Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - How Good is the Hawkeye offensive line? Big recruiting updates & Galbe Steveson to Iowa?

Episode Date: July 11, 2023

Trent Condon returns with the college football bible in hand; the 2023 Phil Steele college football preview. And it has some good things to say about the Iowa Hawkeyes. Including the offensive line being one of the best in the Big Ten. If that happens, Iowa will not only win the West, they'll have a chance to win the whole Big Ten.The a look at some big recruiting updates from On3. 4 Hawkeyes make their top 300 for the Class of 2024 including Will Nolan, Drew Campbell, Derek Weisskopf and Joseph Anderson.And finally, the rumbling continue for Iowa wrestling and Gable Steveson. Steveson will wrestle one final time on the collegiate level in 2023-24 it appears. And a picture showed up on Instagram with Gable in the Hawkeye wrestling room. We speculate on that front,.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!birddogsGo to birddogs.com/LOCKEDONCOLLEGE or enter promo code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for a free Yeti style tumbler with your order. You won’t want to take your birddogs off we promise you.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit. eBay Motors dot com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to TWO HUNDRED 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

the incomparable Phil Steele has Iowa ranked the fifth best offensive line in the big 10. If Iowa has the fifth best offensive line in the big 10 this year, they're not only winning the West, they're winning the whole thing. Plus Gable Stevenson hanging out in Iowa city wrestling fans. You want to hear this one? A big day locked on.

You are locked on Hawkeyes. Your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes part of the locked on 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. Here on the Lockdown Network, your team every day. That's what we do, taking away through the summer months and getting ready for football season. A lot to get into today. We got plenty of Hawkeye talk on the football side of

things, plus a little bit of wrestling. We're going to talk about Phil Steele. That's right, the best magazine out there if you're a college football fan. So much information in there, so many different things that are useful throughout the course of the year. The price tag is hefty, but it's certainly worth it if you're a college football fan. We're going to talk about that and some of the rankings from his magazine as I got my hands on it this week. Also, Iowa Hawkeye football commits. An update from on three and four guys making pretty big jumps up

into their top 300. We'll get into that here today. Plus wrestling fans, Gable Stevenson, the two-time national champion from the University of Minnesota. He's got a year of eligibility remaining. And could it be in Iowa City? We will get into that here today. We'll kick things off.

And it's right here in my hand, the Phil Steele College Football Preview for 2023. If you are a college football fan, this is, for me, a necessity. Now, it's what I do every single day, talking on the radio, talking to you guys. It's definitely par for the course that I have to have my hands on this thing. And going back nearly 20 years now, I've got the Phil Steele college football preview every single year. And it is the absolute encyclopedia. I use this throughout the course of the year. Yes. So they're more updated things. So after the season starts, absolutely. Has the transfer portal made it a little bit more difficult?

Yes. And am I an old man? Because yes, I have a magazine in my hand. Yeah, a little bit of that too. But I just love to have all the information here. Quickly jump to a team, get their schedule, get their roster, get their two deep. Oh, this quarterback ended up here.

Oh, I forgot that. It's just a great resource to have if you're a college football fan. This is a non-paid endorsement, but I did have Phil Steele on my radio show earlier this week. On Monday of this week, you can go back and check that out on Miller and Condon on KXNO 106.3 in Des Moines. You can find it on the iHeartRadio app. You can find it wherever podcasts are out there. Miller and Condon, the name of my radio program for people who just hear me here on the podcast side of things. Talk some Hawkeyes as

well with Phil Steele. And one thing that jumped out to me. So going through this, and I've had the thing now for a week, but they're just something that always seems to pop out. There's different columns that I like. One of his surprise teams coming up this season are these Iowa Hawkeyes, and he talked about that in his radio hit with me earlier this week. But one thing as I was going through the Big Ten rankings,

so he takes all the 14 teams and he ranks each of the units, one through 14, of how he thinks they're going to be this upcoming season. So quarterback, Michigan's number one with J.J. McCarthy, absolutely very deserved to be in that spot. Number two on his list. Well, he doesn't have a number two. He's got a tie for third in his rankings. He's got Wisconsin out there with Mordecai. Okay. And continuing on, let's see what

else we got here. Just going through. Fighting the Hawkeyes. I was at number four in the quarterback rankings. How shocking is that? When's the last time I was at the fourth best quarterback room in the Big Ten? I might push back on that a little bit. We'll see. You guys know I am a huge, huge believer in what Cade McNamara is going to bring to this team, not only with competent quarterback play, something that they haven't had for three seasons, but also what he brings in terms of leadership, swagger, just that guile that he has. And I think that's an incredibly important thing. But the thing that jumped out to me was this. I was offensive line. We have talked about this a ton in the spring

