BTN in Iowa City

Since they donate a ridiculous amount of money to the University, The Big Ten Network was granted entrance into Fort Kinnick to witness a practice yesterday the 25th. The Hawks were full pads and it was very interesting to see some of the drills that they do. Here is a rundown of what I saw at every position that was interesting:

QB- Stanzi is the manzi as they say and he looks to have put on some muscle since last year. In watching Rick's practice, you can easily tell that he is carrying himself differently and I have heard several times that he has become a leader on the team. He is seeing more of the field and has an overall better grasp of the offense then he did last year. The backup reps were split between Wienke and Vandenberg. Neither on stood out over the other one, they both throw a nice ball and have the potential to be good, but neither one probably knows the offense very well as they were both running the scout team a year ago. Speaking of scout team, the only other QB on the roster is Wyatt Suess, a walk-on that comes to the Hawks from Cedar Rapids.

RB- In my opinion this is the one position that scares me. Going into the spring we knew that Greene was gone, but had high hopes for Hampton. Now, a knee injury, and a tweak (whatever that means) later we are down to the second string. All fall long last year we kept hearing that Jeff Brinson would have split time at #2 with Hampton if it hadn't been for an illness in camp. However he hasn't made the anticipated strides from year one to year two and didn't get any reps of live action that I saw yesterday. I saw him warming up, but beyond that he was non-existent. That worries me a lot as Paki O'Meara and Adam Robinson took the bulk of the carries with the first team. Neither one of them is a "game changer," but both can be serviceable. Paki has more experience, but Robinson seems to have more talent, so you could see a committee to start the season. The other running back that saw reps was freshman Brandon Wegher, but a year with Doyle could help him as he looked a little on the small side.

TE- This Iowa team, not unlike almost all of Ferentz' teams have two solid tight ends in Moeaki and Reisner. There has never been a question of whether Tony has the skills, it has just been a matter of him staying healthy. He made a couple nice catches at practice yesterday and at times looks like the 6th OL in there. Reisner looks to be more of the H-back type of TE, and is a much better pass catcher than a blocker. Behind them JD Griggs was taking reps with the 2's along with Peterson.

WR- In my opinion this is the deepest wide receiver corps in the Ferentz era. They return Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, Trey Stross, Paul Chaney, and Colin Sandeman with experience and add to that group converted QB Marvin McNutt and freshman Keenan Davis and you will have guys who don't get the playing time the probably deserve. Looked like McNutt and Stross were starting, but DJK didn't go because of an undisclosed injury. Chaney saw a lot of reps out of the slot and it looks like there is a conchies effort to use him as a weapon. Stross, if healthy, adds experience and is still waiting on his "moment." Davis looks and plays the part, however depth could see him getting less reps than he would have a year ago.

OL- One word, deep. The offensive line, which is one of Iowa's specialties is deep this year. They return five players with starting experience, anchored by tackles Bulaga and Calloway. Calloway will sit the first game, giving some backups some much needed playing time. At the guards yesterday were Adam Gettis and Dan Doering. Much like Stross, Doering is still waiting to live up to his potential. At center was a combination of Eubanks and Koeppel. Dace Richardson was taking reps at right tackle in anticipation of Calloway being out. Julian Vandevelde is a player that when he gets back from injury figures to be pushing for a starting spot somewhere along the line. Riley Reiff, Haganman, Ferentz, Kuempel, and MacMillan were running with the 2's. For the first couple of games you could see upwards of 10 guys getting reps until they find the best 5.

DL- If you lose two players with the experience of King and Kroul, you aren't supposed to be better, but this year's defensive line could be just that. Look for Iowa to line up with Clayborn and Binns on the ends and Klug and Ballard inside. Clayborn is just a man child and will only make himself and Bulaga better by the two future NFL players going against each other every day. Binns has been singled out several times by Ferentz since last season and is too good to keep off the field and might be Iowa's best pass rusher since Matt Roth. Ballard's athleticism inside reminds me of Jonathon Babineaux. Klug received Big Ten Player of the week honors last year in a backup role, so he has the skills and a motor to match. Lebron Daniel and Travis Meade will backup the tackles and Huntermark and Daniels backing up the ends.

LB- The trio of linebackers are probably the second best unit in the big ten behind Penn St., but that is nothing to sneeze about. Angerer is a tackling machine and plays a throw back kind of middle linebacker. Edds is a former TE that can run like a deer and is a three year starter. Hunter from ever thing I heard was in a race for his starting job with Jeff Tarpanian, but seems to have planted himself as the #1. So long as the defensive tackles do their job of keeping offensive lineman off of the LB's these guys will shine. The backups were Tarpanian at the will, Bruce Davis and Troy Johnson at the mike, and Tyler Nielsen at the leo. Did see in one drill where Iowa took a DL out and put Tarpanian in as almost a rover in the middle of the field behind the LB's.

DB- If Jordan Bernstein hadn't broken his ankle I would have went on a limb and said that this was the best defensive backfield of the Ferentz era. After he broke his ankle it is still good. Spievey will lock down one corner and cut the field down by a third. Shaun Prater will be the other corner, but is suspended for two games. That leaves the door open for William Lowe, Greg Castillo, or freshman Micah Hyde to step in and play early. The safeties will once again be Brett Greenwood and Tyler Sash, while neither is flashy, they epitomise an Iowa Hawkeye in that they just get the job done and don't make mistakes, guys that Norm Parker loves. The backups are Lowe, Castillo and Hyde at corner with David Cato and Jack Swanson at safety. Cato in my opinion could be a special teams leader this year, he likes to hit and has the same build as a former Hawk now playing safety for the Colts.

Spec- Donahue isn't going to get the most yards, but he hangs them high and gets very few return yards. Daniel Murray looks to have locked down the kicker job and you might see Mossbrucker take his redshirt and have three years to start after Murray is gone.

On a side not it was sad to see Jamie Murphy wearing a red jersey and will have a very limited role with the team on the field this year due to the effects of too many concussions. The Irish Car Bomb as he was appropriately nicknamed was one of my favorite Hawks to watch on special teams.

Check back this weekend for a preview of the Iowa vs UNI game.