Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Football: Which Hawkeyes are going to take a crack at the 2023 draft?

Episode Date: May 6, 2022

In today's episode I discussed which Iowa Hawkeyes football players I think are going to do well in the 2023 NFL draft as well as some guys that have great potential to get an UDFA deal next year. With guys like Jack Campbell, Riley Moss, and Charlie Jones potentially leaving the Hawkeyes for the draft next year I begin to wonder where certain guys are going to be taken in the draft. Iowa has several players that are going to be leaving for the draft next year and statistically not all of them are going to succeed but, there are quite a few guys with a very little chance of that happening.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back Hawkeye Nation to another episode of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked on Podcast Network. As always, I am your host, Wright Hillpiper, and I want to thank you all for making the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast your very first listen every single day. You can find the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast for free wherever you get your podcasts at, and also on YouTube by searching Locked on Hawkeyes podcast for free wherever you get your podcasts at and also on YouTube by searching Locked on Hawkeyes. Now, before we get into things today, I want to mention that I was not able to make the move home yesterday because I had another final that afternoon that I forgot to mention on the previous episode. But on the bright side, I've got all of

my things set up now here at home. I've got my home studio set up. Again, I want to apologize to those of you who have come over from Spotify or come over to Spotify, excuse me, or Apple Podcasts from YouTube. I understand YouTube is a major part of this podcast and Lockdown in general. And that's why I've been doing my best to get back things back up and running. Hopefully, guys, you guys will all enjoy the YouTube videos as much as I think I'm going to because it gives me a chance to interact with you guys a little bit more and show some actual emotion when I

talk about hot topics or controversial opinions. So without further ado, let's get into today's episode. Oh, one more thing. I will be starting YouTube tomorrow and that is a promise to all of you. I am home for the summer. I know I've mentioned before that I want to get YouTube back up and running and I apologize that I have not kept that promise, but I'm here to say tomorrow for sure. Friday, May 6th, YouTube will be back up and running for the locked on Hawkeyes podcast. I'm extremely excited for it. As I said, I've got my home studio set up now, so I've got all of my stuff ready to go. I am fully moved back home from college, so I'm very excited to see how things go on the YouTube side of things. Now, before we get into the content for today's episode, I want to mention BetOnline. BetOnline.net is your number one source for all of your betting stats and sports info.

You can find all of the latest sports developments, league reviews, and news, including this year's basketball playoffs, Major League Baseball season, and this weekend's run to the roses as the Kentucky Derby is back and up and running. BetOnline is your continued source for all of your sporting wagering information from live betting to playoffs to esports and more. Head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends and action. Bet online where the game starts. Now, what we're going to be talking about today in the first couple of segments is the potential 2023 draftees for next year's NFL draft on the Hawkeyes squad. Now that all of, you know, we're well out of

spring ball for the Hawkeyes and the NFL draft has come and gone, we can start to talk a little bit about what the offseason is going to look like next year for the Hawkeyes players that are looking ahead to the 2023 draft. Now, although we only had two guys go in this year's seven rounds, it appears that next year, Iowa could be sending several guys who have the potential to be drafted fairly high, as well as some guys that definitely have the potential to sign free agent contracts if they fall out of the draft. There are a total of seven main Hawkeyes that I want to talk about today in regards to being drafted next year, as well as several other guys that I'm going to mention at the end that NFL teams are definitely going to be having their eyes on come next April. I apologize. I do not have time to talk about

all of the different guys that could be going into the draft next year. I apologize for that, but there are quite a few main ones that I want to talk about on today's episode. So let's get things going here. The first guy I want to talk about is Sam Laporta. Obviously, you know him. He is a tight end, a fourth year senior at Iowa. Personally, I think if Laporta had decided to vacate his college eligibility and went for the draft this year, he probably would have been picked up within the first couple of rounds. You know what I mean? Last season, Laporta led Iowa's offense in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdown catches with 53, 670, and 3 respectively. There's several teams that are going to be looking for a tight end next year, including teams like the Ravens, the Bears, the Bengals, the Browns, the Packers, the Jags.

