are several players waiting in the wings to fill their spots. Iowa will return both of their tackles for next season, junior Bryan Bulaga and senior Kyle Calloway. The fact that Stanzi's blindside will be protected by one of the nation's best should give him a sense of safety when in the pocket this season. Hawk fans better enjoy this season with Bryan Bulaga as if he plays as well as he did last year, the NFL could come calling with a high draft pick in hand. Let's hope that Bryan takes the path of former Hawk Robert Gallery and stays for his senior season. That is of course all speculation so let's get back to the break down. While Calloway and Bulaga provide solid "bookends" the pages will be new in the O-Line. Returning will be co-starters for most of the season last year Rafeal Eubanks and Julian Vandevelde, who both spent time at LG last season with Julian taking over full time for the last part of the season. Expect Vandevelde to be at one guard spot for the season opener. At the other guard an old, but familiar face was recently seen playing at, Dace Richardson. Dace returns to the field after spending much of the last two years out of football due to injuries. If Dace can lock in on the other guard spot, the Hawks will have the luxury of having solid duo's on either side of center. And speaking of center the Iowa staff will have to replace Bruggeman who really was the straw that stirred the drink last year for the group. Recent photos have shown Stanzi taking snaps from Josh Koeppel, the soon to be junior from Iowa City. When he came to campus the staff was really high on Koeppel, let's hope that he can fill the big shoes that Bruggeman left behind. As a whole the line has the potential to be as good as the '02 line if they gel together like that one did. They will all have to be on their game as their are several players waiting in the wings to get onto the field. Rafeal Eubanks has spent time at both G and C in his three seasons on the field so he can fill in at either of those positions. Riley Reiff has made the switch to the OL permanent and if he fills out his frame, will bring a mean streak that the OL has been missing since Gallery. As Coach Williams used to say at Simpson, "We need some pricks out there." Another Hawk to keep your eye on is Casey McMillan, the red shirt freshman to be is two years removed from being the Montana player of the year and is still waiting to get his time on the field. Dan Doering is still at Iowa and is still battling injuries this spring, but when healthy he can step in and play either guard or tackle and be very serviceable. I would say James Ferentz, but I have a feeling that he won't be donning the pads for entire season due to his recent run in with Iowa City's finest. If they stay healthy the O-Line will be one of the strengths of the Hawks in '09 and will have very capable backups to boot.

Mistake

In looking over my analysis of the pass catchers, I realized that I completely forgot about Marvin McNutt. He will obviously be ahead of other first year receivers since he knows the offense already. I would say at best you are going to see him be a second or third option in the Hawkeye offense. If he ends up being a #1 receiver that more than likely means that something has gone horribly wrong with the Iowa season. However look for him to come up with a couple big catches in clutch situations for the Hawkeyes this fall. He could be a very good possession type receiver for the Hawks. My aplogies to my loyal readers for making such a mistake.

Position Battles - Pass Catchers

As I continue to look through the spring version of the Hawks, I have come to the players that will catch a majority of the passes from Ricky Stanzi in 2009. The senior class of 2008 took away 2 of Iowa's top 3 pass receivers of the season. Gone are WR Andy Brodell and TE Brandon Myers. With their graduation the Hawks lost 37% of their receptions from 2008 and 41% of the receiving yards.

While Iowa lost those two players they do return Derrell Johnson-Koulianos who is going in to his 4th season as a WR and he grew leaps and bounds from his freshman season to his sophomore season. You can credit most of that to WR coach Erik Campbell who came to Iowa from Michigan and we saw the WR corps look much better in 2008 than they did in 2007. Derrell or DJK, as he is known in the virtual world of message boards, led the Hawks in receiving last season and isn't even close to hitting his peak as a WR. Currently he is on pace to break Iowa's career receptions and yardage records.

Beyond DJK there are not many experienced wide outs. Leading the pack of returners would have to be Treye Stross and Colin Sandeman. Stross will be a senior and Sandeman a junior. They know the offense and will be reliable options at WR. Stross has shown flashes of being a good WR, but is too often on the sidelines with an injury. If he can stay healthy, look for him to be lining up opposite DJK as the #2 WR. Sandeman came in and really should have redshirted as a freshman, but out of necessity had to play. He has been used sparingly in his first two seasons at Iowa. Look for him to have the inside track on the #3 slot and be in line to return kicks. Beyond these three the current roster looks bleak for WR's, Ben Evans, Shane Prater, & Paul Chaney will all push for reps but have a ways to go. Coming to Iowa City this fall will be heralded recruits Keenan Davis and Jordan Cotton. Both of these players will look to see the field this fall. Their situations will be similar to Jewell Hampton and Jeff Brinson last fall. Whichever player grasps the offense and performs better in the practices leading up to the start of the season will play and the other will redshirt. Look for Davis to play this fall as he has the most polished game as Cotton played a lot of RB in high school much like former Hawk Andy Brodell. If Davis can learn the playbook and most importantly show he can block in the open he could push Stross for the #2 slot.

Anyone who has watched the Iowa Hawkeyes since Kirk took the reigns knows that the TE's are used as much as any team in the nation. The Hawks are still waiting for 2005 prized recruit Tony Moeaki to reach his full potential. For the first couple of years in Iowa City, he was used more as a blocker, which allowed Scott Chandler to run the routes. Tony spent the majority of the last two seasons in slings and boots battling seemingly endless numbers of injuries. When healthy he has shown he can be one of the better TE's in Iowa history, but the big question is can he stay healthy. Behind Tony the Hawks have Allen Reisner, who has shown that he can play even though he is undersized for the position. In 2008 he averaged over 18 ypc, which is an extremely high number for a TE. One name that you haven't heard of yet is JD Griggs, a redshirt freshman from New Jersey. He has the size 6'5" to be a big target for Stanzi and from the pictures that I have seen, he has the strength.