Wish List

So as the summer nears its midway point, I thought that I would add my two cents into the recruiting picture. Recruits are busy making summer camps and some are nearing their decisions, here is what I would say is my top 5 list of recruits/positions that are still in need for Iowa:



1. Seantrel Henderson - OT - If Chris Doyle is not praying every night for this guy to commit, then we have issues. Henderson is a player that has the body, 6-8 300 lbs, and the athleticism, he has a basketball offer from Marquette, to step in as a true freshman and start on almost any team in the nation. One can only hope that he looks at the recent history of OL that the Hawks have put in the NFL and decides to play for Iowa. Although he will get a lot of pressure to stay close to home and play for the home state Gophers, Iowa already has two players from his high school on the roster in Broderick Binns and Rafeal Eubanks.



2. C.J. Fiedorowicz - TE - Coming out of Illinois, CJ reminds many people of another great high school TE to come out of the state in Tony Moeaki. CJ is the total package, along with having great hands and route running skills he can block with the best of them. With Iowa's recent history of sending TE's to the NFL, and the fact that their two starting TE's will be gone in two years, they figure to have a good shot of landing CJ's services.



3. QB - Sean Robinson, Hutson Mason, or AJ Derby - With not having a QB in the last two recruiting classes, Iowa may look at bringing in two with this class. Robinson is out of Illinois and seems to be more of a dual threat QB, rushing for over 1,000 yards last season. He has the prototypical QB size, standing 6'4" and 210 lbs. Mason is more of a traditional pocket QB and threw for over 3,700 yards and 31 TD's last season. He is from Georgia, but grew up in IL and is family friends with current Hawkeye Brad Herman. Iowa was his first offer and that means quite a bit to a lot of players. Derby is the wild card here, the Iowa City product plays QB in high school, but that could be more of a product of his athleticism and wanting to have the ball in his hands on every play. Several recruiting services have him projected at TE or LB at the college level, and Iowa has a track record of bringing in players at one position and turning them into stars at another. His recruiting is tough because if he wants to stay at QB, Iowa's current system isn't the best fit for his skills, he is of the same mold of Tim Tebow at Florida. But in a state like Iowa, you need to lock down the borders when it comes to the top recruits, which Iowa has been able to do in past years.



4. RB - Andre Dawson, James White, and Joe Randle - Iowa has a very good stable of running backs on campus already, but you can never have too many, see Iowa 2004. Dawson, 6'1" 200 lbs, is the local product from Cedar Rapids and grew up a Hawkeye fan, so you would assume that after watching Shonn Greene rip through the Big Ten he could see himself doing the same thing. I see him ending up about the same size as Greene and is the same type of runner from what I hear, very strong and powerful. White is out of Florida and a little bit smaller in size, 5'11" 190, doesn't have the high school production, but is a legit player at a high level in Florida. Randle is out of Kansas and is a newcomer to being thought of as an Iowa recruit. He had a great sophomore season, 1,700 yards 22 TD, but saw his production fall to 800 yards and 15 TD's his junior year. Any two of these players would be great additions to the Iowa backfield.

5. WR - Matt Milton - Up until last season, Iowa didn't have much luck in recruiting WR's with good size. This season they are among the leaders for Matt Milton, a 6'6" 200 lb receiver from IL. As a junior he grabbed 40 balls for just short of 800 yards and 9 TD's. The Iowa staff has had pretty good luck the last couple years and you have to think that that is directly a result of Coach Campbell coming on board. The facts don't lie, he has put several receivers into the National Football League and Milton brings the size and athleticism to be the next.