and here throughout the summer because for me, that's the key. We know the special teams are going to be good. We know the defense is going to be elite. We know that there are going to be improvements offensively, but how good those improvements are going to be, I don't think comes down to Cade McNamara. I don't believe it's going to be the wide receiver making this transformational

change. They're going to be better this year. They can't be worse than they were a year ago. Tight ends are going to be great. But it all doesn't matter if you don't have an offensive line. It's a line that I've said plenty of times every day or you're probably getting sick of it, but it is so, so true. It starts with the offensive line. And he has some right fit. I mean, that's on the surface. Look, that was the worst offensive line that Iowa's had maybe since Kirk's first year. I mean, they were absolutely brutal a season ago. And there's plenty of reasons.

The attrition that they've had. Some of their best prospects that they brought in for the high school level, at least according to the recruiting services, have not panned out because of injury, because of flame out, because of transfer. It just hasn't worked there. You had to play young guys the last two seasons, because of flame out, because of transfer. It just hasn't worked there. You had to play young guys the last two seasons, a lot more. All these different things.

It was nothing short of brutal. And to make a jump from the 14th best offensive line, as they were last year, to the 5th best offensive line, we're talking about a team that is completely different because the defense is going to be there. And if this offense is at that level, Caleb Johnson's going to rush for 1,400 yards if they got the fifth best offensive line in the Big Ten this year. Is that a likely spot for this squad? I'm still not so sure. I don't know if we can quite go to that point to get them with this group.

What's going to have to happen? Logan Jones, the light bulb's going to have to come on. The center who had a lot of struggles last year, you saw glimpses. And maybe that's what it was. have to come on. The center who had a lot of struggles last year, you saw glimpses and maybe that's what it was. And those glimpses after moving over from the defensive line, huge shoes to fill in Tyler Linderbaum and what he had to do at that center position, not only learning a new position, but only along with it, you're learning all the calls and what to do when you have to get everybody in the right spot. And you have to know what it is. Plus the timing that you have to have

with Iowa and what they do with the zone blocking scheme. I mean, all these things are a big, big learning process that Jones had to go through a year ago. Physically, everybody says there's no doubt. Physically, the guy has it. And we saw that at points last year, but putting it all together and doing it for 60, 70, 80 snaps a game,

that's another piece. If that happens, all right, there's a starting point. We continue to hear Connor Colby inside. He has made big strides. You're bringing in Rusty Fett from the transfer portal, along with Dejan Parker. That's going to help solidify things. Mason Richmond, can he stay healthy and put together a whole season? Because it looks like everything you could possibly want to be that next great tackle at the University of Iowa. It appears to be there for Mason Richmond. And then some of the young guys, a guy like a Jennings Dunker, him taking a step forward this year and him also maybe having a completely healthy year.

It's not out of the realm. It's a lot of ifs though. And that's what I keep coming back to. If though they are the fifth best lookout, this offense is going to be humming along. I truly believe that. And yes, that is still with the limitations of Brian Ferentz as a play color. I don't think that that has been fixed. I think there's still going to be concerns about that. And it's not about going out against a Western Michigan and putting 51 points on the board. It's not beating a bad Northwestern team and beating them 31 to 3. That's not what it is.

But when you're going out to Penn State, not just hoping to squeak by and win a game 14 to 10. When you have a tough matchup, say against a Minnesota and not getting the win 13-9. That's not what we're talking about here. Against those good elite level defenses. And Iowa needs a score in the fourth quarter. Iowa down 10 points. Is there an ability to come back or a chance to bury a team?

Can they do that? Can Brian make the right call? Does he call a stupid end around at a wrong time? That still we don't know. Has he evolved as a play caller? Last two seasons say not so much, but there are also reasons behind that. Couple other notes here from the Phil Steele

and those unit rankings I thought were really fun to look at as it pertains to Iowa. He's got them as the eighth best running back unit in the Big Ten. I think that's a little bit low. I think you guys all know where I am right now with Caleb Johnson and what he's going to be in this backfield. LeSean back for another season as the backup, a really competent number two, and I think Jazzyon Patterson has a chance, along with Tara Washington, who came in in the spring, and I think he has a chance to help out this season at the running back. Maybe a little bit lower than I have at number eight there number 10 for wide receivers again until we see it that's

fair I don't have any pushback on that one uh though it is receivers and you also throw tight ends into the mix maybe 10 is a little bit low now that I think of it that way still because of the wide receivers you can't jump much higher than that. Then that fifth ranked offensive line over on the defense, the number one defensive line in the big 10. Well, kind of, he has a four-way tie at first along the defensive line, Michigan, Ohio state, Penn state, and Iowa, all with the number one ranking on the defensive line for Phil Steele. Number one for Iowa also in special teams. No problem with that. Number two in defensive back and number six at linebacker. I'll tell you, if they stay healthy, Nick Jackson is going to have a pile of tackles this year.

This guy's going to be averaging 8, 9, 10 tackles a game. He is going to put together some monster stats this year. He looks a lot different than Jack Campbell. He's not that hulking 6'5", 255-pound middle linebacker. He's a smaller guy, but he can move. He can go sideline to sideline. And with this defensive line and how good they are going to be, he's going to be making plays.

Speaking of that defensive line, one thing that has come up a couple of times, and I see all your guys' comments on YouTube, follow along on Twitter as well. Make your comments, make your thoughts out there. Love to hear from everybody out there. And one thing I also hear, well, who's going to get to the quarterback? This defensive line might be good against the run. Who's going to get to the quarterback? There are five players in the

Big Ten that come back, the leaders in sacks from a year ago. Of the returners, two of them are Iowa Hawkeyes, Joe Evans and Deontay Craig. Pretty good starting point, right? Pretty good starting point right there. The couple of guys that can get to the quarterback, the depth that they have up front, it is going to be outstanding this season. If Iowa has the fifth best offensive line, not only are they going to win the West and maybe even run away and hide with the division crown, they got a real chance of beating Michigan or Ohio State or Penn State in the Big Ten championship game. I truly believe that. It's crazy to say because this optimism is making me feel weird.

This is not how I normally am with the Hawkeyes, but it is an exciting summer and I'm pumped up for it. We continue here on Lockdown Hawkeyes, a look towards the future. Iowa, their football commits. We've been talking about all these commitments here over the last couple of weeks. Well, four of those commitments have got a bump from one of the recruiting services on three with an updated look at the numbers from there. Also, Gable Stevenson, the two-time national champion. He's also signed on with the WWE.

Well, he's got another season of eligibility in collegiate wrestling. Is it going to be in a Hawkeye singlet? Maybe. We'll get about into that as we roll through here. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Well, today we're talking about our friends at Bird Dogs. Bird Dogs, they are incredibly comfortable, amazing shorts that you can wear doing basically anything. I love these things.

Got our hands on them. What was it? Two, three, four weeks ago, whatever it was in bird dogs. They are just so comfortable. You do it on the golf course. Here's something for you. Just the other day, the shorts, they look like those Lulu lemon shorts that are out there, but they also fit a whole lot better. Got a pair of those. My bird dogs though though, have taken them out of the rotation. Just like the regular shorts, sometimes they get a little bit stiff. They got that restricting cotton. Not the case with bird dogs.

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BirdDogs.com slash LOCKDOWNCOLLEGE or promo code LOCKDOWNCOLLEGE for a free Yeti-style tumbler. You won't want to take your bird dogs off. That, I promise you. I'm going to go ahead and turn it back on. Allergies here as we make our way into Tuesday. Had a late night on Monday night, caught a little high school baseball. Saw a future Iowa Hawkeye, by the way. Ty Plummer, who is committed to play on a little Heller ball starting next season

at a big game for the Valley Tigers as they punch their ticket to the sub-state championship against Johnston. And love doing those games. And a little more baseball coming up here. We'll talk about some of the future Hawkeyes here. Next week is the state baseball tournament. And Wednesday night will be the sub-state championship round for the big school class in Class 4A.

But back to football here and Hawkeye football. Let's get into some updates from On3. So On3, they're the new recruiting site out there. For years, it was rivalsivals and Scout 24-7. ESPN's been involved a couple of different times. Well, on three, it's the guy that put together Rivals and then put together Scout. And now this is his latest endeavor, and he'll probably sell it for more millions of dollars because that's what this guy does. But doing a really good job. He hired on Tom Caker and Plitter Sanderson and that crew from Hawkeye Report to take over. doing a really good job. He hired on Tom Caker and player Sanderson and that crew from

Hawkeye reports to take over doing a really good job as those guys always do on the recruiting front, but they updated their top 300 naturally top 300 players in the country, regardless of position and guys made jumps that are future Hawkeyes. In fact, four of them made a jump up starting with Will Nolan, six foot six to 75. He's a kid out of Illinois we've talked about. Now, his offer list, it doesn't wow you. No, there's Minnesotas in there, programs like that, Illinois. It's nothing that you say, boy, we beat Michigan or Notre Dame for this guy. That's not what it is.

But you just look at the way that he is built, the size, the athletic ability that he has. There's people believe if he would have taken his recruiting out a little bit further, maybe did some more camps in June, we really would have saw him kind of skyrocket up the boards and see some of those big offers come his way. He's all the way up now to the number 177 player in the country. Top 177. If you're a basketball recruiting person, you think, well, top 200,

that's not a big deal. Remember, only five guys are playing at a time, right? Well, you got 11 out there on both sides of the football. So 22 guys out there in comparison. Basically, the top 150 list that you normally think about in college basketball, that's like a top 750 in college football. That's what we're looking at here. And Will Nolan comes in at 177. Drew Campbell, Jack Campbell's little brother. And I'm sure he probably hates hearing that. I'm not a little brother, so I don't know. I was the oldest of my family, so I don't know what it is. But little brothers, I'm sure don't take kindly to that term. Drew Campbell, he's going to be a defensive end, it looks like, at the University of Iowa. 6'4 and 225 pounds. He's a rocking ball out there. Made some plays. Didn't get to see a ton of Cedar Falls last season, but looking forward to seeing his development and jump

forward. And with the bloodlines and what we saw, just the tenacity and the Campbell family, really excited about what he is going to be and his opportunities going forward. A guy that's kind of flown under the radar, and maybe it's just because he's played at Williamsburg, small school, and doesn't get the notoriety maybe of some other guys, is Eric Weisskopf. He jumps up now to number 226 in the latest rankings, top 300 from on three media. Linebacker, that's what he's going to be.

Another guy flying around making plays. I was getting a lot of these guys. These six three guys that can play a multitude of positions. They bulk up a ton. You move, put a hand on the ground. If not, you're playing with linebacker. You can do a lot of different things with these guys. And Weisskopf makes a big jump up and maybe the most surprising one for me making the top 300. And that's Joseph Anderson. Just got the commitment from him last week out of St. Louis. Anderson is the kid we talked about. He's going to try to also run track along with what he's doing on the football side of things at Iowa when he begins his career. He's a track kid, started playing football much later than a lot of guys,

and just scratching the surface of what he is ultimately going to be. Iowa beats out Nebraska for him. But to see one of those developmental guys being ranked in the top 300, I think says a ton about his upside and the way at least on three looks at them. One other note here, I found this very interesting. This is the four stars that Iowa has in this recruiting class, depending on which of the sites you're talking about. So starting at the top with Fox, Cody Fox is the number one ranked player in this Hawkeye class by most every service out there.

He's a four-star from 24-7, Rivals, and ESPN. Next up, Weiskopf, the aforementioned Derek. He is a four-star on on three and 24-7. James Rezar, the quarterback out of Florida, 24-7 has him as a four-star. Campbell, he's a four-star at on three, along with Nolan, along that offensive line. Buffington, he's got two spots that he's a four-star 24-7 in ESPN. Just mentioned Anderson, he is a four-star on on three.

And finally, Reese, he is a four-star on ESPN. Pretty interesting there, but you're talking about now, what is that? Four, five, nine guys that are ranked four-. Different recruiting services, I get all that, and recruiting services look at it differently, and rank guys a little bit different, but certainly exciting. When there's times you kind of look at it, and I've said this in the past too, right? It's Iowa recruiting. There's not going to be a whole lot of wildness to it. They're going to be ranked somewhere between 25 and 40 every single year. That's what they are. That's what they do. But to see some of these services and see different guys in different ways, hey, we'll just plug and play, right? We'll call them

all four stars. Let's hope they all turn into four and five star players when they make it at the University of Iowa. Well, some big news a couple of weeks ago in the world of wrestling. Gable Stevenson coming back for a final season of collegiate wrestling. Yes, he does have one more year left. And a picture shows up that certainly got the juices flowing in the Iowa wrestling community. We'll talk about that as we come back here, Locked on Hawkeyes. Trent Conant back with you one final time on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked on Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We're available wherever you get podcasts.

Also hit that subscribe button if you're on YouTube. Helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Gable Stevenson is a stud. An absolute behemoth of a man and an incredible performer on the mat. Guy lost two times his freshman campaign to a guy from Penn State, and that's it. Didn't lose again throughout the rest of his collegiate career. He was robbed of being a three-time national champion. He would have been in 2020, but of course that tournament didn't happen. Another year of eligibility was given by that year. So he have been in 2020, but of course that tournament didn't happen.

Another year of eligibility was given by that year. So he wraps up his career a couple of seasons ago, but still does have that year remaining. Iowa has a pretty good heavyweight coming back for one final season in Tony Cassiope. They have an incoming stud in Ben Keeter. So you got two guys. The future looks incredibly bright. Gable Stevenson, University of Minnesota, grew up there, went to Apple Valley, stayed home, but he shows up in this picture. Found this on Twitter. I don't know what it is. It's not an account I follow. Somebody just sent this along to me. It is Wrestlers Grind on Instagram. That's what it was, Instagram. Wrestlers Grind.

And it's a picture of Gable Stevenson in the Iowa wrestling room. And the caption says, Gable Stevenson to Iowa. Question mark. Little chicken emoji. And then a finger up to the lips. Is it real? Yes.

He's there. But he's working out. He's getting ready for international competition coming up in September. Still, this is exciting. Trying to chase down the behemoth that Penn State has become, it's been incredibly difficult. And as Gable Stevenson was robbed of a national championship

for him individually in 2020, Iowa Wrestling was also robbed of a national championship that season. I mean, they would have run away with another national championship. And though they've got Penn State once, not enough. I think wrestling fans are there. I don't know this Instagram account. I don't know who's behind it. I don't know much outside of the screenshot that I got about it, but it got me excited.

I know there's been a lot of hand-wringing in the community about bringing in the Ferrari family and how that ultimately plays out. They got the commitment from the youngest to the two older ones make their way to Iowa City as well. There's all kinds of rumors and all kinds of innuendo about what that's playing out. And those guys are talented too, but they're not Gable Stevenson. Gable Stevenson right now is an absolute behemoth. The guy that is out there, he's going through the training stages of WWE, and he goes back into international competition

and dominates once again. I mean, just that's what he does. That's the talent that he has. He's got the name Gable. The story is that it's after Dan Gable. How cool that would be. These are the things that have to be done. And we talk a lot about NIL.

We talked about the collective. We talk about what the Swarm is doing for football and men's and women's basketball. Wrestling has their own collective. And they also have the Hawkeye Wrestling Club. And this was a group that all together, including the wrestling community, raised $31 million for that new complex that's going up in Iowa City. I'm excited to get back to Iowa City next week for the state baseball tournament. I'll be able to see it from Dwayne Banks Field

and see how far they come from a year ago when I was sitting in that spot. But with that being said, that, what you look at, the wrestling community, the amount of money that they have been able to build. Iowa's in really good shape when it comes down to a bidding war. Really, there's only two programs right now that can compete.

It's Iowa and it's Penn State. And for years, Penn State were able to do things that Iowa wasn't as the Hawkeye Wrestling Club was turning into what is becoming today. Gable Stevenson. It sounds like a real possibility. I reached out to a couple of people I know in the wrestling community. They didn't say that it was imminent.

They didn't say it was a lock. But there's a possibility. A lot of times with rumors like this. In fact, when this came out back in the middle of June, I think it was June 19th, that the story first broke over at Flo. And when that happened, I was left saying, come on. And I knew Hawkeye fans were hopeful, but it just didn't seem real. Now, the possibility is real. And that guy coming out for one final season in the black and gold, Tony Cassiope can take an Olympic redshirt year. Ben Keeter can do the same.

Cassiope can come back then the following season, be the heavyweight one final time for the Hawkeyes. And then you got four years of Ben Keeter, if that's the road he's going to go. Of course, he's going to be out on the football field this year. We'll see if he can get a little rep, maybe special teams, help it out a little bit as a backup linebacker, doing those kinds of things with Keeter. It's exciting. And the possibility, though not imminent, don't take it as that. Don't take it that Gable Stevenson's coming to Iowa because that's not what this is at all. But there is a chance. How big of a chance? That's what we will have to

wait and see. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We'll be back with you later in the week as well. Hoping to track down LaShawn Daniels. A lot to get into with LaShawn in this offseason as guys are starting to build their way up. A couple of weeks away from Big Ten Football Media

Days. We of course wait. What's going to happen with the gambling investigation? Will we get some names on this? And will we know what these suspensions look like? Big 12 media days are right around the corner. Iowa State is dealing with many of the same things that Iowa is right now in their football program with the

possibility of those suspensions. Will we know then? We'll just have to wait and see. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Plenty more Hawkeye talk coming your way. Thanks as always for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks.