Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Football: Cade McNamara is medically cleared, football recruiting wins

Episode Date: June 27, 2024

Iowa Football: Cade McNamara is medically cleared, football recruiting wins

We got some big Iowa football recruiting wins over the weekend and Cade McNamara is finally cleared and completely healthy, ready to go for the 2024 Hawkeye football season. We talk about it all today. Locked on Hawkeyes. You are locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, welcome in. I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We're available wherever you find podcasts, and you can also find us on YouTube.

While you're there, make sure you hit the subscribe button. Helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. If you're on the audio side, five-star reviews. I greatly appreciate all of that. Today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Well, the news is something that we've been waiting for officially,

something that we knew eventually was going to happen. And it does come earlier this week as Cade McNamara has been now officially cleared and ready to go. We've seen Cade McNamara back out there going through a few different things. He was not a full go during spring practice. He was not a guy that was able to go out there and do everything you're hoping for. And there was that one video clip that I'm sure all of us Hawkeye fans saw if you're on social media. And it was him just going through a progression, going through a read. He was rolling out and he just looked so hobbled, so haggard. And then very quickly after that, we saw him out there playing some softball and he looked fine.

And he's played softball over the weekend with the charity and for the charity Wishes on Deck and a softball event that they had in Pleasant Hill with a bunch of Iowa State people as well. And he said that he is fully cleared. Fully cleared is incredibly important because though I think we all are at minimum intrigued about Brandon Sullivan and what he can be with this Iowa offense, this is Cade McNamara's team. And after he made the decision to come in, after he made the decision to leave Michigan now after two seasons ago and make his way to Iowa City, very quickly it all came together and very quickly I think that that was an exciting time for

all of us. But there's also a part of it that I think we forget what Cade McNamara is as a quarterback. Is he a guy that's going to go out and throw for 4,000 yards and throw 28 touchdowns against two interceptions? No, that's not Cade McNamara. What you get with a healthy Cade McNamara, and as Hawkeye fans, we have not seen that, at least in a Hawkeye uniform, a completely healthy Cade McNamara. You get a quarterback that is going to get everybody in the right spots, going to do all the right things. When he led Michigan to their first Big 10 title in almost 20 years, 2021, he completed 64% of his passes, 2,500 yards, 15 touchdowns against six interceptions, and average 7.9 yards per attempt. Those are the numbers we're looking for. Again, let's not think through the moon.

I mean, you're number one of the offensive scheme of what Tim Lester is going to implement. There's going to be some ugly parts. There's going to be some rough moments. I don't think there's any doubt about that, that we're going to see that. But that is where our expectations, I think, really have to lie with them. Because what we saw from them last season was not even close to the guy that he can be. Is he going to be able to work back and be that guy again? Remember also his last season at Michigan, that also came to an end because of one reason, injury. So you have those components. Now, I guess it wouldn't be one reason. Also having J.J. McCarthy there and pushing him and eventually taking over the job, I think also had something to do with it. But you look at the numbers last season against

Utah State, the opener last year, Iowa wins it 24-14. He goes 17 to 30, 191 yards, two touchdowns. Now, the long was the first touchdown in the first offensive play of the season where they go 36 yards after the big kick return from Caleb Johnson that set him up on that play, but completed 56% of his passes. And then after that, that was the best that we saw. He threw a couple of touchdowns against Western Michigan, also threw a couple of interceptions in that game. He was sacked five times in that game. And just, you could see the lack of mobility dealing with that quad injury that he had that we saw sustained back at kids day in August. And it was just never completely right. And then after Iowa jumps off to the three and a start, they go

out to Penn State, you know, they're going to be an underdog, but it was just a no-show, an absolute no-show out of this team. He was a sack eight times in four games. The offensive line needs to be better. The scheme needs to be better, all these things. But if you can, you can put the components in place. I think there is a real chance to see the step forward. We just have to understand what he is as a player, as a quarterback, how good he can be. Does he have the highest ceiling in the world? He doesn't. But competent after what we've seen over these last three seasons, certainly, and even going back further than that, if we can get back to that level, this thing can at least be okay.

But step number one now, check it off the list. He is medically cleared. And McNamara told the Des Moines Register that football-wise, running-wise, conditioning, everything, I've been fully cleared. Getting him back, this is a huge, huge news for Iowa football to get back to this point and be able to be fully in there going through everything that they're trying to do here in year number one. We got more Iowa football talk for you here today. The recruiting side of things, and it was a big one for Iowa over the weekend.

It is their big recruiting weekend that they have set up every June. They usually move it towards the back of June, and you're hopeful they are going to be able to get a lot of commitments out of this. Well, Iowa already had plenty of commitments before the weekend began, and they've added to that. We'll talk about that a little bit more here as we continue. This is Lockdown Hawkeyes. As we continue, this is Locked on Hawkeyes.

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And thanks for checking in with us each and every day. So let's get into the recruiting side of things with Iowa football. And there is plenty to talk about on that front. So Iowa's been able to gain some commitments over the last couple of days. The latest one is Brad Fitzgibbon. Now Brad Fitzgibbon, three-star defensive lineman, like about him a couple of different things. Now you kind of look at the recruiting list, and that's where I like to start when you're talking about going through these different guys. The finalists for him, Kansas, Michigan State, obviously just took the visit to

Iowa City very recently. He was part of that big group. He'll be coming in from Marist High School the second here recently, coming along with Jon Nestor. We've heard nothing but great things about him. But you go through the size, the speed, and what he's going to be. He's going to be a defensive tackle. He's already 6'3", 280 pounds. And with a guy with that kind of frame, coupled with what Iowa does developmentally, this is an incredibly exciting prospect, I believe, in order to move this thing forward.

I mean, you have a guy already at 280 pounds that's already putting in the work. And you look at the tape from him and what he does, coupled with the way that i would teach his defense alignment i i think there's no such thing as home run and recruiting and certainly when we're talking about three star guys they're not a dime a dozen i mean you have to do developmentally the right things you also have to do the right things at the beginning of it and figure out exactly how these guys are going to fit and how you're going to be able to launch them forward. However, I just think this makes a ton of sense. This is a guy that I was really excited about

out of the latest group. Another couple of guys on the offensive line, Cameron Heron. So Cameron Heron was an interior offensive lineman, either a guard or center, that Iowa recruited incredibly early. He was one of their first offers, in fact, that they had in the class of 2025. Back three, four years ago, he was one of the first guys that they had offered. And though he never blew up in terms of recruiting, this was not a guy that went out there and put together a season where, all right, here comes Michigan and Ohio State and the like. It was never anything like that. That was not the case.

However, he is a guy that consistently, you look at when he's gone out, he's gone into the big camps. He's just a guy that always seems to be turning heads. Was it the measurables that weren't quite there? Was that the reason maybe behind it that he didn't get those quote unquote big time offers? I guess you could probably say that about him. I just like him as a prospect and I like him because I was been involved with him for a very long time. Now, another reason that maybe some of the other blue bloods didn't come calling for him is he is strictly an interior offensive lineman. Now, 6'2", 275 doesn't have those requisites to likely be a left tackle, even a right tackle at

that kind of size, probably not going to be the case. And because of that, when you're kind of pigeonholed as an interior offense alignment, we see the same thing happen with guys that are also out there coming together that are in the NFL draft. You see the same kind of thing that are happening there. So that's what you have. And that's definitely a big piece of what they have on that front. So there's a couple of other prospects. I also want to mention offensive line. We have to talk about Lucas Allgaier. So Allgaier coming down from St. Louis.

Important. Iowa needs to maintain that relationship in St. Louis as they continue to work through getting into Kansas City. We know how important Chicago is to them. Minneapolis, Omaha, to varying degrees. And we know about the differences there. But in that market of St. Louis, where you were kind of, Illinois has never grabbed a stranglehold there like maybe they should have. You're the Big Ten destination for St. Louis

players. At least that's what you want to be. Now, there's other times that it doesn't exactly work that way. And you got Zeke Elliott that makes his way to Ohio State instead. And those are frustrating. But for the most part, right, when the blue bloods aren't coming, if you can be that premier destination for St. Louis area kids, I think that's incredibly important for Iowa. Less than four hours away, just like Chicago, you have the ability for players to have their parents get there. You have

an ability for the players to make their way home. And just those little things that I think add up in a way that are incredibly important. So back to Al Kire and him just as a football player. I mean, a home run. He's got the background with the connections to the University of Iowa. Uncle played baseball here. Dad was an offensive lineman back in the day with Hayden Fry. So you have the bloodlines that go into it, coupled with what he is as a prospect. And he is very much not a finished product. He is a guy that I think people look at developmentally,

has a chance with a ton of upside. And Iowa's had a lot of misses here lately as it pertains to offensive lineman and certainly offensive tackles. And we've seen the way that it's shown up here over the last couple of years, that tackles just haven't been good enough. And that has led to some of the issues that we've seen overall. So that's what we have on that front with him.

And a guy that I think I really like, I really like the upside. This is likely though, a guy, maybe we'll hear something his freshman year, redshirt freshman year, redshirt freshman year, but we're talking more down the line. Still 260 pounds has got to add, what, a minimum 30, 40, maybe 50 pounds to be the guy that they want to be a left tackle, but he can get there, and that's excitement. And then finally, C.J. Bell. Now, this one came as an absolute surprise because, well, a couple reasons. First, it, a couple of reasons. First, it's a place that Iowa doesn't recruit very much out in Massachusetts. And yeah, they have the Northeast for a long time.

That was Ken O'Keefe's territory, right? That was the area that he definitely targeted and looked at a whole bunch in the past. And that was, he talked about the prep schools up there and some of the prospects that they were able to get. And now with Ken O'Keefe being retired, it's just not an area you see very much. But it was Kelvin Bell that was his primary recruiter. And Phil Parker was also involved as a defensive back. This is one where I don't know a ton about him.

Watch a little bit of film, okay? I don't know. Phil Parker knows. And that's really as far as you go with it, right? I just keep it simple. All right. Phil Parker, one CJ Bell. We're going to be happy having CJ Bell.

A little recruiting roundup for you here on Locked On, Hawkeyes. We continue here, and it is mailbag time. We'll talk about your ability to check in, and we got a lot more coming your way. This is Locked On, Hawkeyes. Trent Conant back with you one final time on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Lockdown has launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel. It's on YouTube and now it's also available on Amazon Fire TV

and the free Fire TV channels app. Locked On Sports Today is here for you 24-7, covering the top sports stories of the day with the local experts of Locked On, plus our national shows covering every league. Find Locked On Sports Today now available on the free Fire TV channels app. Wrapping things up and a chance for you to get involved here this week. We're going to have a mailbag edition coming your way. So many great questions, comments that come in, even some not so great ones that also come in. I think can lead us down a fun path. If you have

any thoughts, any ideas you want to hear from here later in the week for our mailbag edition, make sure to hit us up. You can either comment right here on the podcast, right on YouTube. If you're watching there, if you're on the audio side of things. Probably the easiest way to get ahold of me is just to hit us up on Twitter, on X, at Trent Conant is where you can find me, or at Lockdown Iowa with any questions. You want to talk Hawkeye football, basketball, wrestling, men's, women's basketball, doesn't matter, baseball, a lot to get into there. We've got new hires happening on the women's basketball, doesn't matter. Baseball, a lot to get into there. We got new hires happening on the women's basketball front. We'll have thoughts.

Anything that jumps up in the world of Hawkeye athletics, make sure to hit us up and we will have you covered. Again, Trent Condon is where you can find me on X at T-R-E-N-T, C-O-N-D-O-N or at LockedOnIowa. Just shoot your question to us that way and we will get you up in here later this week on a mailbag edition of LockedOnHawyes. Thanks for making Locked on Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks!