Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Hawkeye football has a depth chart!

Episode Date: March 30, 2021

We finally got a depth chart for the Iowa football team so we do a quick analysis of each position and the key storylines heading into spring ball.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.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.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

You are Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back, Hawkeye Nation, to a Tuesday morning episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Sports Network. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade. Excited to be back for another show today. And we were going to continue our spring positional previews. However, the depth chart has officially been released and there was some big news from a donation perspective in the Iowa Hawkeye community.

We also got some news in the wrestling community as well. Spencer Lee taking home some additional hardware. So that's going to be our main focus on the show today. We're going to be talking through the depth chart, some of the main storylines going into spring practice. And then tomorrow we'll pick it up where we left off talking about the different positions and doing a little bit of a further in-depth look at the positional preview. If you want to start it out, though, you can go check out yesterday's episode. We did quarterbacks.

And one of the interesting things about the depth chart that we saw, actually just getting right into it, is the fact that Deuce Hogan is not on the depth chart. And you already saw Iowa Hawkeye fans saying Deuce Hogan should start. Deuce Hogan should be in there. Again, please go back and listen to my show yesterday. I think in time, Deuce might be the number two. If you look at historically how Iowa football has selected their quarterback position

and how they've handled certain battles. You look at Spencer Petras and Peyton Manziel under Nate Stanley, right? Peyton had a year and then Spencer Petras came in and won the job after that. That is shaping up to be what I would expect. Deuce Hogan, a quick study, a guy who has played a lot of football under his belt, played for his dad, understands the game, should be able to pick up an offense pretty quickly. But there is a reason why he's not on that too deep. He is not ready at this point, and we have to prepare ourselves for Spencer Petras being the guy this season.

Whether or not you like that, it is the inevitability. Unless Alex Padilla or Deuce Hogan absolutely balls out, Spencer Petras is going to be the guy. Now, we talked a little bit on the show yesterday about why that isn't a bad thing. Spencer Petras has all the talent in the world. Now, when I looked at his first season compared to all the other Iowa Hawkeye first-year starting quarterbacks under Kirk Ferentz, it did not favor him very well. He also had a unique situation. Kirk Ferentz, it did not favor him very well. He also had a unique situation. Granted, he had multiple years in the program, but he did not have a traditional offseason. He did not have a

traditional development period going into the USC game where they have a lot more practices. However, they did not have as many practices due to when the USC game was scheduled back in the Holiday Bowl. So not as much development as you would typically expect. But again, I think coming into this season, there's no way Spencer Petras is not going to have this job. He's not going to be the number one. What will be more interesting to me is, can Deuce Hogan put himself in the running for the number two spot?

Or can Alex Padilla or Deuce Hogan put themselves in the running for the number one spot? Springtime is a great opportunity to show your development and to just develop in general going into fall practice. But if they want to make a move for that number one spot or if Deuce wants to make a move for the number two spot, it starts now. That's the key here. So if you're wanting Deuce Hogan to be the starter, simmer down a little bit. Let's see what Spencer Petras can do. Let's see what Kirk Ferentz believes will work out. I have no doubt in my mind.

Sometimes there can be a little bit of a loyalty thing there, it seems like. But if Deuce Hogan is ready to go, or if Alex Padilla is ready to go, and they are playing better football than Spencer Petras consistently, I have no doubt in my mind that Kirk Ferentz will make the move that is best for this team. But until that time, Spencer Petras is going to be our starter. So you can talk about Deuce. You can want Deuce. I get it. Deuce is not on the radar right now. He will not be on the radar unless he absolutely balls out and spring practice. You got to remember, he just hasn't had a lot of time with this team. he didn't join the team

early last year he only played in the fall and that was a very weird fall so this is really this is his first spring practice this is his first time to really get some developmental opportunities so it makes sense why he's not ready yet so again just I saw a lot of things in that I wanted to cover that first going through the the depth chart though, just very interesting all around. We're going to pick out a few things and then talk through a few of the storylines. Let's start with the offense though. And I think the first thing people noticed was the offensive line, right? You lose a Larrick Jackson, you lose Coy Cronk, you lose Cole Bandwert. That's a lot of guys. And the offensive line shows. You have Jack Plum currently listed as the starting left tackle with Mason Richman behind him. You have Kyler Schott at left guard.

And Tyler Ellsbury, the backup there. Tyler Linderbaum and Noah Fenske. Justin Britt, Josh Volk, Cody Ink, and Nick DeJong at right tackle. Now, what I do want to make sure we all remember here is that this depth chart is not finalized. There's going to be probably quite a bit of movement. We have a brand new offensive line coach who hasn't had a lot of opportunity to work with these guys. And as of right now, these are the five guys that Iowa is willing to go to battle with. These are the top five offensive linemen they see in their mind.

Now, I think a lot of that can change. I also, you know, when you look at potentially impact freshmen, I think there's a few on there as well that could possibly impact this, especially the early enrollees. So let's take a look at the early enrollees and then we'll get into the offensive line. But Keegan Johnson, Arlen Bruce, Justice Sullivan, Zach Tweet, David Davikoff, and Connor Colby. David and Connor are very, very highly ranked offensive linemen. And this is a very in-flux offensive line. There are going to be struggles this upcoming season, regardless of which way we swing it.

But what I'll be interested to see is can David Davikoff or Connor Colby make enough progress in this spring camp to put themselves in the running to be in the starting lineup come this fall I'll be honest I I mean um Jack Plummet left tackle I know people have been kind of you know talked about him having some starting experience and playing in last year's you know last year's season he was and I never want to hate on a player but he was not very good last year graded out as one of the worst offensive linemen on the Iowa football team and in those in those specific games he was giving up almost half of the pressure so really struggled with the defensive lines in the Big Ten. That concerned me.

Now he has another year under his belt. What does that mean for him? He could definitely improve. I'm not doubting that, but that was something I saw last year that really concerned me and concerned me going into this year. So can a Mason Richman, who played more guard last year, can he make that jump? Can a Nick DeJong, a former walk-on, can he make that jump? Can David Davikoff make that jump and be the next Tristan Wirfs?

Or can Connor Colby? I mean, these are some of the options that we're looking at, and that's where it starts all in spring practice. We're going to continue through our review of the offensive line, and then go through some of the other offensive positions, wrap up with the defense, and then talk a little bit about the big time donation. I'm all coming up on segment number two and segment number three of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast.

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So let's pick up where we left off. Let's talk some offensive line. A couple things that Kirk Ferron spoke about in his press conference. I did listen to it, but not a ton of big nuggets to take away, more so than what we saw from the depth chart. Talking about Cody, who is currently slotted at the starting right tackle, Kirk Ferentz had very high praise for him, and I think this goes a long ways to seeing what Cody can do.

He said, let me actually find the quote, one of the few guys in 20 years that could play all five positions? Now, that bodes well, obviously, for Cody to get time on the offensive line. But to me, that means he could, you know, that's a good depth piece as well. So if he doesn't win that right tackle spot, which seems like he probably could. He played some guard last year and I thought did pretty well. He could play any of the other spots and fill in admirably. And that is not an easy thing to do. So be on the lookout for him to definitely get a spot. Justin Britt has been a guy who has been in that too deep conversation for some time

now since joining the Iowa football program. As a young guy, he could be a two, three year starter and that could be amazing at that right guard position. Kyler Schott has shown that he can play guard very well, and when he's out of the lineup, Iowa struggles a little bit. So to me, the interior is pretty locked up. I just can't see a lot of movement happening in that interior unless someone like Cody slides inside to take over for Justin Britt if a tackle shows up. But I really feel like the left guard, center, and right guard position are pretty locked up. I think left tackle and right tackle are a bit more in flux, which makes sense. You lost to Larrick Jackson, a four-year starter. You lose Coy Cronk, who didn't really start at all. But before that, you lost Tristan Wirth. So

you lost some big-time tackles over the last two years. Definitely in flux of the left tackle, right tackle position. That's going to be the two positions I'm most curious about to see who's getting those snaps. Again, can a true freshman get over those guys? Can some of the younger guys take some of those spots? Can Mason Richmond supersede Jack Plum? Can Nick DeJong go over Cody? There's so many guys. Iowa has done a phenomenal job of building up that offensive line room with some young talent. Now it's time to see that young talent show out in the offensive line room. Moving over to tight end, I thought it was very interesting to see what that lineup looked like as well.

We know Sam Laporta is going to be the starter. That was quite obvious, was it not? I mean, I don't know how you could possibly imagine him not being the starter for this team. But under him, it was a bit more interesting. Now, there's a couple guys that could have been in that spot. There are a couple guys who have been jockeying for that position, who was going to be taking over for Sean Byer. Right now, it's Luke Leitchie, and Luke Leitchie is the number two on that tight end depth chart. What we don't know is who is number three, and that number three spot does play a decent amount in Brian Ferenc's offense.

There's a couple guys that could be in the running here. We could look at Elijah Yelverton or Josiah Myaman. Those are the two tight ends I'd be most curious about at this point. Elijah Yelverton, a three-star recruit who had a ton of offers coming out of school. We actually had him on the show before. Josiah Myaman, a three-star recruit who had a ton of offers coming out of school. We actually had him on the show before. Josiah Mineman, a three-star recruit as well, a year older than Elijah. Where does he fit in in this picture? Luke Leitch, though, a big-time player, a guy who I believe, yeah, he was a four-star recruit coming in.

So great to see him make that two deep. And again, when you get into the two two deep there's a lot that can change but also it's good to see some of these younger guys step up and you know show where they should be at the tight end position should be a strength for years to come depending on obviously if Sam Laporta stays I think that's something we need to be very seriously considering will he stay at Iowa after this year? If he has a breakout year, we could see him depart as well. But underneath him, you got Luke, you got Elijah, Iowa heavily recruiting tight end position for the incoming recruiting class next year. Unable to secure some tight ends this past year. The depth will be solid going forward.

It's just taken a year or two after losing both, you know, TJ Hawkinson and Noah Fant to get there. Wide receiver as well. Nothing surprising here. Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Nico Reganey, both the starting wide receivers. I figured Charlie Jones would be on that two deep as well. Charlie Jones probably playing that slot and could probably catch 50 balls this upcoming year. I would not be shocked by that at all. Max Cooper making that two deep as well.

A guy who has battled through so many things to be on this Iowa football team and never quit, never left, never transferred. You have to love to see that commitment. Unfortunately for Max, there are a lot of guys vying for some playing time on this Iowa Hawkeye football roster.

The wide receiver group is absolutely stacked. Some guys to watch out for, Quavon Matthews, Deontay Vines, Desmond Hudson. These are some guys that should be competing, have had time in the Iowa football locker room, have had time in this offense. They are going to be guys to watch out for. You also, again, got to watch out for Arland. You got to watch out for Keegan.

These are some big-time recruits Iowa got who are joining joining the program early and they bring a different element to the team. Keegan Johnson, a big time guy with a lot of speed out of Bellevue. He could be a guy who could see some playing time early. So could Arland with some of the gadgety type of things that he's able to do. But again, don't count out Desmond. Do not count out Quavon and do not count out Deontay. There's reasons why Iowa recruited them. That will be a big battle, though, is who can take that number four spot. I don't know at this point. We'll see what happens after spring practice,

but I think Charlie's pretty cemented in there. I'd be surprised not to see him. What we saw him do last year as a punt returner, to me, shows what some of the potential he has as a wide receiver as well. At the running back position, we have Tyler Goodson, Ivory, Kelly Martin. No surprise there. Really the battle here that I'm most interested in is who gets that third spot and how do the guys below them handle all the reps they're going to get. Right now, only four scholarship running backs on the roster. Now that will change after some guys come in the summer. But right now, just two guys outside of those two. So four guys total, Gavin Williams and LaShawn Williams.

Which one is going to step up out of those two to secure that number three spot? Ivory Kelly-Martin has had injury history in the past. Both these guys, Tyler and Ivory, kind of similar players. So what can Gavin or LaShawn do to separate themselves? This is the opportunity for them. players. So what can Gavin or LaShawn do to separate themselves? This is the opportunity for them. Nothing surprising at the fullback position or at the place kicker position as well. So that gets us on to the defensive side of the ball. We'll kick it off a little bit and then finish up on segment number three of the show. We'll start with some of the easiest stuff. Maybe

go to the defensive backs. Again, no surprise here for who's the starters, except for the fact that one person is noticeably missing from this, and that is Xavier Williams, the Northern Iowa transfer. Right now, he is not on the two deeps at all. That will change. Barring something drastic, that will change. He can play corner, and he can play safety, and there's no reason why he would join the Iowa football program if he didn't think that he would have an opportunity to start. So you better believe he's going to be given that chance to start. It's not going to be an easy battle, right?

Kayvon Merriweather, Matt Hankins, Jack Kerner, Riley Moss, Dane Belton, those are guys who have had multiple starts under their belt. They have proven that they can play Iowa football and can start for the Iowa football team. What I'm more interested in, there's two things actually with Xavier Williams. Can he steal one of these guys' spots? Or does Iowa mix up their defenses a bit more? Now, a couple years ago,

due to the emergence of Imani Hooker and Geno Stone, we saw Iowa football under Phil Parker move to a nickel package, something we had never seen them do before. That was out of a necessity due to the amount of talent they had in that secondary and what kind of talent they had in that secondary. Now, I don't necessarily think that that bodes well this year because linebacker depth is pretty solid. So where do you fit in those positions? But I think Iowa could mix in a few other looks this year due to the presence of Xavier Williams. Because as Phil

Parker has always said, you want to get the best 11 guys on the field at any time. Xavier Williams, a very versatile guy. Dane Belton, a very versatile guy. Again, I think Dane Belton will be very interesting to see how big he comes into the season as to either play that cash position or does he want to play more a true defensive back position. That'll be a very fun battle to watch across the secondary. Who steps up? Either way we go, we're in a good position, right? This is fantastic to have this much depth secondary being a very, very, very big strength of this team. And Phil Parker being a secondary coach, you just love

to see it coming up on segment number three, we're going to talk more about the linebackers and the defensive line where there's a lot of a lot of commotion there so talk a lot about the defensive line coming up on segment number three and then speaking about the the hodge trophy and also the big donation that's all coming up here in a few short moments but you know i always gotta tell you about bet online.ag bet online.ag is the fastest and the easiest way to bet on all of your sports action football Football might be over, but the NBA, college basketball, and the NHL are in full swing. BetOnline.ag even covers awards, TV shows, and reality television, real-time updated odds and props, and almost anything you can imagine.

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into linebacker or defensive linebacker. Nothing too surprising here. We see Jack Campbell and Seth Benson as a middle linebacker and weak side linebacker nothing too surprising here we see Jack Campbell and Seth Benson as a middle linebacker and weak side linebacker I think Jack Campbell can be an absolute stud this year excited to see him get a full season Jay Higgins and Justin Jacobs behind them that's also not a surprise either I will say I was surprised though to see Logan Klemp at that Leo position and I honestly kind of forgot about Logan. I had to look him back up because I was like, I honestly haven't heard of his name for quite some time. Logan Klemp, fourth year in the program,

saw four games last year and made that two deep. I think it's interesting to see, again, because that Leo position technically can be used as more of like an outside rusher if they want him to. But if you're looking at a traditional three linebacker front, I would think you maybe want to have Justin over there or Jack Campbell on that strong side. And that way you're getting your best linebackers in the game. And Justin Jacobs is a very athletic guy who can do some of the covering that maybe Jack Campbell can do as well. So that's a really interesting one to me to see Logan Klump at that Leo position.

But clearly for good reason. He's clearly shown out to the coaches. But that'll be a good battle to watch. A defensive line, though. A lot of new names as expected. Not a lot of starts. Not a lot of experience. This could be a weak spot for the team.

Or it could be a bright spot for years to come. of experience. This could be a weak spot for the team, or it could be a bright spot for years to come. When you look at this roster, only Zach Van Valkenburg, thankfully returning, is a guy who's going to leave after this year. We've seen departure after departure after departure after departure. We've lost three starters at least every single year for the last three years. Finally, after this year, we're not going to get that massacre of departures. Only Zach Van Valkenburg is scheduled to behind him we got Chris Reams a guy out of Van Meter Iowa very tall guy didn't hear anything from last year but excited to see what he can do at that right end position at the defensive tackles positions Yaha Black a guy who has really impressed since his time in

the program I'm excited to see what he can do. A little bit undersized, but I think there's a reason why he is there. And what he showed last year by getting some time on the field as a true freshman, that's huge. That's going to be big time. The fact that he got some time as a true freshman means this coaching staff trusts him. He could be an X factor to watch and someone I'm going to be talking a lot about when I talk about defensive lines.

Noah Shannon is a guy who's got to step up. When you look at what Davian Nixon did, Davian Nixon multiple years in the program comes out and just balls out in his first year as a starter. Can that be Noah Shannon, a guy who has some experience but hasn't been able to put it all together for a full season because he's been behind a few guys? I sure hope so. Then at left end, talk about potential here. John Wagner, a former four-star who's been in the program quite a few years, battled some injuries and whatnot, got his first sack last year. This is the time. This is why Iowa is a developmental program. This is why you wait your turn. And I feel like now is the time for John Wagner. Can he be a solidified starter there he's

been behind some solid defensive linemen AJ Epineza, Chauncey Golston, Zach Van Valkenburg you go down the list and there's a reason why he's not starting is he ready he should be at this point that's why I would recruit him that's why he was a highly touted recruit coming in. It's now his time. And Joe Evans, a former quarterback turned linebacker turned defensive end. You love what he can do in some of the blitz packages. But can he put it together for a full three downs? Does he have enough weight to put it together for a full three downs?

That'll be something I'm watching as well coming into spring practice. So that's the quick preview. As I said, we're going to be doing spring positional previews throughout the next two weeks, talking more in depth at each of these positions. Those are the storylines I looked at. A couple other things I wanted to quickly point out. Will Rene Moon endowed the head football coaching position and the new athletics excellence fund, giving $10 million to the Iowa Hawkeye athletic community. I don't want to go too much in depth here. You can look at the press read about what kind of they decided to do. But the big thing here I wanted to cover is for the people upset about them donating that money, get the hell over it. They can do whatever they want with that money. And they wanted to go to the football program. That's fine.

That's okay. It's their money. They can choose to do with it what they want. Maybe you would do something differently. That's okay too. Clearly, if you read their story, they have a passion for Iowa football and Iowa football is what has connected them as a couple. Let them do what they want. And it seems like they've been very close to the football program and Kirk has been very honored to be around them and be in their lives and whatnot. So let them do what they want with their money. Of course, you might be doing something different if you had $10 million to donate, but that's up to them to do. And then also a shout out to Spencer Lodge.

Wow, that was just no words there. Spencer Lee winning the Hodge Trophy. He is sharing that with Minnesota's Gabe Stevenson and both of them had a nice little interaction back and forth on Twitter. But Spencer Lee, an absolute baller. I don't know why anyone's upset that they're sharing that trophy. Gabe had a nice little interaction back and forth on Twitter, but Spencer Lee, an absolute baller. I don't know why anyone's upset that they're sharing the trophy. Gabe had a phenomenal season as well.

I think it's the right thing to do. Both those wrestlers putting together just outstanding performances all around. Gabe, very dominant in the heavyweight spot. Spencer Lee, the most dominant wrestler at that 125 spot and probably could win a weight class above him as well. But pound for pound, both those wrestlers top of their game. So congratulations to Spencer Lee winning the Hodge Trophy. And if you have TikTok, I highly recommend you go check out Michael Kimmerer's TikTok about Spencer Lee winning the Hodge Trophy.

Funny stuff from some of the Iowa wrestlers. That does do it for our show today, though. I hope you all appreciated the content we provided. We'll be back tomorrow breaking down some of the spring wrestlers. That does do it for our show today, though. I hope you all appreciated the content we provided. We'll be back tomorrow, breaking down some of the spring positional previews, going more in depth, that running back position, and then hitting on some defensive positions as well. Again, thank you all for tuning in.

If you like the show, give us that five-star review. Subscribe wherever you download this podcast app and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Have a fantastic Tuesday, Hawkeye Nation, and let's go Hawks.