Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - How to replace Hock/Fant | Expectations for Nate Stanley in year 3 | All-time offensive team in Kirk era

Episode Date: August 21, 2019

On today's episode we cover the tight end version in 2019. Can Iowa replace the superb production and what do they have in their top three guys? Also, what are the expectations for Nate Stanley in year three and what does he need to do make us happy? We wrap up the show by giving our all-offensive team in the Kirk Ferentz era. 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 got it! Smith! Decks down 85 yards! Iowa! Field for Smith. Oh, he got it. Smith. Touchdown. 85 yards. Iowa.

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! All right, welcome to our Wednesday episode of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. As always, I am one of your hosts, Andrew Wade, and I'm joined here by my co-host, Zach. Zach, how are you doing on this beautiful Wednesday morning, buddy? Good, Andrew. How are you? Doing well. It's always a great day when we get to talk about Iowa Hawkeye football, and we are less than two weeks away. I am getting excited. I know it's just Miami of Ohio,

but I am ready to drink some beer and watch some Iowa football, man. Andrew, listen, we could be playing the kids at Iowa City West, the sophomores in the back playing pick. I would be excited. I don't care who we play as long as I get to see the black and gold on TV, the back and black pulsing through the stadium, and it just gets me going even thinking about it. I don't even care who we play. Yeah, man and gold on TV, the back and black pulsing through the stadium, it just gets me going even thinking about it. I don't even care who we play.

Yeah, man, you're talking about the back and black. I got a little bit of chills. What are you going to be doing for game day against Miami, Ohio? Do you got any big plans? Listen, I mean, I think I'm going to be watching the game, probably go to a local bar or maybe an Iowa bar, somewhere to try to find someone in the city. Post-grad life's a little different for me usually.

It's dumb that I want to go to bars someone in the city. As a post-grad, life's a little different for me. Usually I do a hit stomach at one of the bars. I begin up pretty early, probably drinking some disgusting Hawkeye, but definitely going to watch with some fellow Iowa fans. I'm probably going to take the game way too seriously as if I was coaching it and as if my job was on the line, but I cannot wait to get excited. I cannot wait for the emotional roller coaster that is Iowa football. Every year it happens, and every year I brace myself for it. I can't wait. I couldn't agree more, man.

I'm going to be watching it at a sports column in Denver with the iClub here, wearing my Ricky Sanzy jersey and drinking some Coors Light, you know, the good old Denver beer. Oh, that sounds amazing. That's actually really cool there, the iClub in Denver. Have you been doing that for a while? Like, how's the atmosphere there? Dude, it's, it's nuts, man. It is absolutely insane.

It is 200, 250 Iowa fans all packed in a bar. And I mean, they have Iowa flags all over the bar. It is a true Iowa bar. Anytime there's an Iowa game going on, everyone packs the house there. It is, it's as close to being in Iowa City without being in Iowa City, basically. That sounds amazing. And the Ricky Stanzi jersey is definitely the cherry on top. I do respect that.

Oh, hell yeah, man. Got that number 12 rocking it. So love that. We have a great episode, though, today. I would love to talk about tailgating and football all day, but let's get into it. On segment number one, we are going to be covering the tight end end position this is a huge focal point for a lot of fans a lot of analysts what the hell is going to happen with the tight end position this year how do you replace

a t.j hawkinson and a noah pham on segment number two we're going to be covering nate stanley and nate stanley is such a polarizing player there's so much talent and also so many things that make you literally want to well i don't also so many things that make you literally want to, well, I don't want to say that out loud, make you just want to be very pissed off and frustrated. And then finally, on segment number three,

we're going to be giving you our top offenses in the Kirk Barron's era. Something that we did on Twitter a few days ago. Want to break it down, giving you our top QB, two running backs,

tight end, two wide receivers, and a returner. Just kind of a little fun segment to do to close out our Wednesday morning episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. If you are tuning in for the first time today, or if you've tuned in before and have not done this already, make sure to like, subscribe, and review wherever you download this podcast app.

