Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - CGS Director of Scouting Mike Rittelmann joins the show to talk about potential Iowa Hawkeye draft prospects

Episode Date: December 3, 2020

With the news that Iowa Hawkeye tight end Shaun Beyer has officially accepted an invite to the College Gridiron Showcase, we felt it was the perfect time to release our interview with the Director of Scouting Mike Rittlemann as he runs down each of the Iowa Hawkeyes on the CGS watch list and what they bring to the figurative NFL table.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order.BuiltGoVisit BuiltGO.com and use promo code “LOCKED,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back Hawkeye Nation to a Thursday morning episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Sports Network. As always, I am your host Andrew Wade, and I'm extra excited to be here. I'm always excited to talk to you about Iowa football, Iowa basketball, wrestling, baseball, athletics in general, you name it, but I'm extra excited to be back today because I did not think we were going to have a show today.

Usually we do our crossover episodes on Thursday. Unfortunately, was not able to get any Illinois experts to come on the show. Take that however you want. But it turned out that it worked out pretty darn well. And here's why. Our very own tight end, Sean Byer, just accepted an invite to the College Gridiron Showcase, one of the premier postseason all-star events for college athletes, giving them an opportunity to perform many combine drills and that kind of stuff in front of NFL scouts,

giving them an opportunity to showcase themselves. And he just accepted an invite to the College Gridiron Showcase. Now, why I'm so excited, though, is not only because of that, but because I actually interviewed Mike Riddleman, who is the head scout for College Gridiron Showcase not too long ago. That's right. I actually interviewed him two weeks ago and talked a little bit about all the Iowa players they have on their watch list. And we actually talked about Sean Byron and other guys as well. And so I had that interview, was kind of waiting for a time to post

it, trying to find the right time. Didn't feel, didn't know when I was going to do it. And then this pops up and thought, well, heck yeah, this is perfect timing. So with that being said, let's hop into our interview with Director of Scouting and Player Personnel for the College Gridiron Showcase, Mike Riddleman. I'm joined here by Mike Riddleman of the College Gridiron Showcase. Mike, it is a pleasure to have you on. Always love talking about the NFL Draft and anything related to it. This is a big, one of my favorite things to do.

So how are you doing today, though, before we get into any of this stuff with College Gridiron Showcase? Hey, man, thanks for having me on. It's good to be on. You know, excited about CGS 2021 coming up January 17th. And, you know, excited for the process here. Yeah, I mean, it's a very important time because it's a weird year with coronavirus. You know, obviously, we weren't sure if we're going to have some seasons.

Weren't sure if the Big Ten was going to play. That was a whole ordeal that took quite some time out of my life trying to figure that out. And then, obviously, we're going to be missing two of the postseason all-star games that typically have occurred. So, we have the Senior Bowl, and now we have College Gridiron Showcase, which gives players another opportunity to show off what they can do. And not necessarily in the same format, correct? another opportunity to show off what they can do and not necessarily in the same format correct it seems like it's a little bit of a unique or different format than your typical practice once or twice play an all-star game type of thing right right so in a normal year a normal setting we would our event is formatted to be an OTA style event per se we don't have a game it's a

controlled scrimmage at the end of the week, but throughout the week, it's, you know, individual practice drills, seven on seven, you know, inside run that type of deal, just so the kids play faster and, you know, the NFL and CFL teams can get a look at these guys, you know, and they're in a natural environment playing fast physical football. Yeah. And I love that. that i mean i went to the senior bowl last year i thought it was a really well done event did a fantastic job but the game itself was kind of meaningless right i mean and i think there's only just an opportunity to really get

hurt there i didn't feel like the game really added a ton of value to that so i can see a lot of the value in having the college great iron showcase and the fact that you're doing it a couple weeks before gives players maybe an opportunity to build some buzz if they were to maybe get an invite to both. Does that sound like something you're interested in doing then is try to get guys to go to both or really what's the what's the level of players you're trying to grab for the College of Great Iron Showcase? You know what? Going back to the Senior Bowl game, I think it's even in a competitive setting, like an all-star game, the game itself. I think it's good for players to compete, and teams love seeing that. We just want to bring an opportunity for the athletes to compete at a high level,

and if they get a Senior Bowl invite too along with us, that's awesome. If they just want to do the Senior Bowl, that's even better. I mean, whatever it is to, you know, showcase their talents and let them play football. Yeah, I love it, man. You're just really just really caring about the player that at that point.

Yeah, yeah. I love it. So what is the scouting process like? Because you recently just released your watch list. And that's why we have you here, man, because there are some Iowa football players on that list. I love seeing Iowa Hawkeyes be recognized, and they're doing a pretty fantastic job after starting the season oh and two by the

time people are listening to this um probably have won four games if you count Nebraska hopefully being a win but that being said what is that scouting process like for you how did you develop that watch list how much time has gone into it yeah so it's a lot of time and effort from a lot of people. Our two co-founders, Craig Redd and Jose Jefferson, myself, you know, and, like, there's just a bunch of other people who have contributed from all over the country. So we usually start our scouting process in late August, you know, put our board together, and then we'll make it official. Again, in a normal year, we would make it official September, October. And then we started sending invites late October,

but now it's kind of pushed everything back with COVID. But now we've been starting sending out invites, good reception so far. So, you know, that's how our process works. Yeah. And when do you expect to have that, that group finalized or to be fair, I know it's going to kind of, kind of be ongoing, but when would you like to have a good sense of 80 to 90% of the participants? Uh, by Christmas. Uh, I mean really by Christmas or, uh, the new year, um, usually we're the first week in January. But with COVID and everything, we got pushed back to January 17th through the 21st.

So it gives us a little bit of extra time and cushion. With that, just making the roster, you know, with high class talent and, you know, for teams to partake and look at. Yeah. And so you raise an interesting question there. Iowa, I feel like is one of those schools that maybe holds onto the invites. I know for the senior bowl, they don't typically give them out until after the season. How does that work? If you want to finalize some of these things by December or by Christmas, you say, um, how does that work for some of these schools who maybe hold onto some of these invites until after the season? I mean, each, each school

is different. Uh, you know, we, we just want to present the opportunity to the kids whether they get the invite or not right away. We usually contact the kid personally sometimes and we try to get everything squared away. Hopefully, like I said, hopefully by Christmas, New Year's, we'll have the

roster set. Absolutely, man. Before we get into the Iowa players, how did you get started in this and what, why are you passionate about scouting and obviously the NFL draft process? Yeah. So I came on as an intern in 2016, I want to say, you know, working my way up with CGS. And then I've been in my role as a director of player personnel and scouting for about, this be year three so it's it's been a fun process and you know anything dealing with football it's a great opportunity and you know it's a process I love and you know I just want to see the kids succeed yeah absolutely man I mean

you can tell that the big concern for you is not necessarily just the CGS but just having these players have an opportunity to shine a lot of these players some especially this year don't have as many opportunities as they might have to have some really good tape or to have some big players have an opportunity to shine. A lot of these players, especially this year, don't have as many opportunities as they might have to have some really good tape or to have some big games. So it gives them even more of a chance to do so. All right, y'all, we are going to take a quick break from our conversation with Mike. I hope you're enjoying his insight into how they selected some of these prospects, at least from the watch list perspective, what he loves about some of these Iowa football players. But I do have a very important message for you because if you're

anything like me, and I hope you can tell. Because I'm very energetic. Always on the go. I have a full-time job. I do the podcast. I love Iowa athletics. I love covering it. I'm also, I love working out.

I did at Ironman two years ago. I'm constantly on the go. And the reason why I tell you that is because sometimes when you're on the go that much, you just need to take a second and chill. Sometimes you're always go, go, go. Sometimes you just need to take a second and chill. Sometimes you're just always go, go, go. Sometimes you just need to turn it off. Stop the nonstop hustle.

And when I need to take a second and chill, maybe watch a football game, watch a basketball game, there's only one beer out there that I will use to chill, and that is Coors Light, which is literally made to chill. Coors Light is cold-loggered, cold-filtered, and cold-packaged. It's literally made to chill. It's as crisp and refreshing as the Colorado Rockies. And I would know, I live out here in Colorado. The air is crisp and fresh, just like an ice-cooled Coors Light. And right now, Coors Light is actually doing something pretty awesome for all of you stuck at home in quarantine. Coors Light is the one I choose in 92 and Wine.

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Before we hop back into our conversation with Mike, just a reminder that we do have another show dropping tomorrow as we break down the keys to winning this game, Iowa versus Illinois, and also break down the Western Illinois versus Iowa basketball game and kind of the upcoming games they have in the future. And then a reminder that we also have our Monday morning recap with Matt dropping most likely on Sunday, breaking down the Illinois versus Iowa game. Let's hop back into that interview, though, with Mike right now.

