Hawks in the draft

Once again several Hawkeyes will her their name called over the weekend at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Here is a quick run-down of where I think they will go in the draft and the ideal situation for that player.


Adrian Clayborn – late first round – possible suitors: Giants, Buccaneers, Eagles, Saints, or Falcons – A true 4-3 defensive end will find a home and be a reliable contributor for years to come

Christian Ballard – late second/early third – can play a 3-4 defensive end or 4-3 tackle/end - His versatility is what is the most intriguing part of Christian’s game, he can play multiple positions in either defense.

Ricky Stanzi – late third/early fourth – experts waver on where he will go and how productive he will be. I would compare him to Matt Schaub, smart player that will be a backup for a few years, but shine when he gets his chance

Tyler Sash – Fourth – Measurables won’t get him drafted, but a nose for the ball and what is between his ears will. Plays like a strong safety, but thinks like a free safety, will be able to play either at the next level

Ryan Donahue – Fifth – Much like Iowa did, some team will draft him and not worry about punting for years to come

Jeremiah Hunter – Sixth – A guy who started at OLB for three seasons at Iowa, never did anything flashy, but was never out of position either. Probably a backup and special teams player at the next level.

Karl Klug – Sixth – Maybe got the most out of his talent, has a motor that NFL teams love. I would liken him to Jared Clauss, keeps his pad level low and will be a 4-3 tackle.

Allen Reisner – Sixth – With more and more teams running two tight end sets, he will find a place to play, he blocks and makes all the catches.

Derrell Johnson-Koulianos – Seventh – doesn’t have ideal NFL wide receiver size or speed, but runs crisp routes and can contribute on special teams. Probably a fifth rounder without the character questions.

Brett Greenwood & Julian Vandervelde – FA’s - Brett and Julian have outside chances of getting drafted, but it is highly unlikely.

Iowa vs Michigan Predictions

When Michigan has the ball-
Michigan wants to run the ball, there is no secret about it, they averaging almost 300 yards per game on the ground.  They want to establish the run and then safeties start to creep up to support the run, they love to go play-action for a big play, they have six receivers who have made catches of more than 43 yards this season.  Denard Robinson is the signal caller for the Wolverines and he is a very dangerous runner and his passing abilities have come a long way since he last played Iowa.  He does a great job of the read option and quarterback follow.  He seldomly takes a big hit and rarely goes down on initial contact.  His passing is helped out a lot by his rushing, Michigan runs an option pass that is tough to stop.  The running game is almost exclusively Robinson, Vincent Smith and Michael Shaw have combined to carry the ball 108 times to Robinson's 119.  The two main running backs have amassed 560 yards to Robinson's 991, and 106 yards of those yards are on two carries, so 454 yards on 106 carries.  The passing attack of the Wolverines is more of an extension of the run, a lot of screens and bubble routes, with short passes and the opportunity for getting the receivers into the open.  When they do pass, Roy Roundtree is the primary target, catching 31 passes on the season, the second leading receiver is Darryl Stonum with 15.  The offensive line is a smaller more athletic line than what we are accustomed to seeing out of Michigan.  They move well and can get the edge on most defenses, however, they haven't played a defense of Iowa's caliber yet.  Iowa's front four should be able to handle the Michigan offensive line, what Michigan will try to do is spread out the Iowa linebackers to create running lanes.

When Iowa has the ball-
Michigan has for the lack of a better word, a terrible defense.  Since Rich Rodriguez got there they have had arguably the worst three defenses ever at Michigan.  They run a 3-3-5 defense and really aren't able to stop either the run or the pass.  Their defensive lineman are good, but with a three man front, you want them to eat up blockers, not make plays.  Iowa should be able to move the ball both on the ground and through the air.  Like most games, Iowa will come out running the ball and short passes, setting the defense up for the play-action pass.

What will happen-
Iowa will start the game of offense and move the ball well, but ultimately punt on their first drive.  Look for Michigan to sputter on offense and go three and out on their first drive.  At the end of the first quarter Iowa will lead 7-0.  The second quarter is where a lot of the scoring will take place and going into halftime it will be Iowa 17-14.  The second half has been owned by Iowa the last season and a half, outscoring their opponents 249-95 in the last 18 games, that is an average of just over five points a game given up in the second half.  Iowa will continue that trend and pull away in the second half.

Score prediction:
Iowa - 38
Michigan - 21

Other predictions:
Stanzi throws for 300+ yards and 3 touchdowns
Robinson rushes for 100+ yards and a TD
McNutt has 100+ yards receiving and a TD
DJK sets the receiving record with 75+ yards and a TD
Reisner is a main target with 6 catches and a TD
Iowa turns the ball over twice
Michigan turns the ball over five times
Denard Robinson runs the ball for 100+ yards with a TD, but fumbles once and throws 3 INT's
Michigan's kicker misses 2 field goals
Iowa records 8 tackles for loss

Penn State Stat Comparison and Notes

• Iowa has won 7 of 8 against Penn State
• 6 of the last 10 matchups between PSU and Iowa have been decided by a touchdown or less
• Paterno is the longest tenured Big Ten coach at 45 years, Ferentz is second with 12
• Iowa has only allowed 3 teams score on their opening drive out of the last 30
• DJK needs 130 yards receiving and 13 catches to become the career leader in each category
• Iowa's roster includes 36 players that achieved at least a 3.0 GPA last semester
• Iowa is 1 of 11 teams nationally to have the same full time coaching staff for the last three seasons
• Iowa has outscored their opponents 60-14 in the second half this season
• Iowa is averaging 7.7 yards on 1st down this season
• Iowa's heaviest player is 310 pounds

Record Performances?

With spring practice about to commence, I thought that I would look into some records that stand to be broken:

Just a matter of time:
Career Receptions
157 Kevin Kasper
127 Derrell Johnson-Koulianos (30 back)
Outlook:  Barring injury DJK should surpass this as he has averaged 42/season

Career Receiving Yards
2271 Tim Dwight
1871 Derrell Johnson-Koulianos (400 back)
Outlook:  Again barring injury DJK should surpass this record as well as he has averaged 623/season

Good possibility:
Career Interceptions:
18 Nile Kinnick
11 Tyler Sash (7 back)
Outlook:  In two years Sash has 11 and seems to be a bit of a ball hawk

Career Receiving TD's
21-Tim Dwight
8-Marvin McNutt (13 back)
Outlook:  McNutt burst onto the scene last year with 8 TD's and has two years to get to 21.  McNutt's size makes him a target inside the red zone

Long shot:
Tackles for Loss Season
25- Jonathon Babineaux
Outlook:  Adrian Clayborn had 20 TFL's last year and could press this record by season's end

Sacks in a season
18- Leroy Smith
Outlook:  Adrian Clayborn had 11.5 last year

Rushing TD's career
33- Tavian Banks & Sedrick Shaw
8- Brandon Wegher
7- Jewell Hampton
Outlook:  Depending on how the carries are divided the next three years either one of these players could come close to this record

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.

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.