You can find this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or the brand new Himalaya Podcast app. There's also basically any place you get a podcast, you can find the Lockdown Hawkeyes Podcast. And also make sure to follow us on Twitter at Lockdown Iowa and Facebook at Lockdown Hawkeyes. That's how you're going to get the most up-to-date information about what podcasts are coming out.

And if you follow our Twitter account, it is bumping. Lots of great stuff on there every single day. Lots of great polls, questions, that kind of thing. And we even had a, who's a better gas station battle going on between Casey's and come and go. And real quick, Zach, I had to ask you before we jump into segment number one, do you like Casey's or come and go pizza more?

All right, listen. So I think that, so, so here's, I have a weird opinion. I'm going to have a lot of Iowa people yelling at me. So I'm from Illinois and, you know, I have the luxury of growing up on Chicago pizza and deep dish and things like that. I do think that Casey's has the breakfast pizza. I think that's a staple. I think that is a tailgate staple. I think that's a great food, good on the go. I think that Come and Go has good pizza as well. Come and go is kind of a staple gas station. You know, I'd always go to pick up anything I need, whether that be, you know, some couple of six packs or even just some random thing, snacks, food, whatever that is.

I mean, I probably have to go Casey's on this one just because they have a unique breakfast pizza. I've never really seen it anywhere. And I mean, I just I mean, I just when I think of Iowa, I think of Casey's and I think unique breakfast pizza. I've never really seen it anywhere. And I mean, I just, I mean, I just, when I think of Iowa, I think of Casey's and I think of breakfast pizza. I think that's the most synonymous thing. I was going to say, if you said come and go, that we're going to have some issues on the show. I am a devout Casey's follower.

Casey's Pizza, the town I grew up in had 15,000 people and four Casey's. So there's not a lot new, Iowa, but there are plenty of cases gas stations, let me tell you. So I'm glad we can still be doing the show together. That makes me excited. So let's jump into segment number one, though. We want to talk about the tight end position today. And really kind of coming into the season, there's a lot of question marks. And I think in a few years, there's going to be zero question marks. The Iowa Hawkeyes have done a great job of building up the tight end position for the future years. They brought in three tight ends in this, you know, this recruiting class. They have two tight ends coming in in the next recruiting class. Some great guys in Luke Leitchie, Elijah Yelverton, and possibly

Theo Johnson. But right now, the tight end position is really one big old question mark. They have Nate Whiting, who is currently slated as the number one guy, Sean Beyer at number two, and Drew Cook at number three. And I think that for me, when I look at this tight end position, I think the ceiling can be high, but the floor could be one of the worst lowest floors we could possibly have at the tight end position in Iowa football history under Kirk Behrens um do you have any particular guys that you are excited about or who do you really think should be the main guy to go on game day against Miami Zach all right so I mean so we

have Sean Bearer we have Nate Weeding we have Drew Cook um combined all three uh two for 51. So not looking good. Not a whole lot of experience. Nate Weeding got some sparing playing time before. Bayer has not. And Drew Cook actually came in as a quarterback and then got phased out and got switched to tight end. So I think that, listen, I'm concerned. As last episode I said, Iiver martin in the slot position i think our outside receivers in the slot are going to have a big impact this year and you know

we got so lucky we got spoiled with you know the kittles the hawkinses the fans even the you know creator cobles and things like that and i just think that uh you know this year like you said i mean it could have a low floor. But I'll tell you what. I mean, I think that Iowa is – it may not be tight on you, but I think it is a tight on factory. I mean, you know what? Screw it.

I think it's a tight on you. It is tight on you. So all those people out there. He has to get this freaking wrong. Exactly. So whatever they said with that Iowa second, they are tight on you. And you know what? I'll tell you what.

You know what? I'll change my mind. The coaches, the tight end coaches, the staff, all of those guys in that building, the facility, you know what? They know what they're working with. They know these guys would not be the most experienced, the most athletic. But I'll tell you what, those guys can mold anyone into a good tight end. Granted, you know, the athleticism things help, but they will make those guys into someone who is serviceable you know the easy seven yard curls the third down gains we need but you know what probably in all reality they'll probably those guys will be a lot of you know blocking this year probably a lot of

run blocking probably you know do some play action with them but i don't think it's going to be like you said as big as an impact as hawkinson and fanta last year which is you know what's going to make stanley use the outside of the fields, outside of the hash marks. He'll have to use the slots. He'll have to, you know, maybe get out of the pocket a little more. So I think that kind of result of not using the tight end as much is going to fall more on Stanley too.