As far as the University of Iowa, though, when I look at this list, I love seeing Matt Hankins, Chauncey Golston, Jack Heflin, Cole Bandwert, Coy Cronk, Makai Sargent, Sean Beyer, and Brandon Smith. However, I do want to talk about the players that are not on this list that I thought might have made it. Alaric Jackson and Amir Smith-Marset are kind of the two big guys. And I'm just curious, was there a reason for not having them on specifically? Malaric is on there.

He is? Did I miss that? Yeah, I just want to double check real quick. Because I have them in my notes as well. Yep, he's on there. My bad i missed that what about no worries okay is amir smith or set on there uh he is not i i didn't see that but he's a hell of a player as well fair enough all right well then i'm wrong on one of those and amir smar said he's not on there. As far as the guys that are on there, though, let's maybe start with Matt Hankins then. As a corner, have you had an opportunity to personally scout him,

and kind of what are some of the things you see on tape from him? Yeah, so 6'180", you know, good ball skills and awareness. You know, he's a Texas kid as well, and our event's based in Fort Worth, Texas. Had a big INT against – I think his own only INT against Purdue this year. So, you know, active, you know, good experience there and you know, can play some football. Yeah. And what about Chauncey Golston? I mean, he's the guy who's kind of flew under the radar on this Iowa. I mean,

the last couple of years, Iowa has graduated at least three defensive linemen the last two seasons. So they're kind of usually running a little thin, but Chauncey Golston has been a role player in that defense for the last couple of years and then started last year and this year. What do you see from Chauncey Golston? And real quick, before you get into that, I noticed one thing I wanted to get some confirmation from you on. It seems like he's missing a few more tackles than you typically would see for a defensive end, but overall getting some really good pressure, getting his hands up, that kind of thing. Yeah, I think he's a big, strong athletic

D lineman. The way he moves, you can move well in space. What I mean by that, you know, coming off the ball, he doesn't trip over his feet, whatnot, you know, good base and balance to him. Good strike coming off the ball. Just, you know, an all-around good defensive end, 6'5", 270. Had a big game against Michigan State, my notes here. Two tackles for a loss, a sack and a half. So, I mean, good production and, you know, a key player on the Iowa defense. Absolutely. And moving along that defensive line, Jack Heflin, a transfer guy who is, you know, making his name be, you know, known after coming from NIU.

What are your thoughts on him? Yeah, so he was a big, strong, athletic, defensive tackle, all-conference winner in Northern Illinois. Him and Matt Lauerbach, the DN, transferred over from Northern Illinois, another solid player. Looking at my notes here, athletic, strong at the point of attack, two TFLs and a sack on the ear. Really was a consistent presence at Northern Illinois as well.

Definitely. So moving on to the other side of the ball, we have a couple offensive linemen here, Cole Bamber and Coy Cronk. Coy Cronk's a really interesting story. Yeah. Because he was a guy who was looked at as maybe a day two pick in the NFL going into his senior year at Indiana, destroys his ankle, misses the season, transfers to Iowa,

and he's had a little bit of an interesting start at Iowa. It seems like he might not be fully healthy, still kind of getting acclimated back to the speed of the game. What do you see from him that makes you feel like this is a promising prospect to still bring in despite some of the issues he's kind of had the last year and a half. I mean, look at his resume at Indiana, a 40 game starter, a freshman, all American, you know, consistent player, outlet and trophy, a watch list guy, you know, a strong, powerful athlete, you know,

you know, that's a, that's a resume that speaks for itself. So, I mean, just what he's built up and brought to Iowa, that's something to speak for itself. Yeah, and Cole Bamworth's also dealt with some injury issues. And with Iowa interior offensive linemen, they're typically not regarded highly from a draft perspective. We see a lot of Iowa offensive linemen go in the late rounds of the draft or even be a priority free agent because they might not be the biggest guy,

but they're typically pretty athletic. They understand pretty good fundamentals, but again, not usually the biggest guys. What do you see from Cole Banworth, though? He's had some injury-plagued seasons, but has been a consistent player in this lineup for the last couple years. Works well in a phone booth, comes off the ball, works well in tight spaces. Like you said, you're a consistent Iowa offensive lineman.

It's like a factory they produce down there. So, you know, good awareness, you know, make some key blocks. You know, like I said, you know, Iowa, that's them in Wisconsin. That's just, you know, a factory for a lineman. Yeah. And then another factory that Iowa kind of has going is tight ends. And we've seen this last year, Nate Weeding got an invite, I believe to the NFL PA bowl and not after not a very big productive season, but the fact

that you're a tight end coming out of Iowa, I feel like it's just dumb not to do a second look at those guys. Sean Byer, a guy who has had a lot of potential, came in as an athlete slash wide receiver, moved over to tight end, has put together a pretty nice – some pretty nice film this year. Maybe not so much – he's not as actively involved in the passing game, but has been Iowa's best run-blocking tight end by far, which can get you to the NFL. And then you also add the athleticism.

He's done a pretty good job of making some difficult catches this year, but, again, not as actively actively involved what do you see from Sean Beyer or is it really just it's a tight end from Iowa who's a senior who gets playing time um they're probably pretty solid we got to bring him in I mean just the willingness to block uh you know like you said he's uh a consistent performer in run blocking in the run game uh you know when his number is called, you can make contested catches. You know, just a solid all-around player. Yeah.

And then offensively, Makai Sargent, he is often overlooked by Tyler Goodson, who is a phenomenal athlete and a great player in his own right. Makai Sargent is a very patient runner. He's not the guy who's going to typically explode for 40, 50. I run, he's not the game breaker, but a guy like that, who's patient, who's able to find the hole, who's able to fall forward. They can have a role in the NFL. We've seen it time and time again, these UDFA running backs come in and, you know, bust out a hundred, 200 yard game. If they can get the opportunity, is that what you're seeing from my Kai Sargent? All right, y'all, before we turn for segment number three of our interview with Mike, I

do have a very important announcement for you because if you love the Locked On Hawkeyes, you got to check out some of the other great stuff we're doing across the network. So if you're looking for a Sunday pregame show that talks about every game and every team in depth, check out the Locked On NFL Sunday Show live every Sunday morning at 11 a.m. Eastern Time. No sketches, no celebrity cameos, no fluff, just football every Sunday morning with my guys, Cody Rourke and Ross Jackson. Believe me, these guys are two of the best in the biz. So follow and subscribe to Locked On Live on Twitter, Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube.

And don't forget to turn on your notifications and be notified when the show goes live every Sunday morning at 11 a.m. Eastern time. Let's hop back into that show with Mike Riddleman right now. Yeah, good, consistent runner. Shows good vision, waits for blocks to set up in front of him. You know, 309 yards rushing this year with six touchdowns. So good production right there. You know, has been a good complimentary back his time in Iowa. So, you know, good production out of them so far. Yeah. And I feel like the CGS is a perfect opportunity for him to showcase some of those athletic feats that maybe people aren't as aware of. Right. I mean, I think if you run a solid 40 yard dash,

that could put McKay Sergeant on the map pretty quickly. Yep. No, I agree with you. Yeah. And then Brandon Smith is a very interesting athlete because when I was recruited him, he was, he was pretty overlooked. Not a lot of people were on his, you know, on agree with you. Yeah, and then Brandon Smith is a very interesting athlete because when Iowa recruited him, he was pretty overlooked. Not a lot of people were on his recruiting trail, but I believe he was an all-state high jumper or it was a hurdles guy. Either one. Yeah, so, I mean, very athletic guy, and we see it on the football field.

This guy can jump through the roof, can really high point the ball. I think he is a guy who can make an impact on Sundays in the NFL, and he's a very willing run blocker as well. I think that cannot go unnoticed, even though it's not typically what you're looking for with a high level wide receiver. What are you seeing from Brandon Smith, though? Is there anything else to add to that? I think a good performer.

He was having a good year last year before he got cut down with an injury, showing good production. This year, 12 receptions, about 115 yards, receiving two touchdowns. Good route runner, good ball skills, just a consistent performer on the edge. Yeah, and one of the things I noticed with him is 50-50 balls are more like 80-20 when it's Brandon Smith. I mean, the other guy ain't coming down with it, but Brandon Smith probably can.

He's made some absolutely ridiculous catches. From a scouting perspective, how much does the lack of production go into it though, right? You look at the 12 catches, and that's not bad, but that's not earth-shattering either, right? You're four games in. You're averaging three catches a game. From a scouting perspective, is that concerning,

or do you look at Iowa's offense and say, it is what it is, and we know what he can do with the ball. I think it's just, you got to paint a bigger picture, see the bigger picture to see what he's done cumulatively throughout his career, what his production's been, you know, what his skill sets are. And then I think you can paint a picture on the prospect there. Yeah. And so you already mentioned that you released the watch list and we talked about that. I'll point all the people already mentioned that you released the watch list and we talked

about that. I'll point all the people listening to this, to that watch list, but from a who's actually getting an invite, you kind of dropped the hint that people have been getting invites already. Is that happening? Yeah. So we've been,

we've been starting the process this week and then we also got to talk about all Rick Jackson. Oh yeah. He wasn't on my rundown. Cause I forgot. Yeah. Yeah. No,

he physical imposing run blocker six, yeah, he wasn't on my rundown because I forgot. Yeah. Yeah, no, physical, imposing run blocker, 6'6", 315 left tackle, three-year starter, especially in his pass sets, heavy hands, you know, patient hands. Really like the production there. You know, just a good, consistent performer at the left tackle position. Yeah, I mean, again, you talk about the fact that Iowa offensive lineman, you have to have him there. I think last year had he not been injured for the beginning part of the year,

I think he probably goes to the NFL last year and becomes a day two pick. We've actually had some people – he didn't have a very good game against Penn State this past weekend, really struggled with some edge pressure. But before that, I thought he was having a fantastic season and really putting himself in a position to be one of the top tackles selected. Yeah, no, good, consistent performer, you know, through multi-year starter. That's always a plus with offensive linemen.

Definitely, man. And so getting into those invites, though, you know, you're releasing those invites. I'm going to ask you this question. You're going to probably not answer it, but how many of these Iowa guys are getting an invite? You know what? We'll just have to wait and see, man. I do. I figured you were going to say that. And so with coronavirus, obviously you want to be able to have scouts there. You want to potentially be able to have media there.

I know you just had a fantastic partnership you just did with the Brawl Network. But what is the plan this year for media to be able to attend? If I wanted to come down and watch these guys and possibly interview them, is that possible? What does that process look like? You know what? I'm really happy to sit down with Jose and Craig, the two co-founders, and we're going to have to lay out a plan. We will have testing there for COVID for the players and, and our staff and, you know, NFL teams are permitted to come and watch. And so we're going to be social distancing, mask be worn, you know, NFL teams are permitted to come and watch.

And so we're going to be social distancing, mask be worn, you know, just making sure all the protocols will be handled. It won't be anything contact, a lot of individual drills so that the teams can see how the player moves. And so, you know, a lot of details, minor details still need to be ironed out. But, you know, I'm really excited for this year's event. Yeah. And lastly, what are the future goals of CGS? Is it TV? I mean, is it to put it on TV and be able to showcase some of these things?

I mean, is it just basically growth? What is the ultimate goal here with CGS as you continue to refine the process? You know, I think it's just getting better one step every year. to refine the process? You know what? I think it's just getting better one step every year. And our partnership with the Brawl Network is a huge acquisition for CGS in general. You know, just growing the brand each and every year to make it a better experience for the athletes to showcase their talents in front of NFL and CFL teams.

Absolutely, man. And Mike, where can the folks find you on Twitter at? They want to get some more breakdowns of players. They want to see some of this, the Iowa scouting and whatnot. I mean, obviously a lot of Iowa guys, you're very familiar with them. So great opportunity for Iowa Hawkeye fans to get a little bit more insight into that scouting realm. Where can folks find you at?

Yeah, I'm at MRITT9140. I love it, man. I love it, man. So make sure to go follow Mike Riddleman on Twitter. Mike, I appreciate you having you on the show. Once those invites go out, once you let me know who those guys are going to be, I'll probably have you back on and see kind of what, what to expect from them. And then also after the event as well, uh, make sure you go follow Mike Riddleman. Also go follow the college grid iron showcase on Twitter as well. Mike, have a fantastic day. We'll talk to you

later, buddy. Hey, thanks for having me on man. All right. All that concludes our conversation with Mike. I hope you enjoyed the insight he provided into what the College Gridiron Showcase does and where Iowa might see some representation there. Obviously, Sean Byer just accepted his invite. I assume we're going to be seeing a few more guys accept their invites here in a little bit, as long as they obviously got them. It sounds like the invites did go out. So awesome stuff that Sean Byer is going to be down there in a non-COVID year.

I would try to be down there as well to cover him cover him and his, what he's doing at the college gridiron showcase, but it's kind of one of those situations where I might not be able to make it down. We'll see how that all plays out, but again, hope you enjoyed the show. Reminded that we do have a show coming up tomorrow morning as well. And as always Hawkeye nation, I really appreciate and love the support. If you love the show though, give us that five-star review, subscribe wherever you download the podcast at and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Thank you again the show, though, give us that five-star review, subscribe wherever you download the podcast at, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Thank you again for listening,

and let's go Hawks.