Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - NBC Sports writer Thor Nystrom joins the show to discuss the Iowa Hawkeyes and the NFL Draft

Episode Date: December 22, 2020

We have Rotoworld and NBC Sports writer Thor Nystrom on the show today to talk about the Iowa Hawkeyes and the NFL Draft. Thor is a Rolling Stones award-winning journalist who grew up a Gopher fan and converted to Hawkeye Nation after attending Iowa for grad school and seeing the magic of Kinnick Stadium.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 “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order.BuiltGoVisit BuiltGO.com and use promo code “LOCKED,” and you’ll get 20% 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. 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, and I'm really excited to be bringing you today's episode. We have a very esteemed writer, an Iowa Hawkeye fanatic. We have Thor Nystrom joining the show. If you have not followed Thor, make sure you do that. He's at ThorKU. You can follow him on Twitter. A Roto World and NBC Sports lead college world writer and NFL draft analyst. He's a former Rolling Stone Award winner and FSWA College Sports Writer of the Year.

I'm honored to have him on the show, so we're going to be getting into that, talking all about Iowa's football season, how the COVID issue has impacted some of these players' draft stocks, all that kind of stuff. We're talking about all that today. Before we get into any of that, though, just a reminder that Iowa women's basketball takes on Western Illinois, 1-6 Western Illinois tonight, and men's basketball takes on Purdue as well so be

tuning in to those games let's get into our interview with Thor though right now all right I'm honored to be joined here by Thor Nystrom one of the best in the business at talking about college football and draft prospects he also happens to be an Iowa Hawkeye fan Thor it is a pleasure having you on the phone uh it's fantastic to be here. How are you doing, man? I'm doing well. Yeah, it's awesome to be here. Good to talk with you. Yeah, man. So you're doing some great stuff, and we are in the midst of a very interesting time in college football, especially if you're an Iowa fan. Personally, I'm a little upset about how everything's played out. I feel like they have a team that's ready to compete for at least a New Year's Six Bowl, but that is not going to happen. However, there are a lot of other bowl games happening.

You have some great stuff coming out on Roto World. Tell me a little bit about some of the stuff you're putting out, you know, some of the against the spread type of picks. Yeah, we're going to have a mega bowl preview that starts up. I think that my first bowl column is coming out on Sunday because, you know, this year is weird. You know, usually we have like the couple couple weeks where you have sort of a layoff between the end of the regular season and then the bowl season. But, you know, because of the condensed season this year, we're going to have, you know, we have a decent amount of games on Saturday.

And then, you know, obviously the NFL is on Sunday, but our first bowl game is on Monday. And then we got two more on Tuesday. And then we got a couple more on Wednesday. And then Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Like we're in bowl season once we get past this Saturday. So, yeah, we're going to have a lot of bowl content at Roto World. So check us out.

Yeah, man, it's a crazy time. I mean, I honestly forgot that it was the early signing period on Wednesday. I woke up and I had already posted a podcast and I was like, oh, my gosh, we are signing 17 kids to this class today. And I didn't even talk about it. I'm so involved in the football season. We have basketball season going on. Such an interesting time. Make sure to check out Thor's article.

We actually have a fantastic partnership. We're going to be announcing betonline.ag. So make sure to check out his picks and go to betonline.ag and make those picks so you can win yourself some money. Thor, how did you become an Iowa Hawkeye fan? Are you from the state of Iowa? No, I'm not actually. I'm actually from the state of Minnesota and I live in Minneapolis right now. I actually grew up hating Iowa just because my dad was a gopher, you know, alumni and a fan. And then I went to Kansas for undergrad and I covered the Minnesota

Twins for a year coming out of undergrad. And then I was lucky enough to get into the University of Iowa's graduate writing program and so I headed down to Iowa City and uh it only took one Saturday in Kinnick Stadium to convert me from an Iowa enemy to an Iowa super fan so uh I've been ever since you know ever since whatever that was 2009-2010. That's amazing, man. Yeah. I mean, uh, there, nothing beats a Saturday in Kinnick. Honestly, that is my favorite way to sell. I mean, that's my favorite Saturday of all time. Just going down there. My wife was in school an extra year longer and every single weekend I lived in Madison, I was up there working and I got season tickets for us. I would drive down just to be there for the tailgate and the game. It was just an incredible atmosphere. It's unfortunate. We weren't able to experience that this year.

A lot of other things that happened over this year as we all, you know, well know about. How has that impacted you from your job perspective, though? Because you're trying to make some of these picks, right? And games are getting canceled left and right. We just found out that Coastal Carolina, that game is being canceled. Also, a draft, you know, a draft analysis. We don't know who's going out, who's staying in.