So, so many teams are looking for tight ends next year. So with Laporta being one of the best tight ends in college football as of right now, I don't see him falling below the second or third round next year, obviously. And I'm going to mention this a lot during this episode, like where I think guys are going to end up going in the draft next year. That is completely subjective. It is completely my opinion of where these guys will go in next year's draft. Personally, I think that I know a lot more about the NFL than I do about college football. Uh, but regardless of that, that's why I like talking about these guys that are going to be going into the NFL. And that's why I like talking about the NFL so much in reference to the Hawkeyes on this podcast, because I really, really enjoy the NFL and I really enjoy college football as

well. It just happens. Uh, it just so happens, excuse me, that I know a little bit more about the NFL than college football in general. As a whole, there are a lot more teams in college football than there are on the NFL. So it's way easier to know a lot more about the NFL. But regardless, let's go on to the next guy here. Jack Campbell, you know, I'm a linebacker, a fourth year senior at Iowa. Campbell is just like Laporta in that if he decided to enter the draft this year, he most likely would have been taken and it probably would have been, you know, in the first few rounds as well, maybe one, two or three. Campbell was tied for second in the big 10 in tackles last season, racking up a, you know, a mightily respectful, respectful, respectable, excuse me.

I cannot talk today. Uh, respectable 143 tackles only being behind Chris Bergen of Northwestern, and he was tied with, I believe, John Ross of Michigan. Now, along with that, the average size of an NFL linebacker is 6'2", 220. And you know who Campbell is. Campbell is a big, big boy. He stands at 6'5", weighing 245 pounds. So with that in mind, I can see him being taken in one of the first three rounds to a team, you know, like the Cardinals or the Bills or the Cowboys. All three of those teams and several others are looking for linebackers next year, and they're looking for somebody fresh at that linebacker spot. And I'm going to mention a lot

of teams today that need a lot of things because there are a lot of NFL teams that need a lot of things right now. Obviously, that's how it is, you know, every year in the draft, but Jack Campbell is an extremely, extremely talented linebacker. And I think that next year when the time comes, he, he will be drafted fairly high. Maybe, you know, maybe in the second, third round, maybe not the first round, but you know, we'll just have to wait and see. We are going to talk about another Hawkeye linebacker today that I think will end up falling below Campbell in next year's draft, but we'll get to that in just a second. The next guy I want to talk about today is my guy, Riley Moss.

You know him, a cornerback, fifth-year senior at Iowa. Now, if you remember, Moss considered declaring for the draft after winning the Big 10 defensive back of the year award last season, but ultimately he decided to end up sticking with Iowa for one more year. Personally, I think that Moss, you know, as well as Campbell and Laporta and, you know, even Charlie Jones, who we are going to talk about in today's episode are the four main guys that currently are on Iowa's roster that would have been ready for the NFL this season

or excuse me, this next season. Currently Moss is ranked at number eight on the list of cornerbacks that are going to be in the draft next year. And of course that's subject to change, you know, between now and the draft, depending on how good of a final year Moss has with the Hawkeyes. And after seeing his performance last year, I don't doubt that he's going to have a stellar season. And obviously they all have kinks in their game that need to be worked out. But that's what being a backup in the NFL is all about. You either start your rookie year because the team that you go to is desperate for a guy at your

position, or you sit behind a veteran for a year or two or three, depending on who you are, and you get to watch them play and you have them help you develop your skills. So when your time comes, you can be the most prepared you can possibly be to excel at your spot. Not every guy in the NFL is like Ryan Tannehill. Okay. Not every guy is going to be like, I'm not here to mentor you. That was 100% a cheap shot at Ryan Tannehill. Um, that's the, I mean, you can check out the locked on Titans podcast. If you want to hear about that, that's, you know, that's not something we cover here, but regardless of that, you know, being a rookie in the NFL is all about gaining experience from those veteran guys who currently play at your position. You know what I mean? Like, regardless

of the fact of whether or not you're going to start your, you know, your rookie year, say, fact of whether or not you're going to start your, you know, your rookie year, say, say you're a rookie, you go into the NFL like Riley Moss and you're playing cornerback and you get to start your rookie year. There's going to be other guys at your position on the team that have been there longer than you. There's not one cornerback, you know, on a team and the same with Campbell and Laporta. There's not one tight end on every team and there's not one linebacker on every team. If you start, even if you do start your rookie season, there's going to be several guys that you can look to as well as your coaches. Those are, that's why those guys are there.

