Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Back from Vegas, Kid's Day reactions, B1G gets paid

Episode Date: August 18, 2022

Trent Condon is back from Las Vegas and is feeling rough. He battles back to bring you another edition of the Locked on Hawkeyes Podcast.Some news and notes from the Kids Day Open Practice from Iowa Football at Kinnick Stadium including an improved running game and offensive line. What are some of the new names that you should keep your eye out for as the Hawkeyes look to make improvements on that side of the football.Then some talk about the return of Keagan Johnson to practice and his importance to the team. A look at the quarterback play from Saturday and finally what role will Cooper DeJean have on the Hawkeye defense when he's not playing the Cash position. The Kickers were also perfect during practice.Finally, a look at the new deal from the Big Ten for their TV Rights.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at Linkedin.com/lockedoncollege Terms and conditions apply.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a battle with Las Vegas, Vegas won. We're back with another edition of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. A look back at kids day, our first live viewing of the Hawkeyes, and only before the first game of the year. What we see offensively, defensively, some big pictures coming out from the football side of things at practice, and the Big Ten media tour, plus the Big Ten gets paid all on today's Locked On Hawkeyes podcast.

You are locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. We'll be right back. I'm a little hot. I'm sweaty. I'm still not feeling great. As you saw the episode, our final one last week on Friday, I was in Las Vegas. I was hanging out at Circa, the new hotel down on Fremont Street, having a great time. And I had a little too much good time, I guess, because I have come back and it has been a struggle here over the last couple of days. But we're building to the positive side of things. We're getting better. We're going to get some fluids.

I got some cough drops here. If the voice starts to crack a little bit, it's been rough, no doubt about it, but we are ready to go and ready to talk Hawkeyes here with you for the rest of the week. Let's get things started. And I'll look back at what we saw over last week as Iowa gets things done on kids day, the open part. Now the first we're going to talk about, of course, what we saw, what stood out what were some of the takeaways from both offensively and defensively that's a big part but one other thing I wanted to talk about is what this event is and what it's really made for now for

you know people like myself in the media it's our only opportunity to see this team it's our only chance to get some insight about some of the rumblings that are out there, some of the information you're getting from your different contacts, see if that actually is playing out what you see on the field. But secondly, you just get a look. And it's the only time because there are not open practices. There are not opportunities for media members to go and see these guys. So this is your one chance to get that. But what this is made for is just that kids.

And when I saw a bunch of pictures of friends, buddies, taking their kids there, going to the event and really taking full advantage of what it was and, and seeing some of my friends there with their children and getting autographs, shaking hands, seeing these guys up close and personal, that's what it is all about. So it was really cool to see that. And it was kind of one of those times every once in a while, you kind of need to be shaken together and oh yeah, there's a real reason all about. So it was really cool to see that. And it was kind of one of those times every once in a while you kind of need to be shaken together. And, oh, yeah, there's a real reason for this. And I thought, as always, the University of Iowa does a great job with that.

So with that out of the way, let's get into some of the nuts and bolts and get into what we saw, some takeaways from Kids Day last Saturday at Kinnick Stadium. Let's start here on the offensive side of the football. The offensive side of the football where Iowa was able to run the ball pretty well. And that really becomes, I think, one of the biggest takeaways for me, the running of the football, the ability in a day where Gavin Williams was not out there. Now he has since returned to practice. But as you heard here first on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast last week, he was out with a hamstring injury. So we got that one, had it in front of

you. You knew about that. And thanks for tacking on with us when you get that information and make sure everybody knows where you got it. But so he was out there, but we talked about LaShawn Williams. Well, he looks the part. He, there is the shiftiness. There's this component. There's just something where he has an ability to put one foot on the ground, put that, drive it down and make a cut. That one cut ability that he has, it's really fun to watch and I think leads to a lot of excitement about what that one-two punch is going to be.

But something that we've been speculating about here over the last couple of weeks has been the two freshmen that have come in and what we're going to see out of Caleb Johnson. We've told you Caleb Johnson, he looks like a 30-year player already. He is physical. He is put together, listed at 6'2", 15. He is a big, big dude at the running back spot. He's going to be wearing number two.

If you see number two out there, you're thinking running back, and you're thinking, well, that's not Fred Russell. No, this guy's built a lot different than Fred Russell is out there. So that was one that I was really intrigued by. And the other guy will be wearing number nine this year, and that's Jazz Patterson, Jazzy on Patterson from Florida. The reason I'm maybe most intrigued with him is because both Williams, both Gavin and LeSean,

along with what you have with big Caleb Johnson, they are all three bigger backs, bigger type backs. I guess LeSean's a little bit shorter, but they're all more physically put together. Where Jazzy on Patterson at this point in his career, he's more of that smaller, that shiftier guy. And if that can add an extra dynamic. Everything that we've heard, though, is all four of those guys appear ready to go. You're feeling like you're in really good hands with what you have at that spot.

So you're feeling good about the running back position. Well, in order for you to feel real good, though, you have to have an offensive line. And though this is going to be a young, inexperienced offensive line, and there were guys that were banged up on Saturday at kids day, they were still able to move it and be able to move the pile against what we know is a very talented front seven from Iowa, starting in the middle with Logan Jones. There was a reason that he got moved there. Logan Jones, council bluffs. He was a big time prospect coming out of high school. He was wanted by a bunch of people. He's fighting for that position.

And Logan Jones, he has run with it. Michael Malinsky, he, of course, had some injury concerns going back to last year. Logan Jones, though, took advantage of the situation. He looks to be locked and loaded. Is he going to be an All-American like what we saw the last two years of Tyler Linderbaum? Probably not right away, but he's going to be pretty darn close very quickly.

They have that much confidence in Logan Jones and how good he is going to be from the get-go. You look at the guard spot. I was so impressed out of what we saw a year ago from Connor Colby. Connor Colby, who I've called a couple of his games in high school, saw him out there at Cedar Rapids. He was a guy that's incredibly talented, no doubt, but I didn't think he was going to be a guy that that quickly could transform. He got a lot of reps in his freshman season, did a good job at times out there,

also went through his growing pains, but now he's got that veteran experience he feel good about. Tyler Ellsbury, another big guy. Mason Richmond. You got Jack Plum and Nick DeYoung fighting over there for a tackle spot. The thing that is exciting, though, about this group, Mason Richmond, you got Jack Plum and Nick DeYoung fighting over there for a tackle spot. The thing that is exciting, though, about this group, you throw in another guy like like a dunker is the size that they have. How many times have we talked in the past? And you watch those behemoths that Wisconsin has, and they're out there, just these road

grading 320 pound guys. And I will a little more lean. Well, they're still not the guys with as much falling over the belt line, if you know what I mean. But these guys have even more size to them than what we've seen in the past. And I think though this is going to be a very young offensive line, it gives a lot of hope. Talking to a couple of people that were there on Saturday, they said that was their biggest takeaway is just how impressed they were in a day where they didn't have a full complement

of offensive linemen. They were moving a bunch of guys in and out that they felt like they were very far in front of what we've seen in the past. And that is certainly exciting when you're talking about this Iowa offense. We got more nuggets coming your way. More news and notes on Iowa football. Of course, Kids Day on Saturday. We will continue to talk about that. We will also take a look at the defensive side of the football, and then it's time to

talk about that money, the Big Ten getting paid. We will get to that here in a moment as we roll through on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. It can happen easily. You're out with your friends, co-workers, having a few drinks. A few becomes too many. It's time to go. and for a moment you think, we're calling a ride. Nah, you're a good driver, you live nearby,

you can make it home okay. What are the odds you'll get pulled over? And even so, what's the worst that could happen? You lose your license, your job, total your car, you kill someone. It only takes one mistake to change your life or someone else's forever. Play it safe and plan ahead to get a ride. Drive sober or get pulled over. Tricona back with you here again

on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Continue our look back at kids day as we get ready for the opener against South Dakota State. The countdown continues with the Jackrabbits coming to town. I am battling through. I hope you're having a good time with us here. We're talking a lot of Hawkeye football, and that is always a good thing. That makes you feel better, right? After a long weekend in Vegas. It was a different weekend, too. I was out there with my wife. I was more well-behaved than normal. Maybe just drank way too much. Yeah, I think that was the problem. Well, guys, I will tell you, Maybe just drank way too much.

Yeah, I think that was the problem. Well, guys, I will tell you, looking back at what we've seen with this Iowa team, my excitement builds. Now, we have to go, of course, away from the running game and the offensive line to what we've seen now at wide receiver. And I mentioned it at the top. A great picture that comes out today from the Iowa official media account, their football account on Twitter. It's just a simple picture.

It's a still picture. We get excited about them. It happens every single year, but it was a picture of number six back in a Hawkeye uniform out on the practice field. No, not Tim Dwight, Keegan Johnson. What was the Wayne Larrabee line that he had? Superman wears a cape and he wears number six.

Well, for this Iowa offense this year, that might be apropos for Keegan Johnson. He is so important for this team and what they do in the passing game. We've seen good things, obviously, about Arlen Bruce. I really like his future. I think Nico Regani could add some things. We talked about some of the walk-on guys that have a chance to help out, the Alec Wick of the world, the Jack Johnson guys like that.

But Keegan Johnson, he's just different. He's built differently. The physicality that he brings, the playmaking ability that he has. If Iowa is going to take a step forward in a big time way offensively, Keegan Johnson, I believe, is going to be a big part of that. They need him healthy out there. And this is a guy that has not practiced since going back to the bowl game. Didn't go through spring workouts, had not been practicing. We talked about the speculation that was out there and maybe added a little bit of fuel to the fire, but ultimately he just wanted to see where was he?

What's going on? It looked like a core injury. Is that a sports hernia? A different injury now than he had back going back to January. But all told, it's been a long time since we saw Keegan out there. Today, that changed and he is so important. So when the Big Ten Tour came by, and we'll talk about that a little bit more in tomorrow's show

as that has been released. We will get into that after everybody gets an opportunity to watch it on BTN. But one thing I do want to take away from that is at the time that the crew went through from the Big Ten Network, they only had two scholarship wide receivers that were even practicing at that time. Only two. Just think of that, how ridiculous it was.

It was Bostic, the freshman, along with Arlen Bruce. They were the only two guys that were scholarship wide receivers that were out on the field. The passing game, though, looked pretty good. What we saw, though, it was a whole bunch of Alex Padilla. I mean, this was an Alex Padilla opportunity. I think Padilla looked like he normally looks. All right, he can move around. Now, the size is a little bit of an issue.

We go back to the drops that became a problem when he was the quarterback a year ago. Look, can you peg a lot on the quarterback and drops? I don't think a whole lot, but coming out at a different angle, a shorter quarterback, excuse me, a guy that is a little bit more difficult because he's shorter to get the ball and where it's coming out. I think you could play that game a little bit, but Padilla was Padilla. I think ultimately what you have to be happy about is this. We know Spencer Petras is going to be the guy, right? Petras is going to be the guy. He's going to be the quarterback. He'll be the starter. We've gone around and around this miracle round.

That is not going to change. With Alex Padilla, you have a competent backup. If something goes bad with Petras, if an injury happens, we know now that the staff is not scared to put him in. It's not going to be Petras has got to have a leg hanging by a thread out there before they're going to take him out of the game. They know they have somebody competent back there, a guy that can add an extra dimension. And if things go really bad, if Petras struggles,

that they're also confident a guy that can add an extra dimension. And if things go really bad, if Petras struggles, that they're also confident in a guy that can go win there. From what we saw from Petras, though, he looked confident. He looked good. And that's a positive sign. We continue to hear that. Now, we heard that last year going into the season. We were sold that bill of goods all throughout the summer of 2021.

And though it was good at times, it was also bad at times. My concern continues to be with Spencer Petras is when the lights are on, when you're not wearing the red jersey anymore, when it is live game action, he tends to run into problems when that first read is covered up, or he's got to move in the pocket and he's got to slide those feet a little bit. That's when the mistakes really happen for Spencer Petras. And when you're playing in just a scrimmage environment like this,

it's still difficult to get a read of just how difficult that's going to be for him. And if he has got past seeing ghosts, that became such a big thing. You go back to when Sam Darnold said that in the headset of Monday Night Football. It's something that quarterbacks at all levels know exactly what he was talking about. I will guarantee you. You know who else saw ghosts or has seen ghosts in the past? Tom Brady. Brett Favre.

Those guys also see ghosts. Things that aren't there in the pocket. It happens. It happens to quarterbacks all the time. He just verbalized it. He wasn't a very good quarterback either, and it became a big thing. But it's something that all quarterbacks,

hell, me as a middle school quarterback, I don't know exactly what it is, that pressure that isn't there. And Spencer Petras, that's a big problem. In fact, Iowa quarterbacks. Hell, me as a middle school quarterback, I don't know exactly what it is, that pressure that isn't there. And Spencer Petras, that's a big problem. In fact, Iowa quarterbacks as a whole, that has been something that has been a big issue. Pocket presence, something that they have not mastered, probably going back to Drew Tate, who had some of the most impressive pocket presence that you're going to find in a quarterback.

Does Spencer Petras have it? No. Can it improve? I'm not so sure. Now, I had one of our listeners here, the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, that brought up, didn't think I was being completely fair with Petras.

What he went through a year ago, not just dealing with the injury, but also how bad that offensive line was. And I think it's a good point. It's something that at times, you get so locked in of your thoughts and how things can't change and you're not going to buy in.

You forget that there were circumstances there. So thank you. And you can reach out to me at Trent Condon is where you can find me on Twitter. Hit me up there. I'm always happy to respond. I thought it was a really good point and something that, yes, at times you do kind of forget about. There are circumstances there and it is a lot more difficult, a lot easier if you just throw them under the bus, right? I'm saying it's over.

It's not going to happen. I think that's a good way to put it. So offensive line, look, the wide receiver group, they're going to have to get a whole lot more, no doubt about it. But we also got defense to talk about here. Also want to talk a little bit more about the Big Ten and the media rights that are coming. We'll do that as we roll through on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast.

Jumping over to a little defense and what we saw at Kids Day on Saturday. You know, the takeaways really aren't that huge defensively. They're good. They're talented. They're going to be able to do a whole lot of things. They aren't that huge defensively. They're good. They're talented. They're going to be able to do a whole lot of things. They got depth on the defensive line. That linebacker group is great. I guess a couple of things that jumped out.

First, I want to talk about Cooper Dejean. Cooper joined us here a couple weeks back on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast and talking to him about his first time ever playing cornerback. Was it a Big Ten game? I mean, just think of that. He'd never played it before, and a lot of people thought he was destined either for the cash position, which he's been playing a whole lot, or at a safety spot.

He was going to be either the free safety or a strong safety, that that made a whole lot of sense for him. Well, he's listed as the backup to Kayvon Merriweather at strong safety. He's listed as the starter at the cash position. They have that part of it. And now we see him out there playing a whole lot of corner. And, you know, the interesting part of this defense this year, we know about, we've seen Iowa evolve a lot more and want to run into what they have with the four down linemen, two linebackers, and then a cash spot. So we saw Dane Belton do it. Before that, we saw Imani Hooker, two linebackers, and then a cash spot. So we saw Dame Belton do it.

Before that, we saw Imani Hooker. Two guys that were built differently, but similar, kind of bulked up, if you will. You couldn't put them exactly in a box, right? Belton, more slight. Hooker, a more solid guy, but safety types. Well, Cooper DeGene is more of a cornerback type. So I just, I'm left wondering this. If it goes down where I would now with Jack Campbell, Seth Benson, and Justin Jacobs, those three guys are going to be out there and going to be able to play a ton. And because of the running ability

of Justin Jacobs and how good he can cover out there, you don't have to take him off the field as much as they've had in the past. Does that translate into A, using less cash? And if that's the case, we know right now, obviously, Riley Moss, the preseason All-American, he's your number one cornerback. If Cooper DeGene is your second, if he's ahead of Jamary Harris and Terry Roberts, does Cooper DeGene suddenly become that starting cornerback on the other side? If they're not going to use cash a whole lot this year, something to keep an eye on, something that was one of my takeaways on Saturday.

Also great to see Ethan Hercut back out there on the field, getting some run with the defensive line group. He's a guy that's going to help out. Y.A. Black, he's making things known. He's going to be still a continued presence. Saw Noah Shannon early on. Logan Lee, those guys in the middle. John Wagner. Joe Evans

didn't practice, but we know he can get to the quarterback. Lucas Vanez. They are just absolutely stacked at this defensive line position. And oh, by the way, that freshman All-American coming in, one of the highly regarded players on the team. Yeah, Aaron Graves, he can play.

There's no doubt about it. That dude is just absolutely incredible. He was making plays. He was in the backfield all day long, and Kirk said it after the game. Hey, it doesn't take a whole lot to understand that that guy is ready to play. It doesn't matter how old he is. He is a different type. Aaron Graves, you're going to be seeing him there out on the field this season.

At times, unblockable. He was really, really good for the Hawkeyes and leads to a lot of excitement on that front. So we have all that happening and good stuff out of the defense. One final takeaway from kids day, and that is what we saw out of the kickers. How about that? Aaron Blom, along with Drew Stevens, they combined to go 15 of 15 on field goals. That is monstrous. After the spring, it was scary. And then the open practice at the end of the spring, it became even scarier. It was bad.

It was really bad. There are no two ways about it. It was a really bad situation, the kicking game. And the way Iowa plays, kicking is important. Putting is winning. Kicking is winning. Iowa needs to be able to be good in special teams. If they're going to be from a standard 7-5, 8-4 kind of team,

and if they're going to break through and be a 10-win team, those are the kind of things that have to happen. They have to be very, very good on that front. And at least for one Saturday in August, the kicking game looked really good. I love to see that both of those guys also knocked in deep of a made a 53 yarder that leads, I think to a whole lot of excitement about what Iowa has. So some positives there also coming out of the kicking game from the kids day

practice. One final thing, and that is big 10 media deal is finished up, and it is big-time money. $7 billion deal for six years. This is a six-year contract that will be upwards of $7 billion. Eventually, this will distribute $80 to $100 million per year to each of the schools. Last season, $54.3 million. And just think back to that contract that the Big Ten signed not too long ago,

back in 2017. That was $440 million, and people said, oh, this thing is absolutely nuts. Look at the money that's coming in. 160% increase from what they have. But the big news is that there are going to be primetime spots. Over-the-air television, it'll start with big noon kickoff. from what they have. But the big news is that there are going to be prime time spots over the air television. It'll start with big noon kickoff, 11 a.m. for us here in the Central Time Zone,

that 11 a.m. kickoff where Fox will have their big game that they'll put in that spot. Well, now with also the Big Ten not being on ESPN, think of that. What are those 11 a.m. ESPN games going to be? No longer is it going to be a decent Michigan State-Purdue game. A Minnesota-Penn State. No longer will that be the 11 o'clock game. Now you're going to be getting a lot of

Boston College-Wake Forest. You're going to be getting South Carolina-Vanderbilt. And then you put the best game of the week on 11 o'clock opposite that on Fox. Think that's going to do some big viewers? Oh, there's no doubt. 2.30, it'll be CBS and then a night window with NBC after Notre Dame football.

You'll have your local news, and then it'll go right into Saturday night football. Big Ten Saturday night, as they have Sunday night football on NBC. Now it'll be Saturday night college football with the Big Ten on NBC. The Big Ten also will have more and we're going to talk about this more

tomorrow's show I do want to talk a little bit about the trickle down though what this is going to mean for the other sports and most importantly certainly for me is college basketball what this means for the men's basketball team we'll talk about that a little bit more on tomorrow's show thanks again for joining me here

on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast as I battle my way back in boy, Vegas. I got to remember, you know, back in the days when I was in my 20s, even my 30s, I could do it. I could hit it hard. Not anymore. We're battling. We're going to get back and we're rolling here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast.

Also, don't forget the Locked On Big Ten podcast where you can get deeper into each and every team across the Big Ten landscape. Nate Dickinson does a great job with that. Make Locked On Big Ten your second listen each and every day. Hope to have LaShawn with us later in the week. We will hear from him. Also, Jace is going to join us again coming up.

Our fellow degenerate, we'll talk a lot with him in the coming weeks as we count down to kickoff. We're back at it. I'm sweating. I'm getting the junk out of me from Vegas. Having a great time with you talking Hawkeyes. Until next time, this is Trent Codd and saying, go Hawks.