How has that impacted you in your career? Yeah, in terms of, like, the nuts and bolts of like just in terms of like staying home to work, that's something that I've always done. So that part of it wasn't a big transition for me, you know, when everyone had to leave the office. But, you know, smaller type micro level things like you're talking about inside my job, like making picks against the spread. I'll tell you, man, this is my I think this might either my fifth or my sixth year doing against the spread pigs. I have never finished under 500 in any of those seasons, but this year

right now I am one game under 500. And so I need a big final week here and a big bowl season so I can keep my record going. I found it a little bit harder to handicap college football games this year, just because, you know, you do all your work handicapping early in the week. You know, my process starts on Monday. It starts on Sunday, actually, you know, setting out the numbers and everything like that. And then I do a lot of the handicapping work, you know, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Well, you know, there will be games like a couple of weeks ago, I was on Boston College plus four against Virginia or plus four and a half. It was a game that I really liked. Well, right before kickoff, Boston College announces that they're starting quarterback

and they're starting running back or not playing right before kickoff. So it was like, you know, I'd spent all this time researching this game and I, you know, I bet on the game and all of a sudden it was just like the game hadn't even started yet. And I knew I could just burn my ticket. It was over. So yeah, this year has definitely presented a unique challenges as far as that goes. And then as far as the NFL draft last, you know, the last draft was, you know, it upended that because it, you know, it, it cut into the pre-draft process quite a bit this year, it's going to affect it even more because at least last year you had the entire season played in advance of that and if you ask any scout what's more important you know sort of the pre-draft process like the combine stuff or the senior bowl stuff

or your entire final season catalog of film they're going to say the final season and so you know every single prospect every single prospect has had their season truncated in some way. I mean, even Alabama and Florida are going to play, you know, two games less than they otherwise would have. Some of these teams are playing, you know, Trey Lance played what, two games, three games? I think, you know, and some of these other kids, you know, played seven or eight.

Ohio State's only played five right now. So, yeah, it's just a different thing. It's tough, man. I was actually very interested. I want to get your thoughts on this. Last year, going into the draft process, Iowa isn't known for having a lot of high draft picks. I mean, that's just not what Iowa typically does.

They do have a couple guys usually getting into the day one, day two talk. But a lot of their success comes from those late day three UDFA kind of guys. And a lot of that success typically comes from those pro days where you can have a chance to perform in front of scouts. That didn't happen this year. Do you feel like more so than other programs that might've impacted some of the lesser known Iowa guys? It might have. Yeah. You know, it, it definitely might have anyone that could have moved up by their you know, their, either their athletic testing or sort of the way that they came across to scouts. It was definitely going to hurt them, you know, in, in Iowa, you know,

they're a team, you know, a coaching staff that has built a lot of ties with NFL staffs and stuff like that. And, you know, they know a lot of scouts, et cetera. I know scouts like coming into Iowa city and getting FaceTime with those kids. So, yeah, it definitely hurt Iowa, you know, players, but it, then again, I mean, like, you know, players. But then again, I mean, like, you know, it would be hard to say that it hurt Iowa more than, say, a Division one double A team where, you know, a scout, you know, wouldn't have gotten exposure to that kid beforehand. Whereas with Iowa, they probably would have just from being there. And so there were some kids where it really, really hampered their ability to get drafted in a way that otherwise would not have happened. But yeah, I, I do agree that, you know, the scouts want to be in Iowa city as much as they can for sure. Absolutely. Um, we talked about and how hard it is to handicap these, these games.

And I've also experienced those struggles because you want to get a good line early in the week, but you also want to know what the hell's going on with those games and who's actually playing makes it very difficult to actually bet correctly on some of these games and then even like this upcoming weekend we're we're recording this on Friday morning we got Ball State and Buffalo tonight and Buffalo hasn't played anyone worth a dang all their all their analytics say they're a great team but they haven't played anyone worth a dang so it's tough to do some of these handicapping one team it isn't tough to handicap in my personal opinion has been Iowa. The only game that in their winning streak where they have not covered has been against Nebraska.

And you could have argued they should have covered against Purdue and Northwestern. Some bad stuff happening towards the end of that second half in both games, two fumbles, which are very uncharacteristic of Iowa football teams. And then Spencer Petras and Brian Farris throwing the ball 50 times against Northwestern. Maybe you just run the ball. Maybe Caleb Shudock hits that 50-yard field goal at the end of the half. There's a lot of things that could be pointing in Iowa's direction

of winning those games and covering the spread. Wanted to get your thoughts on this Iowa football team, though. That was a long-winded way of me saying, what are your thoughts on this Iowa football team this year and how they battled through adversity to go on a six-game winning streak? All right, y'all, I need to quickly pause the conversation with Thor because I do have a very important announcement for you because if you're anything like me, you're constantly on the go,

especially around holiday season. You got work, you got to work out, want to stay in shape, probably baking some cookies with the family, hanging out with all your family whenever you can, obviously in a safe environment. But sometimes you just need to take a second, turn everything off, hit reset, and chill. And there's only one beer out there that's literally made to chill,

and that is Coors Light. Coors Light is cold lager, cold filtered, and cold packaged. It's literally made to chill, and it's as crisp and refreshing as the Colorado Rockies. Perfect for a moment to unwind. Believe me, I live out here in Colorado. I know what crisp and refreshing feels like, and Coors Light definitely hits the spot with that.

