Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Hawkeye Football Recruiting Update with Brian Smith

Episode Date: June 21, 2023

Hawkeye Football Recruiting Update with Brian SmithTrent Condon is joined by Locked on football recruiting analyst Brian Smith on the latest edition of the Locked on Hawkeyes Podcast.They take a look at Hawkeye commit Brevin Doll and where he could end up if it isn't at running back along with Hawkeye targets Nick Brooks, Thomas Meyer, Eric Karner and Reece Vander Zee.Some thoughts on the way that Iowa football recruits and how it is different than other programs across the country.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BirddogsGo to birddogs.com/lockedoncollege and they’ll throw in a free custom birddogs Yeti-style tumbler with every order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we have Brian Smith. We're going to break down Iowa football, recruiting a breakdown of everything going on with the class of 24 and 25 for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Who are some prospects? Iowa can still land. What do we know about some of the guys they already have commitments from? All coming up today, Locked On Hawkeyes.

You are Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome in. I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Wherever you get podcasts, and you can also find us on YouTube. While you're there, make sure you hit that subscribe button.

Helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. We're very happy to be joined today by Brian Smith, our recruiting analyst here for Lockdown. And we're going to break down some of the big names that have been bandied about here in Iowa recruiting for the next couple of seasons. Class of 2024, about halfway home. Most of those guys are going to be making their official visits coming up next weekend for Iowa. Just finish up the Hawkeye Tailgater, which kind of sets the scene for Class of 2025, and we'll talk about that a little bit, Brian.

But first of all, how are you doing down in Florida in Florida doing well sir just uh trying to survive the heat this is a rather sweltering day even for Florida standards so got the air conditioning going brother that's the way to do it no doubt about it well Brian I want to start first with uh just a general kind of take of Iowa football so they just finished up their 2025 with what they call the Hawkeye tailgater. And what it is is they invite mostly prospects from across the Midwest, but some of their bigger targets and then the in-state guys that they think they have a pretty good chance of landing right away. One thing that I've heard talking to different people in the recruiting circle

is Iowa does it a little bit different than most, where a lot of times, especially that first visit for a lot of times, especially that first visit for a lot of these kids on campus, it's more introductory. What Iowa really tries to do, though, is make sure that these guys know if Iowa football is something that interests them, this is the way that it's done. Because Iowa, they do things differently than a lot of programs out there. And, you know, there's not a whole lot of fluff.

It's not a whole lot of painting all the bells and whistles.'s like this is going to be an Iowa football player are there many programs out there that do it in a similar vein like Iowa and not just trying to talk about all the great things but say hey here's the hard work that also is going to be a part of it I think Iowa is about as original as it gets I would imagine Illinois is similar based on their head coach, but I mean like even, even schools that are really, really traditional like Alabama, Notre Dame, et cetera. They have a lot of acquaintance. Their head coaches are taking photos with every recruit. They're going out and doing all these photo shoots and stuff because kids like

it and they just want the players to sign. I know Iowa has some of that, but I don't think Kirk Ferentz is going to be jumping in a ton of photo shoots. Yeah, that's a rarity. Every once in a while, you'll see the, just the stage picture next to each other, but he's not going to be like Brian Kelly was in there, you know, taking the pictures with the 360 degree camera, right? No. And that's okay. You need to be who you are. Perence is a tremendous football coach. He's a legend in the state of Iowa. Be who you are. People see frauds every time. So just doing it that way, I think is probably better for Iowa and Perence.

No doubt about it. Well, let's talk a little bit about some of the players that I want to get your perspective on. Want to start with probably the biggest for the class of 2024 for Iowa. And that is Nikolai Brooks. Nick Brooks down in Georgia this past season for his junior campaign, moved back to the state of Iowa. He'll be going to Cedar Rapids Kennedy for his final campaign. A lot of family in Cedar Rapids decided to come back for his senior year.

Now, a lot of people speculated also that Brooks, when he moved back to Iowa very quickly, he was going to make a commitment to the Hawkeyes. Hasn't happened yet, but it appears that Nick Brooks, certainly the front runner is the Hawkeyes, but this isn't just getting a kid from the state of Iowa. There's a lot of big time programs after him. Every now and then you see a kid that is just like different than everybody else on a visit. We see him on the sidelines or something. This kid is ridiculous in terms of his size, 340-ish. I don't know, he may be even bigger.

Look, there's a real easy way to put it in perspective too because sometimes big guys aren't that good. He has an offer from Alabama and he has an offer from Georgia. If that doesn't move the needle for you, then you don't know much about college football. They don't just offer random guys. They are as picky as it gets with offensive tackle recruiting. And Brooks is being scouted and recruited that way. So I'm curious to see what happens with him. I mean, these are the kind of kids you can't lose if you're Iowa, right? If you want to climb the ladder and compete with Ohio State, Wisconsin, Penn State,

you have to keep the handful of kids that are in your state at home. Last year, they lost one of the key players to the University of Alabama. That can't happen two years in a row. So Brooks, I mean, offensive tackles like this, you just got to get them. And especially with their zone scheme, he could be dominant. I can't imagine him not playing right away. That's the other thing. Iowa doesn't normally have linemen that do that.

Brooks could do it. So, yeah, they've got to have kids like this every time. Absolutely. That was going to be the hope of Caden Proctor, that he was going to come in right away and minimum be a depth piece and certainly get playing time out there. Now he's at Alabama, more developmental. He can sit for a year, maybe even two if need be, and then he can hit the ground running. But a talent like that, now getting another talent like that back in the state and going through it, it sounds really good, but there's what we

saw last year. I mean, Caden Proctor said throughout the whole recruiting process that he was firm to Iowa, even after he took a visit to Oregon, and even after he made his way down to Tuscaloosa and ultimately flipped his commitment two days before signing day. That is difficult. Do you think there's anything that Iowa can learn, that Ferentz and the coaching staff can learn after what they went through last year, Proctor? Even if they get a Brooks, which I know a lot of people anticipate here

in the next week or two, he's going to make his commitment. Things to learn after what happened with Proctor last year. Number one, there's no such thing as a commitment, not in today's landscape, especially with NIL. That's the dirty words for a lot of schools. Anytime I see Tennessee, Oregon, Texas A&M mentioned with a kid, I always get nervous for a school that's not big on NIL. Iowa, that's not their forte.

Alabama, you know, whether it's on the up and up or not, they're not afraid to help a kid either. So, yeah, you got to know who your competition is. But he was an in-state kid. You can't just give up on an in-state kid if you think he's looking for a bag of money somewhere. You can't. So that's kind of unfortunate you're in a rock and a hard place but proctor was so good i

remember watching this film i watched like four or five clips and i turned it off it didn't take very much to figure out he was a stud so yeah you got to recruit him it's just unfortunate that they lost it right before so you don't have any way to replace it right it'd be one thing if they'd lost him like September 1st. At least you could have recruited another kid. That was the part probably Florence got ticked about. You can't fix that. You know, at least not without the portal.

So that's the unfortunate thing. But he kept telling everybody he was going to Iowa. I don't know what you could have done differently. Right. Yeah, this is the other thing. It just sucks. And that's recruiting 2023 it is i heard the first murmurs as i was calling the state semi-final game on radio and there were a couple people in the press box with southeast poke where he went to high school

oh he's going on a visit to oregon and it was just a couple of rumors out there well sure enough that next morning wake up and a couple of recruiting services says, yeah, just that, that this is happening and kind of a way we went from there. Well, he is no longer a part of the Hawkeye family, so we'll move on. I hope Nikolai Brooks is going to be the next great offensive lineman to come through. Want to jump to a couple of skill position players. In fact, three of them for the class of 2024. One guy that is committed to other guys that are going to be taking their official visits coming up next weekend.

Want to start with the wide receiver, Reese Van Der Zees. Tall prospect, Northwest Iowa guy. Place that's very much a stronghold, though Ames is closer. Now, I know Iowa State has sold him very well. What they've done with bigger receivers, going back to Alan Lazard and a few others that have come through there. Iowa, a little bit more difficult to sell a wide receiver from what they've been offensively certainly the last couple of years there. What do you see, though, when you watch the tape on this young guy?

Tall, lanky prospect, Nebraska also involved. Reese Vanderzee, what do you see? I think he's a kid that can play split in, play the boundary in the spread, go up and get 50-50 balls. But for a tall kid, he could move pretty well laterally. So he could make plays after the catch. And you're right, Iowa State has done a good job of selling that kind of stuff.

And obviously with Brock Purdy, he was pretty good. Whether or not you like him or not as an Iowa fan, he was a good football player. That's going to help. My question is back to you. How do you sell him after what Iowa has done in their passing game for several years? To me, it would be easy. I don't have a fight in this. I would go to Iowa State if I'm open-minded, but they've proven they can throw the ball.

Iowa needs to be able to prove to him that they're going to get him the football or else, why would you go there? It's really interesting because like you said, that's the kid that they normally get, but Iowa State makes more sense. So it's very interesting. He's going to be a fun one to watch. When you look at him and look at his frame, there's some people that think because he's already, what, 6'4", that maybe he's targeted to become a tight end.

Do you see that with his frame? Man, that's a lot of weight to gain. He's just under 200 pounds. What's he going to gain, 45, 50? I mean, in a traditional sense hell no but i mean you could be a flex tight end you'd call it whatever you want if you got a guy out wide in today's game it's almost like basketball it's almost positionless flex tight end does it really matter what you're called no catch the football so kenny Block would be, I mean, to be an inline tight end with Iowa's tradition,

with what Kurt Ferencz expects, I'm not sure about that. But if he could get up to 225, 230 and still block a little bit, just hope on screens, he'd be a huge asset. So there's different ways to look at it. But his pass-catching skills, that's not questioned, and he's a very good athlete. Brian, you want to see something funny go back to the last time they got a 6'4 190 pound wide receiver they turned into a tight end

take a look at uh the recruiting profile of George Kittle when he was coming out of high school. Nobody wanted to get really no no he was going to Utah State or Air Force and all of a sudden Iowa came in with a signing day offer and the rest is history on that one. There you go, brother. George Kittle, we know. Every now and then there's something like that, but I'll still go out on a limb and say that's the exception. Yeah. There's been a lot of those misses, too,

that we thought was going to be the next one that didn't exactly go. All right, let's continue with some of the skilled position guys. I want to go next to Brevin Dahl, 2024 running back out of just west of us here in ADM Adele. Plays at a lower level, doesn't play in the biggest class here in the state of Iowa, but dynamic playmaker, makes some plays with his speed on the outside, but not just a running back. He's a guy that catches a lot of balls out of the backfield.

What do you see when you look at Brevin Dahl? He reminds me, I remember Robert Smith that played at Ohio State, the long stride. That's the way he runs. He's not saying he's that fast, like Robert could fly. But that's his style, and he is physical. He fits what Iowa does in terms of running zone, making a good read, and is hitting the hole. He has no fear.

His film was fun, and he was completely the best player on the field almost on every play. That wasn't in question. So my only thought is, how can he handle the physicality of being a running back at the Big Ten level? Obviously that is a major step up. So the other thing is with his athleticism, I personally think that long-term he would be best to move to defense

and play linebackers. I think he'd be a stud. He could be 220 and be one of those guys that can cover in space, which you can never have enough of. But I don't know. Like at Iowa, if they really just want to play him at running back, he could be a good player. There's no question.

I just don't know what else they're going to do with him at running back. I mean, they got the kid from Indiana coming, who I love at running back, Steve Williams. He's a stud. Do you need two? Because Iowa always needs more defensive players. I'd move him to a linebacker. Well, and here's one other little nugget for you.

I know the Dowell family. His parents were my good friends growing up. His dad's 6'5". And I talked to mom a couple weeks back. They had a visit. He had a little bit of a hip injury during track this year. And I said, hey, did you happen to ask the doctors about his growth plates? He's about 6'1 right now.

They said still wide open. Now, all of a sudden, he gets up to 6'5 like dad. How about that for a guy potentially on the outside with Reese Vanderzee? Well, you could put him at tight end. You could put him at edge rusher. Once you get into the height and length thing, the options just go bananas. With his skills catching the football, though, you're talking about a guy that could be an NFL tight end.

So height means everything in tight end. You know, those 50-50 balls outside against a DB that's six foot. You're an offense coordinator. You like those. So you throw it up, and he's got natural skills catching the football, like you noted in the outing here. It's easy to see that transition. And if what they said about him at open growth plates is true even if he got to 6-3 you could be a flex tight end at that size be 230 absolutely so that's an interesting thought

process that's a good little nugget right there all right we're talking with brian smith breaking down iowa football recruiting as we continue here we're going to get into the tight end position. Always so important what Iowa does. They got a big prospect coming in for the class of 2024. Next week in 2025 recruiting, it's not wrapped up yet, but an in-state kid that is absolutely beloved. We'll talk Iowa tight ends as we continue on Locked on Hawkeyes. Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel

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when you join FanDuel today. Just go to fanduel.com slash locked on to sign up. FanDuel, official partner of Major League Baseball. Major League Baseball trademarks used with permission. All right, wrapping things up here as we continue our conversation on football and Iowa football recruiting with Brian Smith, you can find him on Twitter at FBScout underscore Florida. So, Brian, I want to talk tight ends.

We talk tight ends already. We always talk tight ends because it's Iowa football. We have to talk tight ends because it's kind of the lifeblood of what they are, certainly offensively. They got a great stable right now with Luke Lachachey and eric all eric all coming in from michigan uh straga i think we saw some good things out of him a season ago in his freshman campaign but it's always about the future so let's start first with the class of 2024 eric carter young man from in illinois michigan state's involved alabama is involved. Florida is involved.

I mean, there's some big-time programs that are after him. But his high school coach played for the Hawkeyes. His high school coach has been in the recruiting game for a long time. He knows kind of what's going on. And I think it's going to help him along this process. What do you see when you pop in the tape? Because the offer list doesn't exactly marry with a guy that's kind of just a middling three-star right now in couple of the scouting service. That's why the rankings are always iffy. I tell people all the time after the first 50, 75 prospects, it's pretty open-ended,

man. It really is. And that's especially the case for a kid that's from Illinois. There's not as many scouts covering that state. Like I live in Florida. Most of the guys live in Texas, California, Florida, or Georgia because it's the most kids. So it makes sense. When you think about the following, though, you know he's good right off the bat. How often does Florida recruit a kid from Illinois? Maybe one or two a year, maybe? And they want it.

So that puts it in perspective. Watching his film, this is a kid that's a little bit bigger, a little bit stronger than some of the other kids we've talked about, and he's already got the wingspan you're looking for. He is a true flex tight end, and I think he could be an impact player. I'm not saying he's the same thing as a kiddo. I mean, let's not overwhelm everybody here, but he's got the skill to be a Big Ten dominant player.

So Michigan State, Iowa, the traditional schools, but then again, like Florida's offered him. Please do not forget that. This is a kid that can play for any team in the country. Absolutely a good one. Class of 2025, up in Clear Lake, his high school coach also played for the Hawkeyes up there and in the NFL with Jared DeVries. Thomas Meyer is the young man's name playing 3A football, you know, not playing in the biggest of certainly classes in the state of Iowa, but boy, he's a guy that I'm from North Iowa. Originally people have been talking about this kid already last couple of seasons. Watch out for this dude. What do you see when you put in the

tape of Thomas Meyer? That's an athlete. I look at him as an athlete before I do a football player. He's a kid that could play baseball, be track, wrestler, whatever you want. I was obviously famous for that. They've had a lot of kids that could do different things. Obviously, the wrestling program itself has been dominant for decades. So I like his ability. I think he could play offense or defense. Just depends on how big he gets.

Remember, this is a 25 kid, two years. What's he going to look like in 18 months? It's really hard to say, but that's about how far it is before now and the time he signs his letter of intent to Iowa or whatever school it is. He could be 240 pounds by then. So maybe he wants to play defense. Maybe he wants to play tight end. But the upside for him is really good, and he's very nimble.

So you can make him an edge rusher. You can make him an inline tight end, a flex tight end. This is the kind of kid that Iowa has been famous for for as long as I've watched football, back to when Hayden Fry was there, that famous 84 seed, et cetera. That's what this kind of guy is. And if you're going to win at Iowa, you can't let these kids get away. Awesome.

Hey, Brian, always a fun conversation. Thanks for helping us out. Have some more conversations here as we anticipate. I mean, they're going to probably get some commits now coming up, right, with all the officials next week. Yeah, I mean, this is the time now. The recruiting calendar is so different than it used to be. Yes.

Between now and mid-July, regardless of school, the kids start making announcements because they've taken two, three, four visits in June. It's just time. So you never know. You can look at your phone, oh, so-and-so popped. It's just at any moment something can happen. I'll track you down again soon.

Thank you so much, Brian. Thank you very much. Have a great day. Brian Smith joining us here on the the lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Always great conversation with him. We break down what we see with the Hawkeyes. We continue to put a cap on things. When we come back on the other side,

more Hawkeye football conversation here with you on a Tuesday. This is the lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. All right, Trent kind of back with you one final time. As always, thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. So much going on here in the recruiting space. Always great information. Brian does a great job.

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Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Putting a cap on things, and coming up on Thursday, we will be back on a normal schedule, and with it, we will have the opportunity to get our first of our summer series with a look back at great Hawkeye teams. So I want to get your team. Who do you want to hear us go back in memory lane and talk about? Remember the great seasons in Hawkeye football or basketball one that's going to be out there. In fact, I believe this is going

to be the Thursday episode is the 2002 Iowa team every day. As you heard me mention them just the other day here on the podcast, we're going to talk about that one. 2015, 2009, 1985. That's as far back as my memory goes. So it'll be a little bit more difficult to go back on those ones. How about great basketball teams? 86, 87. You know that's going to be at the forefront.

97, 98. Dr. Tom's last go around. Recent history, a little bit more difficult, but we will find some throughout the summer months. That is Throwback Thursday coming your way here on Locked On Hawkeyes later in the week. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen. Every day, we'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks. Thank you.