Pre-Summer Pass Catchers Outlook

Wide Receiver-

Gone is the receiver that re-wrote the Iowa record books. Derell Johnson-Koulianos has exhausted his eligibility with the Iowa Hawkeyes, but he left his mark on the football program both positively and negatively. Looking to step into the spotlight will be Marvin McNutt and Keenan Davis, who are widely regarded as the top two receivers going into summer workouts. McNutt has gone from third string quarterback to receiver flirting with his own records. He led the Hawkeye team in receptions and yards last season even though he is still learning the position. He has proven to be a threat in the red zone with his ability to position his body against the defender and then out jump anyone. Look for Marvin to have a monster year as the #1 receiver. If McNutt garners double teams, it will open things up for Davis, a junior who came to Iowa via Cedar Rapids Washington. He has seen action each of his first two seasons on the field, albeit in limited time spelling DJK and McNutt. In his short career he has grabbed 15 balls. Look for Davis to flourish in the #2 role and relieve some of the increased pressure that McNutt will surely see. With the top two receiver slots penciled in, the battle for the backup roles and the time at slot receiver will be intense. The top contenders are Jordan Cotton, Don Shumpert, Kevonte Martin-Manley, Blake Haluska, and Steven Staggs. Cotton arrived on campus with much fanfare, but has yet to make any impact. This spring Shumpert was praised by the coaching staff and made some impressive catches in the spring game. Early this spring DJK made waves with his tweet that Martin-Manley would break all of his records, pretty high praise for a guy who has yet to see the field. Haluska and Staggs are both Iowa born players and could get their shot this year. Don’t expect any contributors form the incoming freshman Marcus Grant. In my opinion it will be a four man rotation between McNutt, Davis, KMM, and Shumpert with Cotton, Staggs, and Haluska contributing on special teams and vying their time.

Tight Ends

For a lot of teams in the nation the tight end is either a glorified offensive lineman or another wide receiver. At Iowa they are both and even in the middle of the field you might find Iowa in a two tight end formation. Typically what you find is that Iowa has one tight end that is the better blocker and one that is a better pass catcher. Last year Brad Herman was the blocker and Allen Reisner was the route runner. Resiner has graduated and whether or not Herman moves over to the pass catcher or stays as the blocker remains to be seen. In his career Herman has grabbed 10 passes, nine of which were last season and six of those were in two games. He did however average 17 yards per catch last year, which is remarkably high for a tight end. Joining Herman as a primary tight end will probably be C.J. Fiedorowicz, who saw action last year as a true freshman. After an offseason in the weight room, C.J. could become the main tight end. He has yet to make his first career reception, but gained valuable time as the third tight end last season. Following the first two will be Zach Derby and Austin Vier. Derby will be a Junior and Vier a redshirt freshman and will be battling for that #3 TE spot. Derby has the obvious upper hand seeing’s how Vier is a year removed from being a high school quarterback. Joining this foursome this summer will be incoming freshman Jake Duzey, Ray Hamilton, and Henry Krieger-Coble all of whom were considered in the top 50 tight ends of last season’s recruiting class. If any of them play it will probably be Hamilton, who appears to be the most ready. Duzey is on the smaller side and don’t rule out a position change for Kreiger-Coble, who was a very good linebacker in high school.

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.