When you're trying to just take a second and relax, grabbing yourself an ice cold Coors Light to do that with you. Coors Light is what I choose and I need to unwind. So when you want to hit reset, reach for the beer that's made to chill. Get Coors Light in the new look delivered straight to your door at get.coorslight.com. That's right, folks. It can be delivered straight to your door. Just got to go to get.coorslight.com.

And as always, celebrate responsibly out there. This message is brought to you by Coors Brewing Company in Golden Colorado and right now we have an awesome new partnership with betonline.ag and we also have a fantastic show on the Locked On Sports Network called Locked On Bets but if you are ready for bowl season if you're trying to

make your bets to win a little bit of extra cash put in your pocket for this holiday season or you just want to bet on some of the NFL regular season games or even hell the college basketball season, or you just want to bet on some of the NFL regular season games, or even hell, the college basketball season, which has been quite fun to watch, there's only one place that has you covered. And there's only one place that I trust. And that's betonline.ag. Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promo code to lock down for a

50% welcome bonus. We have some awesome stuff coming up. Not only do we have the NFL games that you need to bet on, the college football bowl season, there's college basketball, but we are going to be actually working with betonline.ag to provide you some prop bets covering your Iowa Hawkeyes. So if you want to win some money on that Music City Bowl or win some money tonight on Iowa vs. Purdue, go to betonline.ag today.

That's right, get in on the action. Do not forget to use that promo code LOCKEDON and you'll receive a 50% welcome bonus with your first deposit. BetOnline.ag your online sports books experts. And along with BetOnline.ag, nothing has you covered better than Locked On Bets. Betting on

your team doesn't have to be a guessing game if you listen to the new Locked On Bets podcast hosted by your boy Q and handicapping experts Lee Sterling. Get daily picks and quick hitting advice to make the smartest possible wagers. Subscribe to the Locked On Bets podcast brought to you by betonline.ag wherever you get podcasts at. Let's hop back into that conversation with Thor.

Just a quick reminder, if you love the content we're pumping out, please make sure to like, review, and subscribe wherever you download this podcast at. Give us that five-star review and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. But let's get back into that conversation with Thor right now. Yeah, I like Iowa a lot, you know, even outside of just being a fan, you know, I mean, from the perspective of an analyst or from the perspective of just analytics, like you're referencing, this is a team who, you know,

I'm going to be preaching to the choir with Iowa fans listening to this, but nationally, I don't think people understand how close Iowa is or was to being eight and oh, I mean, you know, you sort of alluded to it there, but the Purdue game, Iowa finished that game with an 81% postgame win expectancy. They finished the Northwestern game with a 59% postgame win expectancy. And obviously people, you know, at home listening to this, watching those two games, Iowa was ahead for the majority of both of them. And, you know, in both of those games, there was, you know, these, these huge things that happened that were required to happen for Iowa to lose them, you know, the Sargent fumble in the Purdue game was another one. Obviously you alluded to how many throws they

allowed Petras to throw in his second, his second start there against Northwestern, which was a little ridiculous with that. You know, when they started out with that 17-0 lead, he ends up throwing those three interceptions late, lose by a point. Nebraska was the worst game that Iowa's played this year, and they won that game. They've pretty much been dominant in every game outside of that. And on the field, I mean, they really controlled that Purdue

and Northwestern game, even though they lost it. And so going into bowl season, there's not many matchups that Iowa could have where I will not want to back them. You know, I think that they're an extremely underrated team right now. Cause again, I just don't think that people realize how good they are and how close they were to being, to playing Ohio state this weekend for the big 10 title. It's crazy. And I don't want to harp on Spencer Petras. We've talked about Spencer Petras a lot on this show, as I'm sure you can imagine. Every single week, we have former Iowa wide receiver Matt Vandenberg on, and we talk about

Spencer Petras because that's what the listeners want to hear about, right? Because he has had his ups and downs throughout this season. But I look back and I think, man, if we had Nate Stanley, this team's 8-0, right? I mean, if we had consistent quarterback, this team's eight and oh, right. I mean, if we had consistent quarterback play, this team is eight and oh, and I truly believe they are set up for success where in 2015, and this is nothing against the 2015 team, that team was special and they knew how to win close games and figure it out.

