Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Football: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly from the Open Practice

Episode Date: August 14, 2024

Welcome to the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast with your host, Trent Condon! In today’s episode, Trent takes you through a detailed recap of the recent Iowa Open football practice held at Kinnick Stadium.... We dive into the bright spots of the session, including the impressive performance of the Iowa running game, the emerging depth on the defensive line, a healthy and solid offensive line, and a special teams unit that’s shaping up nicely with new punter Rhys Dakin and returning kicker Drew Stevens.But it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Trent also tackles the concerns that emerged from the practice, focusing on the struggles at wide receiver and the glaring issues with the passing game. Hear about Cade McNamara’s rough day and the challenges faced by his backup, Brendan Sullivan. Whether you’re a die-hard Hawkeyes fan or just keeping up with the latest, this episode has you covered with all the highs and lows from Iowa’s latest practice session. Tune in for in-depth analysis and insider insights!For your next listen, check out the Locked On College Football podcast! From NIL deals to never ending conference realignment rumors, Spencer McLaughlin gets you ready for an exciting season on the gridiron! Click HERE to listen now. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every Day.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.eBay MotorsFrom brakes to exhaust kits and beyond, eBay Motors has over 122 million parts to keep your ride-or-die alive. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to bring home that big win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM and add a big win to your summer bucket list!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)

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The good, the bad, and the ugly. Iowa open practice over the weekend. We talked a lot about the passing game, but yes, there were good elements. We'll talk about that. We'll get into the bad. We'll talk about the ugly. All today, Locked on Hawkeyes. You are Locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Starting point is 00:00:28 Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. 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. You can also watch us on YouTube. While you're there, hit that subscribe button. Helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel.
Starting point is 00:00:53 Make every moment more. As the playoffs have finished up, Olympics are over. The sports just stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily. That's right, there's something for everyone every day all summer long. Visit FanDuel.com to get started. Well, we talked a lot yesterday about the negativity coming out from the open practice and the ugly nature that was the Iowa offense and specifically the Iowa passing game.
Starting point is 00:01:23 Cade McNamara looked awful. Brennan Sullivan had his own set of issues. Overall, the big story coming out of it is what we saw at the quarterback position and the hope that we were going to see something different offensively this year from the Iowa Hawkeyes maybe is falling by the wayside. But there were plenty of good things that we can talk about. And we're going to do all three. The good, the bad, the ugly.
Starting point is 00:01:47 Yes, a little throwback for you here today on Lockdown Hawkeyes. And the good, I think at times, can outweigh many of the negatives that we saw. We went negative yesterday. We're going to bring it back to the positive side and still live in reality and understand that this is going to be a growing process. You have a quarterback that is coming off two, well, really three major leg injuries over the last couple of seasons at Cade McNamara. You have a backup quarterback in Brennan Sullivan that comes in and barely has practice and just got to campus a couple of months ago. So there are going to be those
Starting point is 00:02:19 kinds of things, but let's talk about the positives. And when we start, let's talk about the offense of what we saw in the running game. And I think that is a huge component to what we're talking about here with this Iowa football team and the running game. We have heard Tim Lester going back to his initial press conference, the few times that we've been able to hear from him
Starting point is 00:02:37 throughout the course of this summer. And one thing that he has always mentioned when he brings up what they're looking to do and implementing the Shanahan offense is it's predicated on running the football. A year ago, the offense improved running the football from what it was in 2022. It still wasn't great by any means. And you look at some of those specific benchmarks that Iowa needs to hit. What's a realistic goal for this team? The running game, knowing that sacks are a part of rushing totals in college football, but four and a half yards per carry. That's kind of that realistic baseline. If they're hitting that, you know that they have a chance to be pretty good overall in this season. The
Starting point is 00:03:13 running game looked a whole lot better. And with the ability to use the motion to move guys around, that led, I think, to seeing a whole lot more ability for Iowa, not just to hit the big plays. And they had a few of those a year ago. You go back to the Iowa State game and Jazz Patterson, the big run that he had on a short-yarded situation, busted that out and had the big play there. Of course, the game-breaker that we saw a year ago against Wisconsin as LaShawn went out and had the big run in that one
Starting point is 00:03:41 that proved to be the difference in that football game. They were able to pop a few of those good plays, but you continue on, and one of the things that just neutered the Iowa offense so much over the last couple of seasons has been the inability to get to a second and three. You don't pick up seven yards on first down, and instead of looking at a second and eight, or a more time second and 12, it felt like you have those manageable plays, it opens up the playbook a whole lot more and with this newfound ability to run the football and do it consistently that
Starting point is 00:04:10 is going to be a huge component it goes hand in hand with a couple of different things you have to talk about the offensive line the offensive line play over the last three seasons has been brutal for Iowa standards and really this has been a long-term problem for Iowa football. There's been individual pieces over the last 8, 10, 12 years. Tristan Wirfs, Tyler Linderbaum, Aleric Jackson. I mean, these are all guys that have played at a high level and continue to play at a high level at the NFL level. However, those were just that, individual pieces. You go back, they had two NFL tackles in Wirfs and Jackson with Linderbaum inside back, what, four years ago.
Starting point is 00:04:48 They had those guys out there. The problem is the guard play was atrocious. And because of that, it led to a lot of the issues that you saw during that season. And that is one of those components that you look at and talk about. It's not about the individual pieces. We saw an offensive line that looked cohesive. It looked like it had built some depth up. And maybe most importantly with that, when we're talking about the offensive line, it's an offensive line that's healthy. Looking back in the crazy play that they ran with Mason
Starting point is 00:05:15 Richman, playing with a broken leg and trying to throw a throwback pass to him, it just absolutely asinine that you would come up with that knowing the injury that was sustained by one of your offensive tackles. It's absolutely bewildering, but conversation for another day. It wasn't though, just Mason Richmond that was banged up last year. In fact, you look back to last season, really the only guy, look, offensive linemen are going to be banged up. You talk about the pile, the force that is being played at the Big Ten level. Guys are going to be banged up, but Iowa took it to another level last year, and the guys fought through it. Logan Jones was injured for a long time. We saw Tyler Ellsbury have to come in for him.
Starting point is 00:05:52 We mentioned Mason Richmond going out. There was so much shuffling, so many different things that they had to do. And if they can just have a healthy season, at least for offensive line standards coming up this season, I think that's going to go a long way for, at minimum, for this team to be okay on the run game and the offensive line as a whole. Mentioned the offensive line was pretty good run blocking a year ago. It was still bad in pass blocking.
Starting point is 00:06:16 And that leads to some more of the concerns and some of the things we'll get to a little bit later. But offensive line, that has to be a big one. And one other component of the offense that we have to talk about on the good side is a guy I think all everybody knows if you're an everyday you know my love of Caleb Johnson and what I believe he can be for this Iowa offense going back to what he was in his freshman campaign two years ago we never got to see him at 100% a year ago talked about the things that he needs to do to get maybe back into the good graces. And with the LaShawn Williams injury, you do wonder now, knowing that for at least the next
Starting point is 00:06:50 probably week or so, he is going to be the guy. He's going to be getting those number one reps. You saw that out of Caleb Johnson, the size speed combination that he has, unlike what Iowa normally gets. And I mentioned the guy over my shoulder here, right back there, the New Jersey hanging up here in the man cave. Big thank, shout out to my buddy, Brendan, who hooked me up with that one. Jermell Lewis. Yes, a game worn Alamo bowl. Jermell Lewis jersey back behind me. A big thank you to that one. Love that one down here in the man cave. That aside. All right, let's get back into it. Caleb Johnson. Very good. Kamari Moulton is coming. When you have a guy like Jazzy on Patterson, that is your number four running back. That shows you, and it goes deeper than that. We talked about the incoming freshmen this year. You got Xavier coming in from Indianapolis,
Starting point is 00:07:33 just a bowling ball. What did Hayden call one of the fullbacks back in the day? A rolling ball, a butcher knife, something like that. I mean, that's what you saw out of Xavier Williams. Really impressed by him. He's got the size, but also some power and a little more versatility, a little happy feet that he has that went along with it. I thought that was really good to see there. Brevin Dowell, he's going to be carving out a role potentially in that hybrid role that TJ Washington is going through right now as they moved him over, playing some slot receiver, can also help out at the running back position. Brevin Dowell is going through the same thing there. A speed unlike many things that I was seeing here recently with what Brevin Dahl brings to the table. That's what you have in the running back room coupled with a healthy offensive
Starting point is 00:08:14 line and maybe things can improve on that side. We had more good things to talk about here from the open practice. It's not all doom and gloom. Sometimes it does feel that way. We'll talk about the defensive side of the football, some of the good things that we saw there. Then we will get into the negative. Yes, we'll talk about the bad and the ugly. I'll look back at Iowa football open kids day practice from over the weekend.
Starting point is 00:08:37 Our only glimpse of this Iowa football team before the opener against Illinois State coming up on Saturday, August 31st. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. A little more good, a little bad, and some ugly as we continue. Stay right there. Today's episode of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. Look, I love sports.
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Starting point is 00:10:18 FanDuel, official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball. partner of Major League Baseball. Trent Conant back with you once again here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. All right, let's get back into some of the good that we saw over the weekend on Saturday at Kids Day. I talked about defensively and one of the biggest concerns for me on this defense, as we've talked about throughout the summer months, is developing some depth at defensive line.
Starting point is 00:10:49 A guy that we have spotlighted a ton is Brian Allen. And Brian Allen now has popped again in one of these open practices. He'd go back a couple of years ago to spring football. He showed up there, and you saw a guy that showed an ability at minimum to get to the quarterback. You saw it last August during Kids Day. We saw it this past spring again. And now we see it again in this one on Saturday. He has that ability. You can see that he definitely has those quick twitch muscles that you're looking for a guy that can get to the edge. And Iowa really needs that. One thing that we have
Starting point is 00:11:19 to remember thinking about this Iowa defense and what they have been, they've had to change and evolve a little bit. And one of the biggest component of that is Iowa has not had the same ability of just going and being able to rush forward and get the pressure on the quarterback. They've had to dial it up a little bit more. And we saw that a season ago as they were not able to get to the quarterback through the early portions of the season. It was something that they took on and you saw great play on the back half of the season. That defensive something that they took on and you saw great play on the back half of the season. That defensive line as a whole really took a step together. But now Logan Lee is no longer there. Joe Evans, he is off. And with those two guys departing, it's going to lead to somebody's
Starting point is 00:11:56 going to have to step up in a big way. I believe Deontay Craig, speaking of health, as we talked about earlier, he is due for a breakout breakout season you go back two years ago in a limited role he showed that ability to get to the quarterback and I think now he's a more complete football player on top of it can Brian Allen be that third down specialist can he be a guy that can give them 15 18 20 snaps a game I think the ability is there you look at guys like Max Llewellyn he's going to help out Ethan Hurkett who's a starter. We saw him a season ago in that situational role, really take a big step forward. And then you look inside, obviously, the play of Y.A. Black.
Starting point is 00:12:33 We've talked about him a ton. And what we saw even after the injury a year ago, he was outstanding. And now we need to see that leap from Aaron Graves this season. Jeremiah Pittman looks to be the number three. Another guy to throw in the mix is Jeff Bowie, a guy that has been banged up Eastern Iowa kid, West Branch. He is a guy that just has not been able to be healthy since he's been in an Iowa uniform. If he can do that, I think he can be a guy that can help out. And another question that I continue to have is with this great defensive line class, is there a guy that can help out this season?
Starting point is 00:13:03 Again, we're not talking about a full-time role anything like that but that is something you have to take a look at another component of that is what we saw from Nick Jackson a year ago and getting to the quarterback he was third on the team a year ago in hurries Blair Sanderson from Hawkeye Report had that number earlier in the week and I think a very impactful one a guy that has shown an ability after changing positions moving from middle linebacker having to move outside in the 4-2-5 scheme that Iowa runs with the cash position. He had to learn on the fly a year ago, wasn't very good in September last season. He was really good during October and November and also showed an ability, not just doing what he does as a linebacker, but also coming in on those blitz packages and getting to the quarterback.
Starting point is 00:13:44 I thought he saw plenty of good there. You also saw that depth of the linebacker, but also coming in on those blitz packages and getting to the quarterback. I thought you saw plenty of good there. You also saw that depth of the linebacker spot continue to build. Speaking of depth, another one that jumped out. So when the depth chart came out during Big Ten football media days, there was, I don't want to say consternation, but there were people just maybe a little bit surprised that we saw Johnny Nestor listed as one of the starters at cornerback. Now, as they tried it out there for the first time, that wasn't the case. It was T.J. Hall out there. T.J. Hall, I think a lot of people remember him. Unfortunately for him, in his first action, he was thrust in because of injuries against Nebraska a couple of years ago.
Starting point is 00:14:17 And the fastest guy in the Big Ten ran right by him for a touchdown in that one. But he's a guy that was a big-time prospect coming out of California. Michigan was involved with him, and Iowa doesn't normally beat Michigan in head-to-head battles on the recruiting trail. We're able to do it for T.J. Hall. He left the game, didn't sound like anything serious at kids' practice on Saturday. He'll be out there, but you got Nestor, you got him, of course, Jamari Harris, and we know how good Jamari and how solid he can be out there. The depth that continues to build there. There's just a lot of guys that overall in this defensive backfield you look at and say are going to have a chance.
Starting point is 00:14:54 Cohen Entringer coming back off of injury. That's going to be another one. I think that's going to be incredibly important overall what they're going to be able to do in the safety position. And if injuries do hit, what they're going to be able to do in the safety position. And if injuries do hit, what they're going to be able to do if Cohen Entringer can have a season for them. And also I have to mention Deshaun Lee, who a year ago, of course, was a starter. Started at the beginning of the season with the suspension,
Starting point is 00:15:16 with the gambling investigation for Harris. Also went in then late in the season when Cooper DeGene went down with the injury. So these are now guys that you feel confident with. You got four cornerbacks and what Iowa does. And if injuries do happen, the shuffling now that they have the ability to do, get to see Xavier Wampa. We know what he's going to be
Starting point is 00:15:33 and the importance of him being healthy. There's plenty of good with this Iowa football team. See, folks, I don't have to be negative all the time. We can find definitely some of those. What other name I wanted to mention back to the defensive line for a moment, I thought really popped out was Kenneth Merriweather. Another one of those guys, kind of an unheralded type of prospect that came in. He looked like a guy that can definitely help out in his game. We're talking about building that
Starting point is 00:15:56 depth up. That's another one. And finally, we got to go to special teams. The special teams component to it. That is something I think is incredibly important. I think we all know that for Iowa football. If Iowa's going to have the kind of season that the ability is there for them to have, with the schedule that sets up for them to make a big run. Look, Iowa right now is a favorite in 11 of the 12 games that are scheduled. The only one, they're a pretty decided underdog, 24 and a half at FanDuel against Ohio State. Outside of that, though, Iowa, if there is a spread out there, you look at any basically power number system that is out there, anything that sportsbooks would be putting together,
Starting point is 00:16:32 they would have Iowa favored in 11 of the 12 games. Now, many of them are close point spreads, including the Iowa State game. Iowa favored by 2.5 there. Iowa opened up as a three-point favorite out at the South Point against Wisconsin. That moved quickly. Iowa favored by five against the Badgers. There's going to be, yes, plenty of close ones, but the schedule is there. In order for it to happen, Iowa has to do those little things.
Starting point is 00:16:53 That's just the way that they're built. Even when they're more competent than they've been offensively recently, they still have to do those types of things. Reese Dakin is not going to be Torrey Taylor. Remember, Torrey Taylor came in, he was already 23 years old. This was already a veteran, and though he had never played football in a football stadium before his first game in 2020, was that Purdue? Yeah, game one against Purdue that season. This is still a guy that at least was a little more veteran than your standard
Starting point is 00:17:20 18-year-old. That's not the case with Dakin. He is a young guy making his way over from Pro Kick Australia, and you're going to have that component. Well, he also mentioned went over to Purdue in 2020. Remember, there are a couple hundred people in the stands. That was all that were there in attendance for that one. That's not going to be the case when Reece Dakin makes his way to Columbus. He's got a boom leg.
Starting point is 00:17:39 There's no doubt about it that the power is there, but the little intricacies of being a punter, being able to get those kicks off what it's going to be like when pressure is coming what's it going to be like when you got 90 100 000 people yelling down your ear it is going to be a different environment for him remember tory taylor though we saw plenty of good things and you're going to see some boomers as well from reese dakin there's also probably going to be a few growing pains that are going to show up maybe the most important part though to me because i think dakin is at minimum going to be a few growing pains that are going to show up. Maybe the most important part, though, to me,
Starting point is 00:18:06 because I think Dakin is at minimum going to be fine and hopefully a little bit better than fine coming up this season, is Drew Stevens. After what he did two years ago, looked like this guy was going to be an All-American, maybe win the Grows Award for the first time since Nick Kading for Iowa. It looked like that was the kind of path that he had. Though he's not a big guy, he has a powerful leg.
Starting point is 00:18:24 He showed that throughout the early portions of his career. It really showed it last season. But then the wheels came off, including what happened in the Nebraska game where he was benched in that one, didn't get the opportunity, and Marshall Meter knocked it through to beat the Huskers a season ago. After that, we didn't get to see him again because Iowa didn't attempt another extra point or field goal the rest of the season in the Big Ten championship game lost to Michigan
Starting point is 00:18:46 and the bowl game against Tennessee. Remember, not only it was the missed kicks in the game against Nebraska, this was something that had been trending forward. We saw that towards the end of the season out of Drew Stevens a year ago, but also he was kicking balls out of bounds. I mean, he was completely out of sorts. And when Kirk has been asked about that, he just said he didn't have it. And he decided to go for a change. And that's what's what it was well it looks like Drew Stevens is back and that needs to
Starting point is 00:19:09 happen if I was going to have a successful season this year Drew Stevens has got to be not just good he's got to be great this season we continue we've talked a lot of positives yes the bad and the ugly still to come our look back at what happened at Iowa football open kids practice. A look back at the big day and our only glimpse at the Hawkeyes. More on the Hawkeyes, including, yes, the quarterback position. We'll talk a little bit more about that one. This is Locked on Hawkeyes. Passion, drive, and patience.
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Starting point is 00:20:46 Spencer McLaughlin gets you ready for the exciting season on the horizon with discussion on the upcoming season and the ever-changing landscape of college athletics, including conference realignment, the transfer portal, NIL, new college football, expanded playoffs, and a whole lot more. Lockdown College Football is available on youtube and wherever you get podcasts all part of the lockdown podcast network your team every day we got you covered on the hawkeye front and let's get back into it what we saw at the open practice
Starting point is 00:21:16 on saturday from kinnick stadium we get into now some of the bad and some of the ugly. Let's go first with the bad. And the bad is still the question marks to me at the wide receiver position. Look, over the course of a season, a summer, I should say, sometimes you get a little too deep in the weeds, right? We're talking here with you every day. We're going down a bunch of different paths and it leads to the question marks that are there. And I started to buy in to this wide receiver crew. I think Caleb Brown is good. I think he has a chance to be a good Iowa wide receiver. Now we can argue the merits of what makes an Iowa receiver good because it's a different kind of hill that you're looking to climb compared to
Starting point is 00:21:59 most everybody else in college football. But at minimum, this is a guy that can make some plays. He's already shown that ability a year ago, but then you go deeper. Seth Anderson, is it ever going to happen for Seth Anderson? And that's the question mark that I continue to have with this guy. Put up big numbers at Charleston Southern, saw him a year ago, just didn't do a whole lot, had some drops in there, but like he fell out of favor at times. And also with the frame that he has, not a big guy by any means, is he just going to be able to stay healthy playing at this kind of level,
Starting point is 00:22:29 playing at the Big Ten level? I think that's another one. We heard a ton about Jared Bowie. There's still work that needs to be done. We're talking about a redshirt freshman, a guy that still has a big learning curve that is in front of him there. And you go a little bit deeper.
Starting point is 00:22:43 No, Dayton Howard was out there. Alex Moa from Marion, he's a guy that has had a pretty major injury himself. And you kind of go through Alex Wick was a guy that was out of that wide receiver position. It's just until we see it from wide receiver, it still, I think, has to go in that bad category. Now going hand in hand with that and something that's going to help is when we get Luke Lachey out there and he wasn't out there going through the reps. They're keeping him in bubble wrap as they should after the injury that he had last year.
Starting point is 00:23:13 Definitely want to keep him upright and want to keep him at a high level because Luke Lachey along with Addison Estringa, that's a one-two punch as good as anybody at the tight end position in college football. And he put those two guys together, want them healthy and keeping them that way. And if you have both those guys out there, I think that's also going to go hand in hand with the improvement out of the wide receiver position,
Starting point is 00:23:32 but the ugly, it is the quarterback spot. And for the second time, I went back again and watched all the throws. Um, if you're looking for it, Hawkeye insider with David Eicholdt and Sean Bach, they had all the throws there. If you're a subscriber over at hawkeyereport.com with Tom Caker and Blair Sanderson, they had the same thing. And the one that I watched again, a little different angle. The guys were all in the similar spot, but this was the one from Hawkeye Report. And watching the throws again now for the third time, watched them in order. And watching Cade McNamara, look, I'm not trying to be hyperbolic. I'm not, sky is falling. I just tell it like it is. And what I saw is a guy that is struggling with a lot of different components of throwing the football.
Starting point is 00:24:19 He's coming off injuries. And it's three major injuries. Yes, the knee injury that he sustained at Michigan. Obviously the ACL tear that ended his season as he went down against Michigan State. But that quad injury that he had back a year ago during Kids Day was substantial. And I think more people heard more about that. I was telling you leading up to the game, there were people that were surprised
Starting point is 00:24:40 he even played in that first game a year ago. It was incredibly debilitating to Cade McNamara. You saw him move around. That was a good part of it. He was able to show that there with the knee injury and coming back. Yes, he's looking better. It has some of that athleticism back, but as a thrower, it was bad. And from what I'd heard this summer, the gap between him and Sullivan was pretty significant. Obviously that gap gap has closed. And we will see now going forward if this is going to be a real competition. It's still my belief that Cade McNamara is going to be the starter week one against Illinois State. That he's still going to be the guy that's going to try it out there, get the snaps,
Starting point is 00:25:17 and probably get a little bit of extra rope because of some of the equity he's put in the program. But we're also not talking about a guy that's been around four or five years, right? And we have to remember that component. Look, Kirk Ferentz and Iowa football owes Cade McNamara absolutely nothing. That is not what this is. But it's also Kirk. It's Kirk and quarterbacks. And because of that, I think we know what's likely going to happen.
Starting point is 00:25:40 The great thing is to have a backup in Sullivan that, at minimum, has shown an ability to win games in the Big Ten. Had a great game against Maryland a year ago. Saw him look okay at times last year against the Hawkeyes in the game at Wrigley Field. Look, he's not a great player by any means, but from what we went through a year ago, it's a step up. Is Brendan Sullivan or Cade McNamara going to be better than what we saw from Deacon Hill? No doubt about it.
Starting point is 00:26:03 Going to be better than what we saw from Spencer Pet Hill? No doubt about it. Going to be better than what we saw from Spencer Petras? God, I hope so. If not, we're going to be in deep, deep trouble again this year. The concerning parts, though, about Cade McNamara is some of the throws, just where he was trying to go. There were a couple of throws. You didn't know if it was a throwaway or if he was actually trying to complete the pass.
Starting point is 00:26:21 And yes, it's a new offense. It's all the installation. But in a week and a half now, can you get a guy mentally ready? Physically, those kind of things, at least the running part of it. Yeah, physically, he is there. It's the mental part. It's stepping into throws. And remember, he's also doing this. He's wearing the gold jersey. He wasn't going to be hit. He's not going to be hit during practice quarterbacks don't get hit during practice we know how that has changed throughout the years and because of that what's going to happen when he's got a bunch of guys laying at his feet when he's got a guy coming up the a-gap in his face and he's got to deliver a quick out and he's got to do it knowing he's going to take a hit that's something that is very difficult to coach it's very difficult
Starting point is 00:27:04 to have a guy ready to go. And from what we saw Saturday, again, from Cade McNamara, it doesn't look like that has come back to him. And that is an ugly component to this Iowa team. I'm still optimistic. That optimism has not left me. I still think this team has a chance and it could be a very fun season, but that quarterback plays got to get a whole lot better. We'll see what else we're going to hear going forward as we get ready for Iowa football season. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day.
Starting point is 00:27:33 Again, check out for your second listen, the Lockdown College Football Podcast. From NIL deals to the never ending conference realignment rumors, Spencer McLaughlin gets you ready for an exciting season on the gridiron. You can find a link to the Lockdown College Football Podcast here in the description.
Starting point is 00:27:51 So you don't even need to search. All part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. We got more coming up for you this week. We'll hear from David Eichold from HawkeyeInsider.com. Also Tom Kicker from HawkeyeReport.com. Mention both of those websites. They'll be joining us here throughout the course of the week and get their perspective of what they saw
Starting point is 00:28:09 in kinnick stadium over the weekend there's some basketball news we'll get into that caitlin clark is going to make her return as the wmba gets started once again basketball conversation starts to inch its way through and before you know it old football is going to be here and i cannot wait. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks.

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