Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Skilled positions too deep?

This blog entry has gone a little bit further than most of mine, check it out at collegefootballnews.com:

http://cfn.scout.com/2/962147.html


As a fan of the Iowa Hawkeyes we have become accustomed to having great defenses and solid offensive lines. The one thing that Iowa never seems to have is a stable of offensive threats. Sure they have had their stars, Shonn Greene, Dallas Clark, and Tim Dwight to name a few, but they never seem to have these stars on the same team. This season, Iowa will have three running backs that all have rushed for more than 400 yards in a season. Adam Robinson runs well between the tackles, but lacks the home run threat. Brandon Wegher has the home run threat, but isn’t the best between the tackles. Jewel Hampton showed both power and speed backing up Shonn Greene two years ago, but did so against worn down defenses.


At wide out, Iowa returns a player who will probably break both the career receptions and career receiving yards school records this season in senior Derell Johnson-Koulianos. While DJK makes a lot of catches and a gains a lot of yards, in the red zone quarterback Ricky Stanzi has a knack for hooking up with former quarterback turned receiver Marin McNutt. In his first full season as a receiver, McNutt hauled in 8 scores and really learned how to use his 6’4” frame to his advantage. Following those two Iowa has a pair of seniors in often injured Colin Sandeman and speedy Paul Chaney Jr. Sandeman has been bit by the injury bug almost every year he has been at Iowa, but when he is on the field he has shown a knack for making big catches at crucial times. Chaney was experiencing a breakout year on the field last year before it was cut short due to injury. Both players are healthy right now and are expected to add depth to the receiving corp. Keenan Davis and Jordan Cotton are both young men that came to Iowa with a lot of promise and are looking to log more playing time either as receivers or in the return game. With all these weapons to choose from, the question remains to be seen, will offensive coordinator Ken O’Keefe use them?