But this team has some athletes that I don't think that 2015 team did on that defensive side of the ball. And the fact that Phil Parker is continuing to evolve his defense and Dane Belton has really stepped up into that cash roll. So phenomenally that allows Iowa to compete better against some of these spread attacks with better athletes, in my personal opinion. Agreed. Yeah. The, the athleticism on Iowa is, is far more impressive. I think, you know, than, than earlier in my time,

at least of following the team, you know, in terms of the last decade, you know, you're talking about time, at least, of following the team, you know, in terms of the last decade. You know, you're talking about it on defense. Offensively, it's really impressive as well. Tyler Goodson's one of the best athletes they've had a running back in, I mean, how long? You know, Tyrone Tracy is a tremendous athlete. Amir Smith-Marset is a tremendous athlete. You know, they've been churning them out. Obviously, Hawkinson and Fant recently were tested just about as the most athletic tight ends coming into the NFL that we'd ever seen. So, Tristan Wirth, we can't leave this conversation without mentioning the mutant who tested as the most athletic offensive lineman to ever enter the NFL. He would have been one of the most athletic tight ends.

Oh, yeah. I mean, he had longer jumps, I believe, than both C than both CD lamb and Jerry Judy, which is just absolutely stupid. But yeah, like, you know, I would definitely is upping the athleticism and just to go to Petra's quick, I know you've talked about him a lot, but you know, earlier this season, I, you know, watching him I, I wasn't, you know, terribly bullish, you know, I mean, the thing that jumps off the screen with him immediately is the big league arm. He has an enormous arm.

You know, he gets velocity on all throws. He can push it down the field, et cetera. But what you saw in those first couple games is he's this immobile pocket passer who had not learned how to go through the progressions yet, clearly wasn't comfortable in the pocket yet, and they're letting him sit back there, you know, throw 40, 50 times a game. It was just a bad offensive strategy, you know, schematically. He just wasn't ready for that, especially coming off the COVID offseason that we'd had, the disruptions, et cetera. Like, you know, Tracy and Smith-Marset, you know, even Goodson,

those guys had all worked with other quarterbacks before. And now Petras is coming in like, you know he'd never started before and so you know I but but I do think having that sort of um you know trump card of his arm strength something that you can't teach other guys I think that makes him really intriguing and as the season's gone on um I've started to get bullish on him I mean you started to see it these past couple of weeks, especially against Wisconsin. I mean, he was tremendous in that game. And you start to see him utilizing that athleticism that we were just talking about. When you have a quarterback who can throw the ball like that, you have an offensive line as good as Iowa does.

They have a top five, top 10 offensive line in the nation. Then you have a stud running back like Goodson. If Petras gets his act together, like he did against Wisconsin and you have these NFL caliber athletes on the outside, multiple ones, this is too much for a defense. They can't cover all of that different stuff at one time. So you're going to have one-on-one matchups outside. That's what Iowa wants. You know, it's run, run, run, play action will pop you deep. And we're starting to see that offense start to coalesce. So again, I mean, that's just another data point for me in terms of like in bowl season, I want to be on the Iowa Hawkeyes and going forward, I'm bullish on Iowa going forward. I think they're going to be a scary team next year. You know, as long as Petras takes another step forward, Goodson's going to be one of the best returning running backs in the nation. Tracy's going to jump up. I think, you know, as long as Petras takes another step forward, Goodson's going to be one of the best returning running backs in the nation.

Tracy's going to jump up, I think. You know, I mean, like, there's just a lot of different, you know, guys on this team. We'll see what some of these seniors and stuff like that, if they come back. Because obviously, you know, the eligibility clock is paused this year. So that, you know, they're going to have options. We'll see what the offensive line defense looks like. But I'm really bullish on Iowa going forward. Yeah, man. And I think people don't realize, I mean, Wisconsin, despite their record. And again, that record would have probably been

five and three at the end of the season. Had they had the opportunity to play their entire schedule, Wisconsin's a good team and their defense is very strong and I don't care what way you swing it, but Spencer Petras played a phenomenal second half against Wisconsin and doing what he did against that defense is huge. And it is tough. We're probably going to lose a mere Smith Marcell. I almost see zero way that he comes back. I would be shocked to see Brandon Smith come back, but you alluded to it. Tyrone Tracy is a great wide receiver that we didn't get to see as much of

this year as did last year, because we have such good tight ends, Sam Laporta, Sean Byer, we have Luke Leitchi coming up, Elijah Yelverton. I mean, there's a lot of studs that are behind these guys just waiting for an opportunity. And more so than a lot of other programs, I really trust how Iowa recruits their guys because they're focused on character first, athleticism second. And I think to me, that's a winning formula because they find guys who are able to play their positions, but are also fantastic leaders and guys who want to work their butts off to get into that program. So I'm really excited for this team as well.