NFL organizations have several coaches develop, or excuse me, several coaches that are completely specific to every single position on the field all at one time. So there's several different guys that you can learn from regardless of whether or not you start your rookie year. But personally, I think it's better for a rookie to not start their rookie year. Yes, they could have a great rookie season and that's always great to see, but that doesn't happen very often. And it happens very little. In fact, I might add, but if you do get a chance to start your rookie season, you do need to make sure that you have, you know, you lean on those guys that have played at that position and you lean on your coaches to teach you things that you don't, you know, that you're not going to quite understand,

uh, right out of the gate because the NFL is a whole different beast than college football. So it's, it's really important that those, like these guys that go into the, excuse me, into, uh, the draft next year, understand that. And think I, I, when I thought about this, I thought about a guy like Brees Hall, you know what I mean? And granted he played for Iowa state. He, you know, he went to the jets, but he's going to make an immediate impact in the NFL. He's going to be an immediate starter. I personally believe he will. Anyway, he's going to be an immediate starter. I personally believe he will anyway. He's going to be an immediate starter on that team and he's not going to have a whole lot of, you know, extremely talented guys around him. Granted, he will have other running backs around him who can teach him things and he will have those coaches as well, but there's not going to

be a whole lot of, you know, veteran guys who are really, really good to, you know, teach you. And I also think about, you think about when Jimmy Garoppolo came to the Patriots organization, he had a guy like Tom Brady to mentor him throughout those years that he was there. Ultimately, he went to the Niners and he brought them to a Super Bowl. And you're not going to have a guy like Tom Brady at every spot on every team to teach you as a rookie. But that's essentially what I'm getting at is that I've said it. I know I've said it like four or five times, but I just want to reiterate myself. You have to lean on these guys so that you can become the best that you can be.

You can't just expect yourself to be good right out of the gate. So that's my little rant for today's episode. The next guy I want to talk about is Justin Jacobs, linebacker, redshirt junior this season. This past will be a redshirt junior. Although Jacobs didn't, you know, really lead any major categories in defensive stats last season in the Big Ten, he was one of the best players on Iowa's defensive roster from an overall standpoint. Last season, we saw Jacobs post 53 tackles, 33 of those being solo, along with his, you know, slightly impressive coverage skills.

You know, he wasn't, you know, the greatest, but he still, you know, he had on display a little bit of coverage skills. He had three passes defended and a pick on the season. As of right now, Jacobs is listed as the 21st linebacker in the 2023 draft class. Uh, but according to pro football focus, he is listed as the 96th overall draftee, which puts him ahead of his fellow linebacker teammate, Jack Campbell. And I talked about this when I talked about Jack Campbell. Personally, I think that Campbell is a better overall linebacker than Jacobs, but granted Campbell had a better season last year than Jacobs did.

And that's undeniable, but it's important to remember the NFL teams. Aren't just going to look at what a player did in their final college season. You know what I mean? They're going to be, they're going to be taking into account everything that you did over your college career as a whole. And I mentioned with Campbell, there are several teams that are going to be looking for a safe option at that linebacker spot. I said it already, the Cardinals, the Bills, and the Cowboys are three teams that are going to need linebackers next year. But when it comes down to it, like I said, I see Campbell being taken either in the first or the second round. And I think we'll see Jacobs, you know, come off the

board closer to the middle of the third, or maybe he'll even drop to the top of the fourth. He is a solid player. I'm not denying that. And I'm not, I'm not harping on him whatsoever because he's a very good linebacker He's a very good player and he is, you know Consistently contributed to this iowa defense in the last three years that he's been at iowa I just think that campbell overall is better than jacobs right now If you so let me put this into sort of a madden perspective Um for those of you out there who play madden

