Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Did Nate Stanley make the right decision? | AJ Epenesa weighs in lighter | What needs to happen for Luka Garza to be POY

Episode Date: February 27, 2020

Nate Stanley declined the Senior Bowl. Why? Measurements came in for defensive end AJ Epenesa. What does that mean for him? And here is what Luka Garza needs to do to win National Player of the Year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I thank God I was born on the good arms of the Midwest, and not on the battlefields of the U.S. It's a time of panic, and it's intercepted! It's picked off right away! Intercepted by Marty Hooker! Pick six! Eight seconds into the game! Buffen sets up deep in the pocket, goes down the field for Smith!

Oh! He's got it! Smith! Touchdown. 85 yards. High on. Touchdown, 10. Taking a shot in the end zone.

It is caught. No offense. Touchdown. That's either one or you have it. Go ahead and three. Yes. Two-point lead for the Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Sports Network.

It is a beautiful Thursday morning, and we have a lot more content to cover on the show today. And I am going to be delivering you five episodes this week. I know it's been a bit sporadic over the last month. I've had a lot of different trips. I went down to Mobile for the Senior Bowl, was in Cancun for a wedding, had a few ski trips in the middle of that. So it's been a little difficult to be getting you as much content as I wanted to. But this week we are back on track and we'll beed on Hawkeyes podcast. On today's show, we're going to be talking a lot about the NFL Combine, Nate Stanley, AJ Paneza, those kind of guys. Specifically those two guys really though because AJ Paneza just got his measurements in.

I want to talk a bit about that and what that means potentially for him going forward. And also found out some interesting news, courtesy of Mark Morehouse on Nate Stanley, that I want to dissect on the show today. And then we're going to be talking a bit about Luka Garza, Player of the Year candidate, and also his injury status. So I want to talk a bit about that as well, and that'll be all covered on today's show. On tomorrow's show, we are going to be breaking down what to expect from the Iowa-Penn State matchup, so stay tuned for that as well. That'll be coming on tomorrow's show.

If you are tuning in for the very first time today, make sure to like, review, and subscribe so you can get every single episode of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast delivered directly to your phone. You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or the brand new Himalaya Podcast app. And follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. As I've alluded to, we have some great competitions coming up on the show, namely to do with March

Madness. You have an opportunity to win some Iowa swag if you participate. And the only way you can participate is if you have social media and follow us. So make sure to do that so you can get all the great information on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast and win some swag. That being said, let's jump into the show today. First up on the show, though, let is talk about Nate Stanley. And if you didn't get a chance to read the article put out by Mark Morehouse, make sure to do that because

he brought up some interesting points about Nate Stanley on his article and specifically with draft preparation and whatnot. And the first thing I want to cover is the fact that it sounded like he actually declined invites to the Senior Bowl, also to the Shrine game. And that makes a lot more sense. I'll be honest. I was really confused to not see Nate Stanley down to the Senior Bowl. I even asked the guys, the host of Stick to Football, why Nate Stanley wasn't down there. They didn't know.

They asked if he was injured. To me, which I didn't think he was injured, they said they basically thought he was better than a few of the guys down there, and we're looking forward to seeing him. But it turns out that it was not a lack of invite that made sure that Nate Stanley was not down there. It was the fact that he declined to go down there so he could work on his mechanics and continue developing as a quarterback. And that leads me to my next point.

He felt like his mechanics were so misaligned that he needed to spend the extra prep and it would clearly benefit him more to work on his mechanics and skip the senior bowl than to go down to the senior bowl and play in that game and I think that's a really interesting choice and a lot of decision making obviously went into that because the senior bowl is a great opportunity to go out there and compete and show that you can play with some of the best guys in the country and not that this matters to Nate Stanley but it would have been a great opportunity to go out there and compete and show that you can play with some of the best guys in the country. And not that this matters to Nate Stanley, but it would have been a great opportunity for me to interview him and get some great content for you on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast.

That being said, let's dissect that a bit. Again, like I said, the Senior Bowl is a great opportunity for seniors to get their name out there. And Nate Stanley thought that it was so much more important that he got his mechanics down. And the fact that his mechanics have not gotten that much better over the course of three years as far as his throwing motion, in his opinion, to me is a little bit concerning. Iowa prides themselves on being a developmental football program. Iowa does a fantastic job of building up walk-ons and two-star recruits and three-star recruits

and two NFL football players. Don't get me wrong. Chris Doyle does a great job in the weight room. He makes these guys faster, bigger, stronger, all of those things. Offensive line-wise, these offensive linemen leave with some of the best technique in the business. Coaches love to see Iowa offensive linemen come out because their technique is usually pretty darn sound. But from a quarterback perspective, what Nate Stanley said I thought was

really interesting that they really worked a lot on his footwork and dropping back and whatnot and being a pro-style quarterback, but not as much on making sure his body was in the right spot, making sure his mechanics were correct when throwing the football. And to me, that is half the battle of being a quarterback. And especially as the fact that we saw Nate Stanley struggle with accuracy over the course of his career, you would have thought that Kato Keefe being the quarterback's coach would have maybe worked with him a bit more on that. And there's a couple points to this.

I talked to a buddy about this over Twitter actually today, and he made up a really good point that maybe it's just they need a different set of eyes. Maybe Ken O'Keefe didn't see this. Maybe he was focused on other things. Maybe there's a lot more that was wrong than just with throwing mechanics. But to me, when you are going to a college football program, especially one like Iowa, again, that prides themselves on developing players, you expect to leave there with better mechanics and basically better everything.

You basically want to leave there a better person and a better player. And while Nate Stanley certainly left there a better player and a better person, I feel like there was more opportunity for growth, especially if he feels like he needed to go to a new quarterback coach and granted a very renowned quarterback coach to help him work on his mechanics. I feel like he could have maybe worked on that throughout his college career with Ken O'Keefe had Ken O'Keefe been able to do that. So something that I thought a little bit interesting there, and again, the fact that he declined

the senior boy invite would have been a great opportunity for him to show off his skills there. But if he feels like showing a new throwing motion and showing better mechanics was going to help him out by waiting a couple months, maybe that is the case. That being said, we're going to see him throw, hopefully, at the NFL Combine this week. There are position drills tomorrow for the quarterback, so more to come on Nate Stanley.

And we'll be covering Nate Stanley a lot over the course of the next two months as we lead up to the NFL draft time, just because he's a very polarizing player. I'm a guy who I've heard NFL analysts say they hate. And I've also heard NFL analysts say he could be a sleeper pick to be a pretty solid starter in the NFL. So it really depends on your cup of tea. I personally think that Nate Stanley possesses a lot of the tools needed to be an NFL quarterback.

Just has a lot of refinement that is needed. And I think if he goes in the right system, he could be a productive and quality NFL player. That being said, though, that's enough talk on Nate Stanley. We're going to jump into some talk on AJ Paneza before covering Luka Garza. But that will be coming up after a few short seconds. after a few short seconds. All right, we are back with segment number two of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. And we're going to be talking about AJ Epineza.

He did get his measurements in. And weirdly enough, you know, AJ Epineza is a consensus first round pick. I think his draft stock has dropped a bit over the last couple months just because people are concerned about where does he actually fit at. I've heard people say that he has the highest floor of many of the players in this year's draft, maybe a lower ceiling. And there's concerns about his ability to be a true edge rusher, his bend, that kind of thing, clearly has a ton of power, able to drive

Big Ten tackles back on their feet, consistently snap in, snap out. But there's some concerns on some of the quickness there, and also some concerns on how big is this guy, and where does he best fit? He kind of seems like a tweener in the sense that he could play defensive end or maybe slide inside a bit. And it's going to be interesting to see what he weighed in at the combine. And he came in at 275. And that stems from the fact that at Iowa, he weighed 280. So five pounds lighter at the combine. To me, that signals that he believes that he should be a 4-3 defensive end. I still think with a couple more pounds, he probably could be effective at 3-4 defensive end just because he is so strong at the point of attack.

But to me, that signals that he thinks he's going to be a 4-3 defensive end. He's ready to show that he could be a 4-3 defensive end. And that means now all eyes are on his quickness, his three-cone drill, that kind of thing, and his 40-yard dash, which I think, to me, is a little bit overrated. Actually, no, sorry, excuse me, very overrated. When the hell is a defensive end going to run 40 yards in a straight line? I think a 10-yard dash is really kind of, 10-yard splits is really what, to me, is a better measurement for a defensive end.

That kind of shows the quickness and burst there, but those measurements are going to be really huge now, now that he came in at 275. Want to see how quick he is at that size you know we haven't really we don't know what he's going to run I would like to think that coming out of the Iowa football program being a five-star recruit being as gifted athletically as he is he could probably run in the high four sevens range if he ran lower than that I think it'd be shocking to people and may you know may move him up a few draft boards if he is able to run um a bit faster than that but being that size i think a four seven to four eight range is really what we're looking at there for ajip and as it but

a lot of stuff to come on that obviously um huge news though that he came in i know it's just five pounds but the fact that he came in five pounds lighter to me signals that he is looking at playing that four three defensive end spot. And that doesn't mean that I don't think he can play inside on pass rush situations. We saw him dominate college level guards, though. And when he played in that inside pass rushing position, when they went with that NASCAR package and moved him inside, we saw him be effective there. I think he is still a very powerful player. So that'll be interesting to see, though, what NFL teams think of him throughout this draft process, especially now that he weighed in a little bit lighter.

Once he gets his measurements in from a combine drill perspective, that'll also help kind of tell the tale of AJ Paneza on this season. That'll do it, though, for the AJ Paneza talk. Coming up in just a few short seconds, it, though, for the AJ Paneza talk. Coming up in just a few short seconds, we're going to cover the Luka Garza piece before closing out the show on a little bit of a shortened Thursday morning episode of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. We are back with our third and final segment

of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. And as I said, a little bit of a shorter episode today. Have some stuff I need to do tonight. I'm recording this the day before. Not as much information coming out today, but a lot of stuff that's going to be happening over the next week. So lots of content to cover and bring to you. But again, a little bit shorter of an episode, and I appreciate you all tuning in to today's

show. We're going to talk about Luka Garza now. And I think the big thing here is that it sounds like Luka Garza has been playing with an injured foot, and my first thought is, holy hell, can this team catch a freaking break? Man, this Iowa Hawkeye team just literally cannot catch a break between injuries, that kind of stuff, and leaving people departing at the beginning of the season.

Just not an easy season for Fran McCaffrey, but the fact that Luka Garza is playing on a bump foot and doing a phenomenal job night in and night out, I think just speaks volumes to the kind of player he is. A very hardworking player who doesn't want to miss a single minute of action at any point in the game, wants to be there for his teammates no matter what. And I think that just goes in the fact that I do believe he should be the frontrunner for the National Player of the Year. Right now, according to ESPN, he has the fourth highest points per game average at 23.6,

just below Marcus Howard, Javon Jackson, and Jermaine Morrow, and just above Antoine Davis. He's 41st in rebounds with 9.6. I think he probably could get over that 10 rebound mark. I think that might help him out a little bit. But let's talk a little bit about what he needs to do to actually win this National Player of the Year competition. First off, the fact that he's in it is pretty impressive. All things considered, last year had an okay performance, but really wasn't the monster that he is on the boards and in the paint offensively he's doing a phenomenal job of shooting the ball as well

outside of the game against Michigan State you know where he went 0 for 5 he's done really well shooting the ball from deep which is something you don't typically get from a guy of his size and the just general how he plays the game I, is just endearing to a lot of fans, a lot of analysts who like to see the hustle, the work ethic. He's arguably the hardest working guy on the court every single time he steps on the court. And you love to see it, especially for a guy of his caliber. But what most impresses me is some of the moves he has down low in the paint. It almost feels like as long as he's within three feet of the basket, that ball is going in no matter what. It kind of reminds me a little bit of Megan Gustafson in that sense.

When Megan Gustafson got the ball down low, that ball was going in. It didn't matter what she had to do. That ball was going in. She was very crafty, just as Luka Garza is very crafty. Gustafson, not necessarily the most athletic. Luka Garza, not necessarily the most athletic. That's not a knock on him. He's just not as athletic as some of the other guys that he's playing against,

but he's incredibly crafty, incredibly agile, and very technically savvy player. We saw him struggle a little bit against Xavier Tillman, but overall throughout the course of the season, he's been going up against some really great competition in the Big Ten, some great teams in the Big Ten, but most notably some really great competition in the Big Ten, some great teams in the Big Ten, but most notably some really great centers in the Big Ten. And I think the fact that he's still putting up nearly 20 points and 10 rebounds every single game is so freaking impressive.

It has to be something that takes notice. That being said, the National Player of the Year Award is not just an individual award like it seems. It also very much is a team award. And Iowa needs to do well for Luka Garza to be able to make a case for that National Player of the Year award. And I think it's very clear Iowa is going to make the NCAA tournament. They still have a pretty good chance of getting that coveted double bye in the Big Ten tournament. I think they need to win at least one game in the Big Ten tournament and then get a,

let's say, a six or seven seed. I think if you want to get a six or seven seed, you need to win two games in the Big Ten and kind of finish strong here. Get like a five or six seed then even. And I think if Iowa can advance the second weekend of the NCL by tournament, which is not an easy task. They haven't done it for a very long time. But if they can advance to the Sweet 16,

I think Nate Stanley, or not Nate Stanley, excuse me, Luka Garza is the National Player of the Year. Dick Vitale thinks he is as well. I just think, again, this award is not just an individual player award as much as that's what it sounds like. It is also a team award, and you need your team to be doing well for you to get that recognition that you deserve to also be doing well and get that National Player of the Year award.

And if he is to do that, I think that is just one of the more improbable stories in college basketball this season, an Iowa basketball team that has no business being in the NCAA tournament, winning multiple games with a guy who no one saw coming as far as his breakout year this year. So you love to see it as an Iowa basketball fan. It's been a fantastic year watching this team play. A lot of adversity they have faced and the fact they can still come back and play solid

basketball and put themselves in a position to make a huge difference for this program and really set this program up for a lot of success going forward is incredible. And can you imagine if Luka Garza does manage to return? I've looked at a few NBA draft boards and I don't see him on there. He's starting to creep a little bit up into that second round talk, but there's still a lot of concerns about him. I bet he does test the NBA draft process, but he also seems like a guy who is committed to the program, a guy who wants to stay at the program

and see what he can do to bring this program to national relevancy. And with a Jordan Bohannon returning, a Patrick McCaffrey, if Joe Wieskamp returns, which I do think he will, this team should very much be a national title contender next year, which is mind-blowing to even be thinking about for an Iowa Hawkeye basketball team. That'll do it, though. Like I said, a little bit shorter of an episode today.

Wanted to touch on a few topics for today. Wanted to get a show out to you. On tomorrow's episode, we're going to be breaking down the Iowa versus Penn State game, so stay tuned for that as well. If you did like what you heard today, make sure to like, review, and subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast at.

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