Wanted to get your thoughts on some of those seniors, though. What seniors in particular? Do you think there are any that actually do come back? I know Nick Neiman said he's not. Keith Duncan's not. I don't think the wide receivers are. But I could see maybe a Zach Van Valkenburg or a Jack Heflin. I think they could possibly return, which would be a huge, huge bolster

to our defensive line returning next year. All right, one more pause before we finish off the conversation with Thor. But if you're like me, you're always on the go. Sometimes need something to just give you a little pick me up. Or if you're a big workout person, you're tired of your old stuff

that you've been using as a pre-workout, grab yourself a BiltGo. BiltGo comes in one and a half ounce packages. It's like a five hour energy without the same crash feeling. Plus it's natural, so it's better for the body. It's like drinking a monster drink with a third of the caffeine and better results.

And like I said, it's perfect as a pre-workout or even just a midday pick-me-up. You can carry it in your briefcase for the most focused presentation ever or your golf bag to power you through that back nine or just put it in your pocket to get you through the day as you're trying to run errands or hang out with family

during the holiday season. Built Go is loaded with the good stuff to ignite your work. Beta alanine, B3 honey, and a kick of caffeine. It's also got some B6 and B12 to keep you going strong and collagen to promote joint, soft tissue, hair, and skin health. Not only does it make you feel good, this stuff actually makes you look good as well. It comes in three delicious flavors, peanut butter, honey,

chocolate, coconut, and my favorite, which is chocolate mint. Right now, go visit BiltGo.com and use promo code LOCKED. You'll get 20% off your next order. Use promo code LOCKED for 20% off at BiltGo.com. Let's go. Every Tuesday at Locked on NFL, Luke Braun and Ross Jackson break down that Monday night football action and top fantasy storylines

around the NFL with the Tuesday Fantasy Forum. Luke and Ross are joined every Tuesday by a Locked On fantasy expert to help you save your lineup with waiver wire pickups, must starts, and more. Subscribe to Locked On NFL wherever you get your podcasts at. Let's get back to that conversation with Thor and wrap it up right now. Yeah, you know, I haven't heard anything specifically. And what's kind of interesting, you know, with my job job, because a part of my job with a big part of my job with the Roto world is covering the news, you know, we blurb breaking news. So we're, you know,

we're always reading tweets, reading stories, and then and then putting the stuff up. So we've seen guys, you know, redshirt seniors, seniors, for other programs, some of them come out and say, I'm declaring for the draft, which this year you have to do in the past seniors didn't have to do that. But this year you actually have the option of coming back. And then, you know, some of the guys are actually staying and it's really tough, you know, with, with, with these guys, like, I mean, like you, you know, you mentioned Amir Smith, Marcelle, I haven't heard anything specifically on him. So maybe you have, but if I was Amir Smith,Marset, honestly, I'm coming back, man.

I think that offense next year, especially if – this is going to depend a little bit on the offensive linemen coming back. Alaric, Linderbaum, Kronk, how many guys – I'm missing a couple names in there, but how many of those guys are are going to come back but as long as the offensive line um is is good which it always is at iowa again the the skilled players for iowa especially if smith marceau were to make that decision to come back is going to be ridiculous now of course um i i know the reason why you're saying he's probably not coming back even though i haven't heard from him that way because like he did all those antics during senior day he was flipping into the end zone. He gets, you know, he gets injured. And then he's like in the post game, he's like, they're like, Amir, do you, do you regret flipping into the end zone? He's like, Nope, not at all. I do it again. And then they

said that if, if the game against Michigan hadn't been canceled, he wouldn't have played. So he basically, you know, got himself inactive for a game. It didn't regret it at all. So that, I mean, that is, that is a huge, you know, sort of tea leaf indication that he does plan to leave. But again, like Smith-Marset, this is a very deep receiver class. Last year was as well for the NFL draft. This year is again, it's another stacked receiver class. So if, you know, Smith-Marset, I don't see how he could project himself to go before late day three.

Why not come back to an Iowa offense that's loaded with a quarterback whose skill set is specifically tailored to sort of leverage what your special skill is in terms of Smith-Marset where getting down the field. You know, if Iowa gets, you know, even better at running the ball with the play action stuff, and then Petras takes another step forward, Smith-Marset could have a really big year next year. You know, and again, you know, Tracy taking another step forward, those tight ends. I mean, it's just too many weapons on the field.

But again, you know, just going through the guys, it's really hard to say right now. So it's going to be something where Iowa fans really need to sit at home and just sort of be watching the announcements because these kids could go either way. Yeah, I completely agree with you. I mean, Amir Smith-Marset's only 21, right? So if you stay in school for another year,

at the worst, you're coming out at 22, 23. And again, you have to look at your draft prospects and also the other part of that class. And the wider receiver group is so deep. And I completely agree. I feel like if you come back for another season, you could be the star. You could be the star.

Because last year, there was some hype coming out because he had a fantastic junior season. He decided to come back the senior season, COVID new quarterback, all those things. There was definitely a dip in production and you also saw a dip and, you know, some of his attitude a little bit at times. I think there is an opportunity to really bolster that stock.

If he were to return, the offensive line is going to be very interesting to me because I think it's without a doubt, we're probably losing a Larry Jackson. I think the tackle class, he's too big of a guy and too, you know, too strong of a tackle to stay in, in my personal opinion, I want to get your thoughts on that. But Tyler Linderbaum, I mean, he could be a day one, early day two prospect, but he's also, you know, only three years into school. I could see him really loving Iowa and wanting to stay just for one more year he's still still a young dude you got both your guards returning Coy Cronk

I don't know what his plan is but Mark Kallenberger started half the season he got honorable mention you know all big 10 he's going to be back too so this offensive line could very much be almost all intact aside aside for Alaric Jackson want to get your thoughts on him though do you think there's any chance he returns I don't you know that's the one I think Alaric Jackson. Want to get your thoughts on him though. Do you think there's any chance he returns? I don't, you know, that's the one I think O'Laric's probably the biggest long shot just because, um, you know, he has spent his time there. He, he has put forward that whole film catalog. He saw his, his bookend mate leave for the NFL, you know, at a great sort of hype and accolades last year. I think he would be the longest shot. Um, but O'Laric Alaric, you know, he's not a kid where he declares he's going to go on the first round. And so, you know, you do have that thing of like, you know,

is there a chance that I sort of fall into that day three sort of no man's land? You know, is there if I come out right now, am I going to go on on day two? I think that's probably, you know, after the season when he sits down with, you know, the coaching staff and the agents who are who have no doubt been contacting him all season and sort of like talks this through. I think he really, you know, we talked about it before in terms of like both having the self-awareness of where your game is, but also having the self-awareness of sort of the draft class that you sit in. And I think both of those things are super important because, you know, when we talk about the NFL draft, it's a cliche, but we talk about stock. Well, you know, the whole

thing about stock, stock is relative, right? It's relative to all the other stocks around it in the market. And so I think that will be a big thing for Aleric. I'm not sure if the juice will be worth the squeeze for Aleric to come back. But if Aleric feels that day two is not a really good possibility for him by declaring, I could absolutely see him at least, you know, sort of logically making the argument to himself that there would be, you know, reason to come back. Because again, you'd be coming back to an offense that could be really really really really good and you know to your point about Linderbaum I mean it's that's a great point and I think Linderbaum's in a bit a bit of a different camp where like you mentioned as opposed to a lyric where it's like you know hopefully I go day

two but you know if worse comes to worse I'm going to fall into day three with Linderbaum I agree where it's like best case scenario um I declare and I sort of go on the Cesar Ruiz pre-draft process ride you know that Ruiz did last year and he became you know the number one interior guy went in the first round that's what Linderbaum would be hoping for. You know, there, there is that chance too, that he would get knocked into the second round. I, I don't really see him dropping further than that. He's that good, you know, like interior line, it is a position that's a bit devalued, of course, but Linderbaum, if he comes out, he's going to be one of the top three or four interior guys that goes on day two, you know, and probably in round two, you know, depending on, you know, where he comes out against,

you know, Creed Humphrey and, you know, some of those other different guys that are coming out in the, you know, the, the interior class. So those, those are really interesting ones. And then, you know, obviously, you know, I mentioned Kronk before there was, there was bigger hope for him before, obviously he didn't play a ton this season, but that's another example of a kid where, you know, just because of the sort of unique circumstances of this season, you know, some guys who were seniors who had disappointing seasons, injuries, you know, depth chart things,

couldn't get on the field as much, whatever as they'd hoped. Obviously, Kronk came here from Indiana, hoping that it was going to improve his draft stock. He, you know, if, if he had to do it over again, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be leaving Indiana after the season they just had, et cetera. But like, you know, now would Cronk want to come out? You know, I don't think he's, he certainly, I don't think he's going to get drafted if he does. So would he want to come back for another season? You know, those, those are some of the interesting things to look at, but you know, it would be nice to have a guy like that come back, you know, for, for depth reasons, if nothing else. Absolutely. So I have three other