Obviously each player gets their own rating and that rating is based off of all of the things that they do within the game. So let's say, for example, let's put Campbell at a 99 overall. I don't think he is a 99 overall, but let's just say, for the sake of what I'm talking about here, let's say that Campbell is a 99 overall. I would put Jacobs 89-90. You know what I mean? I don't think either of them are at either of those spots. If you were to throw them into a Madden game right now, but Jacobs is slightly, I don't want to say slightly worse. I want to say that Campbell is slightly better than Jacobs is right now overall as a linebacker for Iowa. And that's

not a bad thing either. I think that Campbell is better prepared for the NFL right now than Jacobs is. And like I said, I'm not harping on Jacobs and I'm not praising Campbell. I'm not doing either of those things. But when you go back, you watch the games, you look at the stats from last season and the season before, Campbell has consistently been a better linebacker than Jacobs. That's all I'm going to say about it. I think he'll be taken before Jacobs is. We're going to have to wait and see until the draft to see if that actually happens. But, you know, like I said, Campbell right now, in my opinion, is better than Jacobs. Now, let's get into defensive line. Lucas Van Ness, the redshirt sophomore. Now I understand that Van Ness is only a sophomore. Okay. Now before I don't, I just want

you to forget about that for a second. Okay. Just forget about the fact that he's a sophomore. Yes, there is a very good chance that he will stay at Iowa next season to make sure that he's fully developed and the NFL teams will actually be interested in taking him off the board in 2024. But, but Van Ness also led the Hawkeyes defense in sacks last season. And as of right now, he's ranked at number 12 at the defensive end position for the 2023, 2023 draft. Excuse me again, don't come at me on Twitter. I understand there's a very good chance. He won't go to the draft next year because he's only a sophomore. But for the purpose of this episode, I wanted to talk about it. Granted, Van Ness primarily worked on the inside last season for the Hawkeyes, but it's become more and more clear every day throughout spring practice as well. He's most likely going to be brought to the outside this season to help contain the absolutely brutal outside run game that grips the Big Ten right now. There are so many teams in the Big Ten that have the ability to just pop that ball outside with a running back and destroy Big Ten defenses. So I think that if Van Ness can have a stellar year

at the DN spot, then he'll move up. He know, he might even move up higher in the national DN rankings. And when the time comes for him to decide what he's going to do, you know, in January, he might take the leap and go ahead with the draft process. But I don't think it would be a good idea for him to do that. I'm not saying that I don't think that he would be a good player in the NFL. I just think that if he decided to go to the draft next year, he would probably be drafted in the lower rounds, you know, five, six, seven, and he might not even be drafted. He might be, you know, he might get dropped down, maybe get, you know, a free agent

deal, or he might just, you know, remain undrafted. Who knows? I just don't think that his game as of right now, and I'm not saying he's a bad player. He's a good player. He's, he's definitely good. I'm just saying, I think that his draft stock as of right now is too low for him to go into the NFL. Now, obviously this is based off of information that we've only seen in the past. We have not seen what he's, what he's about to do this season. If he has, you know, a stellar year, he might, you know, he might say, screw it. Let's go for the draft. Let's see what I can do. But I think that if he, you know, if he has, you know, maybe a down season or if, you know, he's not really a standout, he's just kind of, you know, doing his thing at that DN spot, just sort of going through the motions. You know what I mean? He, he will

probably end up staying with the Hawkeyes. I hope that he does personally. And it's, it's nothing against him. I just, I hope that he stays with the Hawkeyes. I hope that he does personally, and it's, it's nothing against him. I just, I hope that he stays with the Hawkeyes because he's a very good defensive player and the Hawkeyes are going to need to lead on him next year. Um, next season, not this coming season. I mean the season after the 2023 season, I think that Iowa is going to have to lean on him as a defensive player and, you know and hope that he can make those plays that he's been making for the Hawkeyes in general. I don't see him going to the NFL after this season, even if he does have a really stellar year. Maybe he will, maybe he won't, but at the end of the

day, I personally don't think his game is ready. And it's not that he's not mature enough to be in the NFL. I just think that he needs more time to develop and he needs more time to, you know, work with college defenses and, you know, get scouts attracted to him from the NFL. I just don't think that it'd be worth it for him to take a crack at, you know, the NFL draft because he might go undrafted and he might not get an undrafted free agent deal when all is said and done. So it's just not really, in my opinion, it's not really worth it for him, depending on how the season goes, obviously. It's not really worth it for him to go to the NFL draft after this year. So the next guy I want to talk about is Charlie Jones.

He's a wide receiver. He's a kick returner. He's a punt returner. He's a six-year senior. I want to preface this by saying that nowadays, especially, NFL teams are looking for versatility. You only get to put 52 men on that sideline every single game, right? And a lot of those 52 men are backups. You know what I mean? You have, take quarterback for example.

You have a starting quarterback, you have a backup, and you have a third string. Most of the time, all NFL teams have three guys on the sideline that can play quarterback. So versatility is extremely, extremely important, especially when you have to have depth at those really important positions. And Jones is extremely versatile. He can go out there on the offense. He can catch routes. And then he can go back on special teams. He can return kicks. He can return punts. We've seen it in his time at Iowa.

And I think that we will see it again in the NFL. Now, I mentioned earlier when I was talking about Riley Moss that Jones is one of the few guys on the Hawkeyes roster that I believe could have excelled in the NFL draft. roster that I believe could have excelled in the NFL draft. Um, this, excuse me, if in the NFL draft and he could have excelled in the NFL season, this coming up season, but Jones decided to take the same route as Moss, obviously, and have one last year as a Hawkeye. I don't believe that I've said this on the podcast before, but it is my belief that Jones is 100% one of the best return men in all of college football right now. He's stellar. No. Is he one of the best wide receivers in college football? No. And I say that with the straightest of faces. No, he's not in the top 10 best wide

receivers in college football right now. There's too much talent there. But when it comes to kick returning, punt returning, he is definitely one of the best return men in college football right now. Off the top of my head, I'm trying to think of somebody who might have an edge on him. The only guy that I'm thinking of off the top of my head would maybe be Marcus Jones. He plays for Houston. Maybe he has an edge on him. I think he, I think Jones or Marcus Jones had more kick and punt return yards than Charlie Jones did last year. And if he did, it was not by much. But beyond his return skills, we all know he's a stellar receiver as well. Currently Jones is ranked as the number 14 receiver in the 2023 draft class. I don't think

he should be that high. He's good. He's good, but he's not one of the best. So I mean, maybe 14 is fair. You know, I think top 20 is fair. Anything in the top 20 is fair for, for Jones, but I don't know, 14 might be a little bit too high. You know, don't, don't come at me for that. That's just my opinion. Um, as long as he has a decent season this fall, I think we'll see that number, you know, that number might even rise before the draft comes up. Um, like I said, he's number 14 right now. There's, I don't know, there's just so much talent at the wide receiver spot in college football. There always has been, and there always will be so, so much talent at that position because it's one of those positions that colleges continuously seek out and try to recruit because speed kills. You

know this, you see all of those guys in the NFL right now, all of those guys were good in college. You know what I mean? There's not a single that I can think of anyway, granted that I can think of, there's not a single starting wide receiver in the NFL right now that was not really good in college. And I know that sounds dumb because that's usually how it is for all positions, but wide receiver is a little bit different. It's a little bit more, you know, skills based, I guess. And that's why it's called a skills position, obviously, but wide receiver is, it's such a wide, you know, such a wide gap of whether or not you're good because you can be good one game. You can make 13 catches for 174 yards and three touchdowns one game. And then the next week, you could only catch four out of the 17 passes that are thrown to you for 34 yards and get a ball picked off on you.

Whatever it is, Charlie Jones is a good wide receiver. There's no denying that. He's a good wide receiver. He's a great kick returner, and he is a great punt returner. I think 14 is a little bit too high for him to be ranked nationally, but maybe that number will rise before the draft starts. And maybe he can prove himself a little bit in this upcoming season to kind of raise his draft stock a little bit. But I think the fact that he can play wide receiver and he can go back and return kicks and punts already puts him high in a draft stock, you know, scenario, because he has that extreme versatility. Like I mentioned, NFL teams are looking for versatility,

whether it's special teams, offense, defense, if you can play more than one position, you're, you're automatically higher up in the draft process than a guy who can only play one position. You know what I mean? That's how it's going to be from now until the end of the NFL. Versatility is key in professional football. That's how it has always been and that's how it will always be. And I don't mean that always, you know, back in the fifties or whatever, you know, I wasn't alive then, so I don't know, but versatility is definitely key. So now the last guy that I want to talk about in depth, cave on Merriweather safety, fifth year senior. Now, obviously you saw Dane Belton get picked up by the giants in the fourth

round of this year's draft. And honestly, right now, as I see it, that's right around, you know, where Merriweather will end up come next April, right around that, you know, that fourth round. Granted, there are quite a few teams that are going to be looking to pick up a safeties next year's draft. And I think that the safety position right now is the most, I was looking it up earlier. I think the safety position is the, is the highest, um, Oh, what's the word I'm looking here for? It's think the safety position is the highest... Oh, what's the word I'm looking here for? It's the position that the most teams are looking for right now. And teams that come to mind would be the Eagles, the Bucs, maybe Washington, maybe the Commanders.

Those are just a few teams off the top of my head that I can think of that need a safety going into next year. But as it stands, I think that if Merriweather has an average season, now granted, I do not mean a bad season and I do not mean a fantastic season. I mean, if he has an average season, he's going to drop in next year's draft next April. But that being said, if Merriweather has a standout season, you know, if he goes out there, he performs, he does really, really well, you know, comes out with, you know, maybe three, four, five picks, you know, he, he does well in coverage, all that sort of thing. He can stop the run. It's very possible that he has a standout season. Now that Belton's gone to the NFL, that Merriweather has a real shot at being a solid pick next year. And maybe, maybe he'll go before Belton did. You know what I mean? Belton went what? One 14th in the draft in the fourth round. Maybe, maybe a Merriweather can, you know, go all the way up into the third round, maybe the second round, maybe the first round, who knows? It depends. It all depends on how he does in his final season, because yes, NFL teams are always going to look at

every season that you played in college, but the last season is always going to be the most important season. The last season that you played in college is always going to be the first thing that NFL teams look at because that's the most, obviously that's the most current example of how good you are as a player. But if Merriweather has a standout season if he you know if he goes out there he shines he does really really well his stock might you know go up in the draft but as of right now if he if he would have decided to go for the draft this year I think that he probably would have gone

undrafted maybe he would have gotten um a free agent deal maybe an undrafted free agent deal uh but I think he probably would have gone undrafted and that's not to say he's a bad player and I feel like listen I feel like's not to say he's a bad player. And I feel like, listen, I feel like I have to say that because I know I'm going to get crap about it from you guys on Twitter. It's already happened. I've gotten it, all right? I've gotten it already.

He's not a bad player, okay? He's by no means a bad player. But he has more to prove. He has more to prove to NFL scouts. He has more to prove to himself. He has more to prove to NFL scouts. He has more to prove to himself. He has more to prove to the Hawkeyes coaching staff right now that he is a solid guy and that he will be a solid pick in next year's draft.

Anyways, so that is all of the main guys that I kind of wanted to go in depth about. And those are the guys who I think have a really good shot at going in the draft next year a little recap Sam Laporta, Jack Campbell, Riley Moss, Justin Jacobs, Luke Van Ness, sorry Lucas, Lucas Van Ness, Charlie Jones, and Kayvon Merriweather those are all the guys who I think have a really really good shot of going you know within the first you know one to four rounds but you know maybe a couple guys in there will you know drop below the first, you know, one to four rounds, but you know, maybe a couple guys

in there will, you know, drop below that, or maybe even go into free agent deals. Who knows? Before we get into the other potential picks in next year's draft slash, you know, potential guys who have, you know, shots at free agent deals, I want to talk about BetOnline really quick. Once again, BetOnline.net is your number one source for all of your betting stats and sports info. You can find all of the latest sports developments, league reviews, and news, including this year's basketball playoffs, Major League Baseball, and this weekend's run to the Roses at the Kentucky Derby. BetOnline is your continued source for all of your sporting wagering information

from live betting to playoffs to esports and more. Head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends and action. BetOnline, it's where the game starts. Now, the other guys that I wanted to talk about on Iowa's roster that have the potential to either go in the draft next year or have the potential to, excuse me, or have the potential to get those undrafted free agent deals,

Terry Roberts, Spencer Petras, Joe Evans, Monty Potabum, Seth Benson, Jack Plum, John Wagner, Noah Shannon, Torrey Taylor, Jamari Harris, and Logan Lee are all guys who have serious potential to get picked up in next year's draft or secure that UDFA deal like I was talking about. Once again, I apologize, but I just don't have time to talk about all of them. So don't think I forgot about any of them or I don't think any of them are good. I just don't have time to talk about all of those guys in one episode. So I apologize about that,

but those are all guys who have the potential, in my opinion anyway, those are all guys who have potential to go in the draft next year or get those UDFA deals like I was talking about. Now, today's story of the day, keeping the theme about Hawkeye football, the Hawkeyes have just added another guy to their long, long list of 2023 scholarship offers. This time it is a tight end out of Mount Vernon High School, not here in Iowa. It is Mount Vernon, Indiana, by the name of George Burhen, standing at a whopping 6'5 and weighing 215 pounds. Burhen racked up 28 catches for 443 yards this past season as a junior. And this past Thursday, he received an offer from Iowa's defensive line coach, Kelvin Bell, after Bell attended a sort of combine-style workout at Mount Vernon High School over there

in Indiana. Burren spoke about the offer in an interview saying, quote, we had a little combine workout at the school day where college coaches could come and watch, and there were a lot of coaches there. The Iowa defensive line coach was there, and when I got home, he called and offered me. I think he liked my athleticism and my speed and the high ceiling that I have. Uh, I got a chance to watch his highlight tape. Um, I can't remember what website I saw it on, but I got a chance to watch his, um, his highlight tape from his junior season. He's a good player. He's, he's solid at that tight end

spot. And man, is he tall? Um, you know, granted all, you know, all people are pretty much tall to me. I'd stand at a whopping five foot seven. Um, but regardless, uh, he seems like a very solid guy. Um, Iowa has been known for, you know, producing great tight ends. So I think it would be a solid spot for him to go. And he has quite a few other offers. I believe he has seven other offers as of right now, including Ball State, the ones that come to mind anyway, Ball State, Army, and Air Force, I believe have all offered him scholarships as well. I know there is a few more. I just can't think of them off the top of my head. So yeah, he seems like a really solid guy. He seems, and he had a solid season last year being as young as he is. He's only a junior in high school, but granted, he seems like

a very solid player, and I'd love to see him come to Iowa. As you know, Iowa is, like I said, is known for producing some great, great tight ends, so we'll see how that goes, and obviously, I'll keep you guys updated on whether or not he decides to commit to Iowa or not. I believe he has a visit to Iowa State coming up here fairly soon. It might have already happened, but I think it's coming up here fairly soon. And he also said that he would like to come visit Iowa, the University of Iowa, at some point in the near future as well. So it's great to see that Iowa is, you know, kind of expanding their recruiting process to those guys out in different states. It's amazing to see. as I said, he's, he seems like a pretty

decent player. So, uh, I'm excited to see, you know, what he decides to do. That is it for today's episode. Thank you all for tuning in. I know it was a little bit longer of an episode today, uh, but I had a lot of information to cover. So I appreciate you all tuning into today's episode. to cover. So I appreciate you all tuning into today's episode. Once again, YouTube will be starting tomorrow. That is a promise to you. I will be starting YouTube tomorrow. So hopefully all of that goes smoothly. I cannot wait to show you guys what I look like. If you followed me on Twitter, on Instagram, you might know what I already look like. But I promise you it's probably not what you think. Anyways, anyways, so thank you all for tuning into today's episode. You're welcome to go follow me on Twitter and on Instagram as well,

uh, at Rye Hill, uh, obviously, and then you can go follow the Lockdown Hawkeyes, uh, Twitter and Instagram pages at Lockdown Iowa. Make sure you are following along with the daily episodes. Once again, YouTube is starting tomorrow. Thank God we can finally get that, uh, the ball rolling now that I am home for the summer. So for the third and final time, thank you guys all for tuning in today's episode, and I will see you all tomorrow.