I couldn't agree more, man. I think this is really the perfect opportunity for Nate Stanley to show what he can do. It's easy to get first downs when you have a TJ Hawkinson or a Noah Fant. Hawkinson will catch everything. Noah Fant will pass everyone. Those guys were so open. It wasn't that difficult for him. I think you saw him really rely on those guys for 10, 15 yard gains, and maybe they can turn it into a bigger gain, but I want to see him spread the field and go deep a little bit. Use Brandon Smith and his jump ball ability.

Use Amir Smith's speed. Get him on some screen routes. Get him going deep. Nate Stanley's a big arm. Let him chuck that thing down the field. Don't worry about the interceptions. You're going to have more big plays if you start taking more chances. I'm excited to see that.

I do think the tight end position is a little bit worrisome. I do think there is potential. Bayer came in as an athlete, sort of, in my opinion, kind of a George Kittle type of mold, really kind of a skinny kid, six foot, you know, four, six foot three, 200 pounds. It's kind of grown into that tight end mold, but it's had some injuries that he's been dealing with. I think at least he has the athleticism and the highest ceiling of the three.

I think Nate just has that blocking ability. We saw him a lot of times play on three tight end sets and even come in for fan on, you know, running downs. And so I think he'll be in as a big blocker, but I think you're right. I mean, expectations, I would say if the tight end position puts together 30 catches this year, that would be a huge year for them. But honestly, I'd be okay if the wide receivers do better than that. Yeah, I mean, listen, these tight ends are 6'4 and 6'5.

These are the big dudes. So I think that anything – I mean, I think even as the preseason, what they came out with, even with the press conferences and even Ferentz saying that they want to run the ball more. We have three-headed running back. And you know what? Last year we didn't run the ball that well. And was that a result of us using the tight end more?

Probably. Probably. But I think that this year, if they can get those guys, I mean're huge six four six five are big dudes they're basically another offensive lineman and if you can get the running game going like they want us to that opens up the play action it doesn't matter if me or you are lining up at tight end we will get open if we're able to run the ball effectively so i think that yes these guys it all depends on them but it's kind of a result of how well can we run the ball effectively. So I think that, yes, these guys, it all depends on them, but it's kind of a result of how well can we run the ball? Can we get the play action? Like, can we get these guys open in space? You know? So I think that's a big factor as well, too.

Maybe we can water boy silent and see if we can get on the field for a play and hopefully not die. Put that to the test. But we touched a little bit on Nate Stanley. I want to cover nate stanley in segment number two so let's take a quick break for a few messages from our sponsors and we'll jump into segment number two we're going to be talking about nate stanley what the expectations should be coming into his third year as a starter all right we are back with segment number two we're going to be covering nate stanley in the the high expectations for him as a starter in year three of his time at the Iowa football program.

The big thing with Nate Stanley, in my personal opinion, is that there's so much potential there. But he makes one or two throws every single game that makes you just want to scream at the TV. And it's just so infuriating every single time. You just know what's going to happen. What are your thoughts on Nate Stanley? Do you think – I'm going to kind of throw out a big question here. Do you think he has the ability or the opportunity to go down as the best quarterback in the Kirk Ferens era?

Or does he have the opportunity to go down as the worst quarterback in the Kirk Ferens era, save for maybe James Vandenberg, based on how a season goes this year? All right. So Nate Stanley I think is an interesting case. I think that, you know, he can, like you said, he can be very good. He can win big games like the Ohio State game and things like that. He also can make some very bad throws. And sometimes he needs other people to bail him out. And I just, I think that this is his third year. You know what I mean?

Three years started in college football is something that you just don't see it happen. It just doesn't happen anymore. I think that he's in such a pro-style offense. Even though we may not have the tight ends around him like we used to, I still think the receivers, even if Oliver Martin plays, he has a lot of weapons on the outside. Martin plays, he has a lot of weapons on the outside. And I think this year we'll test him. Like I said, throwing on the outside of the hashes, you know, throwing the deep ball, you know, not just staying in the middle of the field always. I mean, so every year is improving. So his first year he had around 2,400 yards.

Last year he had over 2,800 yards. But the thing is, in 2017, he had 26 touchdowns, 6 picks. Last year, 26 touchdowns, 10 picks. I just don't see the increase that we need from him. I mean, the touchdowns stayed the same. The yards went up, but the picks went up. I just think that, listen, this guy's not going to throw 30 touchdowns. He's not going to throw 37 touchdowns or any of these dotty numbers that some of these players do.

But what we need him to do is just not lose the game we need him to be our commander we need him to throw the touchdowns he needs to be also needs uh when he hasn't the throw is not there or when the situation does not presenting himself to try to fit in such a small pocket meet him not to do that it's his third year he's the veteran he's the grandpa of this locker room and these receivers these young receivers that we have, need to look up to him, and they need to be able to mold them. So I think that Nate Stanley, he has the potential to do enough. I think he could be a third, second, I mean, third team Big Ten. I think he'd be honorable mention. I think he could have a good serviceable year.

He has the NFL body type. He has the frame. He's run this pro-style offense. But he also could have the ability to regress. And I'll tell you what, if we're looking at these big teams that even contend for the Big Ten West, all we need is him not to regress at all. We should even make the simple plays. Don't lose the game. That's my advice when I say this year.

Just don't lose the game. Yeah, I have three plays I want to kind of call out. And specifically, I want to start with a good one. Against Indiana, they could not tackle him. He looked like a mini Ben Roth. When I say mini, I mean just kind of a younger version of Ben Roethlisberger out there shaking off before he finally threw a touchdown pass to Nick Easley. But then later in the game, he threw the ball right into the hands

of the Indiana middle linebacker, who he must not have seen because the guy was standing there with no one around him. So that is just kind of the Jekyll and Hyde in A. Stanley. And then I hate to do it, but the Penn State game, he missed a wide-open TJ Hawkinson on a beautiful call to kind of turn the game around. And then also that devastating interception at the goal line that really could have put that, you know, put the Iowa football team in the lead and kind of gave them that game against Penn State. If he would have just called a damn timeout.

Like, call a freaking timeout, man. I mean, his responsibility as a quarterback is you have to make sure everyone – so basically the quarterback, you have to make sure everyone – so basically the quarterback, you need to make sure the linemen are set, and the tie-down is basically an extension of the line. Just take a look around, calm down. It's a big point of the game. This is a huge, huge turning point.

And just if you take the extra second to line up and realize that Noah wasn't even on this planet, I don't even know where his head was at. Take a timeout. Call it out. Say, Noah, just call him out. Make sure his head's in the game. And I think that, and as you saw in the play, he snapped it and threw it right away. Not even a thought in his head. It was always a predetermined play.

I mean, that happens. You know where you're going with it. There's no other reads. It's just like as a third-year quarterback in this offense, this year he's going to have to take the extra second, make sure everyone's in the right position. And you know what? Just take the extra second.

That's all I'm saying with him. Sometimes his brain's in neutral. Sometimes I just don't know what's going on up there. I don't know what's happening. And other times he's, like you said, Ben Roethlisberger, he's avoiding tacklers, running outside. He's making good throws. So that's what's so frustrating

is because I feel like Nate Stanley has so much potential. Listen, he's been a starter for two years. He has two bowl game wins. That's a lot for an Iowa quarterback. That doesn't happen a whole lot and he has the potential to be three for three in bowl games, including this year. So listen, I can't knock what he's done before.

He's taken down the Goliath in Ohio State and he's done a lot good for us, but all I want this year is for him to get composed, be the experienced veteran in the locker room that we know he can and make the right reads. Cause we have a lot of young receivers this year and they're all going to look up to him. So I'm going to take it one step further.

I think Nate Stanley needs to be the guy this year. He needs to step up and he needs to win the game for the Iowa Hawkeyes, but I don't think he needs to necessarily put it all on his shoulders. And I know that's kind of a contradicting statement there, but I think if they get the run game going, Nate Stanley should be able to use that play action to go deep, to make more aggressive throws, to really push the ball down the field as opposed to going laterally or sideways. And he needs to be able to make those big-time throws and deliver the ball accurately. So I have pretty high expectations for Stanley coming into year three.

Anything less to me, anything less than 10 wins and honestly 3,000 yards and 30 touchdowns is a disappointment for me. This is his third year. He has all the talent in the world. We've seen those big-time plays. Like you said, it's just, you know, the Penn State game, it was unfortunate because it wasn't all his fault, right? Like the actual play itself, that was a predetermined throw.

Yeah. Runs that slant, actually moves his defender off. You know, McKee Sargent or whoever the running back was is going to catch that ball. But Nate Sandlin needs to be processing that mentally before the snap happens. And I just want to see that. I want to see the dumb throws every game be eliminated.

I want to see interceptions because he's trying to take chances, not because he's just being dumb. Yeah, and like you said, I mean, last year we really couldn't run the ball. And I think you bring up a good point. If you can't run the ball and you're putting it all on the shoulders of Nate Stanley, I mean, I get it. He probably feels a little more pressure. If we're getting 2.5 yards a carrier, we're getting stuffed at the goal line. He probably feels a responsibility to make some

plays, which I get. So, I mean, I think we found what's going to make Iowa successful is running the ball. You run the ball, set up the play action, get Stanley to have not as many people playing the pass against him, let him have a little more confidence, run outside of the tackles, and then get the tight ends open. Everyone will benefit off of being able to run the ball. And I get it. And I just think why I have so much confusion with Nate Stanley, and sometimes it just hurts because I grew up with Jay Cutler.

Jay Cutler would make some phenomenal plays, throw off the back foot, laterally he would make some crazy plays. And he was very gifted, like Stanley is. But then again, yeah, you would make, just sometimes just the reads would just be so asinine and I just can't grip. And I think you and me, I think you know what I'm talking about. You'll be watching the game, we'll put together a drive,

and then they'll make a throw and you just kind of sit there and you just, you don't even know how to read. You don't even know what just happened. You can't process it because he just made three great throws in a row. And then he just threw it right in the middle linebacker's hands. So I think, you know, minimizing the errors, getting the run game, I think Nate Stanley could be priced for a good third year. And I like a lot of people said PFF hates on him.

People don't think he even last year to this year dropped in, you know, draft predictions for the next year's draft for quarterbacks when last year he was a top 10 prospect, a pro-style quarterback. Everyone loved him. So I think this year, I think it's more important for him and Iowa to prove to everyone, even the haters, that Nate Stanley is more capable than being just a mediocre big quarterback for a quote unquote, boring offensive Iowa team.

Yeah. It's a big year for Stanley. It's basically put up or shut up at this point. So that comes for segment number two, let's jump into segment number three. After a few messages from our sponsors, we're going to be giving you a quick rundown of what our top offenses are in the Kirk Ferentz era. We are back with segment number three,

our final segment of this Wednesday morning show of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. I am one of your hosts, Andrew Witten. I'm joined here by Zach Cole, my co-host. We are going to be talking about the top offenses in the Kirk Ferentz era. When I say top offense, really, we are going to be picking our top players at each position to form the best offense

in the Kirk Ferentz era. Yes, there's going to be a lot of debate on this. Yes, there's a lot of disagreement and agreement on certain positions, but really it's our opinion. We're going to be going position by position. Maybe, Zach, what we can do is I'll start with you going your fierce QB, and then I'll go QB running back. You go running back, running back, and kind of break it down like that

if that works for you. All right, sounds good. Yeah, I'll start off with quarterback. So I think he's one of the greatest of all times. I think he's polarizing. I think he is encompassing Iowa football, generational talent, and I'm going to say Jake Ruddock. Wow. I'm just kidding. That was a complete joke. Are you actually going to say that on here? If you're listening, Jake Ruddock, which he probably is, I hate you, and I'm so glad you tried to help me.

The most boring Iowa offense of Mark Wiseman back there. It put my grandparents to sleep. Jake Ruddock, I hate you, but on a serious note, my favorite quarterback, I think that just what was more

relevant to me, I think that Ricky what was more relevant to me, I think that, you know, Ricky Stanzi is the obvious choice. If you don't love it, leave it. I think he put Iowa in the media, put them in the conversation for these serious teams to put Iowa in the national spotlight, and I appreciate everything he did. He laid such a good groundwork for the Iowa program.

But I think that the most exciting year I've ever seen, that I've experienced, the biggest roller coaster of emotions that I would never trade for anything else would probably be, you know, C.J. Beathard that year he had. I know it's going to be, a lot of people are going to disagree with it. There's been great quarterbacks. Listen, I know Drew Tate's been great. I know Brad Banks has been great. I know all of them have been great quarterbacks. But I think that the year C.J. Beathard did, coming in, sunshine, with the long blonde hair, all that he did, coming from an Iowa offense that had Jake Ruddock that was a snore fest,

and the 12-0 season that he put together was incredible. I know he may not be the most exciting, the most flashy, but listen, this guy's still on an NFL roster. He's still pretty talented. And I think that one year, although most flashy. But listen, this guy is still on an NFL roster. He's still pretty talented. And I think that one year, although it be that one year, was the most magical year in Iowa football I've ever been a part of. And I think that, you know, he does have to etch his name in one of the greatest quarterbacks in Iowa history.

So are you picking Stansy or Bethard? I'm taking Bethard. I'm taking Bethard here just because I'm going to go against the grain here. All right. Well, I was all set up to agree with you. I'm taking Beathard. I'm taking Beathard here. Just because I'm trying to – I'm going to go against the grain here. All right. Well, I was all set up to agree with you. I'm taking Stansy. I am not a fan of Beathard. I think he is an average to below average quarterback at best. I think with the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2015, he was serviceable at best.

But I am a big fan of Ricky Stansy. And a quick plug, make sure to check out an interview we did with Ricky Stanzi a few months ago. I'm hoping to get him back on the show as well. I'm going to move on to the running backs. For the running backs, I'm going to go Sean Green and Akram Wadley. I don't know how you don't pick anyone, but Sean Green is RB1. And Akram Wadley is not what I would say the second best running back in the Kirk Ferentz era, but I think he is the best person to work next to Sean Green. Really having that, you know, that LaShawn Daniels, Akram Wadley type of feel, but a much better version of LaShawn Daniels, you know, with Sean Green,

who is just an absolute wrecking ball. And Akram Wadley, I think he is a perfect third down pass catching, kind of a change of pace kind of back to fit along with Sean Green. So, Zach, who are your true running backs? So, I'm going to agree with you on Sean Green. Sean Green is, hands down, probably the best running back in Iowa history. I know there's other greats, but Sean Green, what he did, every game there was a highlight reel that he posted.

And, you know, he won the Doak Walker Award. Like, he was the last Iowa Hawkeye to win that award best running back in the nation like that he let alone just etched himself in the history with all those accolades but I do will switch up I do like Ackerman Wadley Ackerman Wadley was amazing to watch very shifty uh made defenders miss I loved his explosiveness but I will say my number two running back is someone who I feel like was severely underrated in college, severely underrated going into the NFL. I feel like this guy may not be the biggest guy,

but he also had the biggest heart. I think this guy showed the most grit and determination on the football field, and I'm going to say that guy is going to be Jordan Kanziri. I think Jordan Kanziri, I think that his explosiveness and his ability to make defenders miss, I think that his just grit and determination is just something that I think was just severely overlooked. I don't know what it is.

I know a lot of people may not have him on their list, but this is a personal list to me. And I think that Jordan Kanziri, I mean just look at his highlights. I know that he may not be the biggest guy or the fastest guy but he did some things throughout those years and he was one of the better running backs and I think one of the best running backs in the

Kirk Ferentz era. I mean I think Sean Green's the best but I think Akram Wadley's definitely a conversation but I just love Kanziri's determination. I love his grit and I think grit and determination and heart is one of those things that I think all simplify and all symbolize Iowa. I can support that. So who is your number one tight end?