prospects I want to touch on before we wrap up the show, Tyler Goodson, does he have the chance of being the highest drafted Iowa Hawkeye running back since Liddell Betts? I love Goodson. Yeah. I'm, I, I'm, I'm a really big fan. I, uh, I nicknamed him spin shady on, uh, on Twitter. I don't know if you saw that, but his, his, his parents like that. So I, uh, you know, all about that, you know, his, his game, he's just so, um, he's just so slippery, man, you know, and, and obviously the, uh, you know, the spins became a, a big part of his game, um, you know, early in his obviously the, you know, the spins became a big part of his game, you know, early in his freshman year and stuff like that. But yeah, I'm, I'm just a really big fan of his game. And so is the, you know,

are the analytics as well. You know, sometimes I wish I would trust him a little bit more. I was, you know, along with a lot of Iowa fans was, was hoping his freshman year, he'd get the ball more. And then, you know, in games like the Northwestern game, et cetera, you're, you're wanting Goodson to get the ball more, but he he's a stud. I mean, there's, he, he's one of, you know, despite his frame, he is a little bit on the smaller side, but you know, in terms of frame, you know, you can sort of comp him to a guy like shady McCoy, you know,

where it's just where I got the spin shady moniker from. And the thing that I like about Goodson is not only does he have the breakaway speed, you know, we've seen him, you know, run the explosive runs where the safeties and the cornerbacks can't catch up to him. So I'm pretty sure he's got the, you know, the long explosion necessary for the NFL. He also has great acceleration, great burst. You know, like I mentioned before, extremely slippery, extremely, extremely slippery.

He's one of those guys who's just really difficult to get their hands on. You know, a guy who is like this a couple of classes ago, although Goodson is way more athletic than this guy is, is Devin Motors Singletary, where they just have such good feet. And Goodson had talked about, you know, this off season about how he and his father for years and years and years, you know, back in season about how he and his father for years and years and years, you know, back in his hometown, they'd practice that spin, you know, and that footwork. They've been doing this for years. So when he looks so natural on the field, that's why,

you know, but so it's that stuff as a runner. He's also a really good, you know, pass catcher as Iowa fans know. The other thing is, you know, and I don't think people around the nation know this and in draft analysts, you would just tend to sort of look at his size and just be like, Oh, he can't pass block that kid pass blocks. He gets in there. I mean, he'll put his helmet in the chest of a 250 pound linebacker who's screaming down. He doesn't care. I Goodson is a tough kid. Um, I'm just a really big fan of his. He uses the truck stick, too. He doesn't go out of bounds. He'll lay a safety out right by the sidelines just to do it. So I'm a huge fan of his, and, yes, I do think he has a chance to be

the highest Iowa running back drafted in years and years and years. Yeah, I mean, I think about when he's running in a straight line and somehow he manages to spin. Him and the guy are in the same exact line. He spins, the guy misses completely, and he's still on the exact same line running full speed. I haven't seen that, and it's just truly amazing. I think Iowa fans should really appreciate

what they're seeing with Tyler Goodson, and I appreciate the fact that Brian Behrens is trying to incorporate new ways to get him involved in the game. The wildcat was a wrinkle. I never thought we would have seen from a Brian Behrens is trying to incorporate new ways to get him involved in the game. The wildcat was a wrinkle. I never thought we would have seen from a Kirk Behrens offense. And it is fun to see. Another guy who is just a ton of fun to watch, Davian Nixon. Prior to the season, I will call it out when I suck at something or when I'm wrong.

But I also want to call out my successes. And Davian Nixon is a guy coming into the season that I think was a pretty obvious thing to anyone who watched Iowa football last year and looked at some of the stuff he was doing but to the outside world people didn't know who Davian Nixon was and I said this guy is going to be an all-American prospect coming into the season and he has been I want to get your thoughts on Davian Nixon he is a freaking beast he is a freaking beast yeah you were right man I think uh he's he was he the number one defensive tackle on kuiper's new uh draft he would have to be he was top 10 on his i mean so he's got to be number one yeah i mean you know you talk about a guy who's who's you know you know some guys this season like we

mentioned it's a really wonky season some guys um you know because of circumstances outside of their hands you know were hurt by that you know from an nfl draft perspective so hands, you know, were hurt by that, you know, from an NFL draft perspective. Some guys, you know, whatever. Nixon is a guy who, you know, took this opportunity and ran with it. Obviously his, you know, his game is really leveled up this season. He's just a fun guy to watch too. You know, he's a guy that you can tell juices up the sidelines, you know, he seems like a jolly fella and stuff like that as well. So, and you like to see the big fella moving, you know. So, yeah, I'm a big fan of Nixon's. And, you know, it's super cool to see, you know, Iowa's defense get as good as it has. I believe it's SP plus number three right now.

I don't know if even Iowa fans coming into this season thought that, you know, like, I mean, objectively, this is going to be a top three FBS defense by the advanced numbers. But it is, you know, in large part because of guys like Nixon, like their game's just advancing so far. He's been a stud. Yeah. I mean, that's the Phil Parker effect, too. I mean, Phil Parker is just a fantastic defensive coach, too.

But I mean, I was one of those people. When I talk about the weaknesses of this team, I point out the fact that we have lost seven starting defensive linemen over two years. That's tough for a program like Alabama to replace. Now you factor in Iowa, that's even tougher. Top of the linebacker group, I was like, man, this linebacker group is young. There's not a lot of experience here.

We're also losing Digimon Colbert. Wow, this linebacker group amazingly became one of the strongest units of this team. The last guy I want to touch on, I'm not trying to decide. I was going to do Dane Belton, but let's actually, let's just take a Dane Belton. What are your thoughts on Dane Belton and how does he project as a pro

prospect? Because he's playing an interesting role in that Iowa defense playing more of a box safety role, but also can play that nickel corner. And I've seen some of the successes I've seen from him has been in that nickel corner spot of being able to, you know, let guys off of his own and go to the zone where he's supposed to be in cover the right guys. He's also a willing guy to, you know, go in and, and rush the passer, but needs a little bit more size to be able to do that more effectively. Wanted to get your thoughts on Dane Belton and how he projects as a pro prospect in a couple of

years. Yeah. It's it's, it's interesting when, you know, the NFL looks at Iowa defensive backs, you know, and I don't know if Iowa fans, you know, sort of caught on to this, but in my opinion, and maybe I'm biased because I'm an Iowa fan, but I think the NFL has sort of underrated Iowa defensive backs over the years. the system, you know, that Iowa puts them in, you know, where there's a lot of zone coverage and stuff. And so I think, you know, you have the zone coverage thing and then you have like the idea, which isn't necessarily based in reality. It's just, you know, the idea that Iowa is more of a try hard team than a team that's blessed with athleticism. And so I think like, you know, for NFL draft analysts, when they're watching the film and you're sort of watching, you know, Iowa defensive backs or, you know, the guys in the nickel role, you know, where they sort of

get to drop back into soft zones and stuff like that and keep everything in front of them. I think even if these players have the ability to do more, and even if they do show that they can do more in small samples, when those are not the coverage assignments. I think there is a propensity by NFL draft analysts to look at Iowa defensive backs and to sort of downgrade them just automatically, because I see this year after year, you know, where they talk about like, you know, you know, the, the coverage schemes, et cetera. And the insinuation being is that Iowa is sort of hiding inferior athletes from, you know, being in space with, you know, the guy on the other side. But I don't necessarily think that that's true. You know, we've seen that we've seen multiple steals, multiple, multiple, multiple steals, Iowa defensive backs, you know,

over the past decade in the NFL draft. So I think that that's a fallacy. And, you know, and just as far as like a money ball thing, I would be looking at Iowa defensive backs. I've liked some of the ones, you know, coming out recently, you know, more than the rest of the media in part because of this, you know, and I think going to a kid like Belton, obviously he's got really good size, you know, especially, you know, you're talking about a guy playing nickel playing, you know, in the box, playing close to the line of scrimmage, et cetera. I think something really important for him in the same way as it is for other Iowa defensive backs is to go to Indianapolis and test really well, because then he's not going to get caught with the whole questions of, well, you know, you didn't have to run after people in space. You didn't have to cover people in space as much as, you know,

some other guys did in college. You know, Belton needs to go out and prove that he is that sort of athlete that will be able to cover, you know, and stick with NFL caliber athletes in space. I think. Yeah. I couldn't agree more with what you said. I mean, look at Michael Ojemudia last year. He actually, you know, he, he played a pedestal career at Iowa goes to the senior bowl. I thought he played very well at the senior ball I was actually down there watching in practice

he showed that he could do man coverage which is a very difficult drill for corners in the senior bowl because it is they're just on an island there's not a scheme it's just them you know versus the other wide receiver who knows exactly what they're doing right that's a difficult you know time to be playing he did well there and then tested well and look at him getting drafted in the third round and I would say having success for a third round corner for the Denver Broncos had some issues in the middle of the season, but I couldn't agree more. Thor, I have to say you had the best name on Twitter.

So that is fantastic. Where can the folks find you at though? Any Iowa Hawkeye fans that want to hear more about your awesome draft takes, your against the spread takes and Iowa Hawkeye takes. Thanks, man. It was awesome to be with you today. People can check me out on Twitter at Thor Koo. It's T H O R K U.

And then check us out at Roto world. You know, like I said, we're going to have lots of bowl content coming out and then we're going to have all sorts of just oodles of NFL draft stuff coming out, you know, come mid January. Once we get past the national title game. I love it, man. Thank you so much, