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.

ISU game analysis- Special Teams/Coaching

K- It looks more and more like Murray will keep this job all season and Mossbrucker will red shirt. Nothing to speak of here, he made his PAT's and had no FG attempts.

P- Donahue is a weapon for this defense. He only averaged 39 yards per punt, but 3 of his 4 were downed inside the 20 and that leaves a long field for the opposing offense.

Returns- Chaney had a long punt return snuffed out by a block in the back and his other one was for only 2 yards. He brings some explosiveness to the return game and hopefully we will see him get into the open soon. Kick return wise Spievey got the only return of the day for 20 yards, if the defense keeps playing like it did last week we won't see too many of these again this season.

Coverage- Iowa kept the dangerous Leonard Johnson in check, holding him to an average return of 17 yards. The punt coverage unit only allowed three return yards, so once again last week they did a great job of covering kicks. Shout out here for Bruce Davis who covered the ill-advised onside kick attempt by Iowa State in the first quarter. Who needs a hands team?

Coaching- One of the better called games for both O'Keefe and Parker. Had Stanzi hit his open receivers there would have been a lot more points on the board. Parker was the puppet master of Austin Arnaud, you would have thought that he knew what plays were coming and he called defenses that baited Arnaud into throwing into coverage. Seemed that Kirk also had the team ready to play on Saturday, they came out and withstood the early ISU emotion unlike the past couple of trips to Jack Trice