Oh, I mean, I'm going to go with the boy Kittle, George Kittle. I think that he – I mean, it's going to be – In Iowa, though? In Iowa history? Oh, okay. How about this? I agree. I know what you're saying.

You do you, buddy, but like – I know what you're saying. I'm going to go ahead and say Fant. I mean, I agree. I know what you're saying. I kind of caught myself. I got too excited about Kittle's video last year. Kittle was good in college.

Kittle was, you know, symbolized a lot of iowa's entertainment show on the field with celebrations but i'm gonna go ahead and say fan i mean i didn't think it would be possible for any tight end in iowa history given our uh history of moriaki chandler clark and kiddo like Fant was just such an athletic specimen. He was the wide receiver turned tight end, the tight end turned wide receiver. Like this kid could do everything. And I think that even shown by his combine, this dude, I think led all of the tight end categories besides one in that category got second.

I mean, I think he was an athletic freak. He was fun to watch. I mean, in my opinion, to conversation for another day, they did not use him nearly enough as they could have last year. But, I mean, I think watching him every Saturday, he was such a big mismatch for every team he played against. I think it was great to watch. And just his pure athleticism and speed was just amazing to watch. And I think that was truly one of the great Hawkeye Titans we've had in the Kirk

Ferentz era. I feel you on that one. I can support that. I'm going to go TJ Hawkinson. I think Dallas Clark is also was under consideration for me, but I think Hawkinson has even more potential. I think he put together such an impressive season. I really liked what he did.

And obviously I have some recency bias in that from a wide receiver standpoint, just to wrap this up, I think my top two wide receivers are going to be Kevin Kasper and DJK. Kevin Kasper is just a guy who I absolutely love. The bleach blonde hair, so electric. Then he went and played in my favorite NFL team, the Denver Broncos. And then DJK, save for the whole drug house debacle, was electrifying wide receiver and could have won the second or third round of the NFL draft. He had that much talent.

I loved what he brought to the table on the field, obviously off the field. He seemed like he was a huge pain in the butt, but who would be your top two wide receivers in the Kirk fans' hands? So I'm going to say number one was going to be KMM, Kamonte Martin-Manley. I think that he really did

in the records he set and everything with Iowa. I think he was a very good receiver. I think that him with DJK was an explosive duo, like you said. I think that together they were a really good force. I think that was the last time that Iowa was at its prime,

if ever, with receivers. So I think that together, and I think I want to say Martin Manley was very good. And my second receiver is going to say I'm going to agree with DJK. I know they're on the same team. I know that that may be kind of a cop-out, but I do agree that it's is sheer talent they both had and just that you wouldn't see, you wouldn't see a combo like that in Iowa for a while of receivers.

And I just, I don't think that anyone since then, you know, I mean, you can make an argument for some of those guys, but I just think that those guys were the last great era of Iowa wide receivers. So I may have to say those two. two yeah it's been a few years since we've had I was honestly the receiving crew that we have right now is probably the best since that era since that 2009-2010 time frame from a wide receiver standpoint I can agree or that you know Cavante is a great dude he's actually on the podcast my first guest on the podcast you know, Kavante is a great dude. He's actually on the podcast, my first guest on the podcast, you know, a couple months ago. So he was fantastic to talk

to. Just an incredibly hard worker. So that kind of rounds out our top offenses in the Kirk Barron era. We're going to be bringing you our top defenses later on in the week. But that actually concludes our show for today. That wraps up segment number three, our final segment of the day. Thank you for tuning in to the Locked

on Hawkeyes podcast on this Wednesday morning. Make sure to find us on Twitter at Locked on Iowa and Facebook at Locked on Hawkeyes. Also, if you loved what you heard, which I'm sure you did, make sure to like, review, and subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast app, whether that is Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or the brand new podcast app. And make sure to tune into our future episodes coming up this week. We also have some great guests that we're going to be teasing on a few shows later this week, maybe give you some hints about who they're going to be.

We're really excited about some of the things we have in the works on the lockdown podcast. So again, thank you for tuning in on our Wednesday morning episode of the lockdown podcast. Have a fantastic day. Hawkeye nation go Hawks. I miss you, Jake Murdock.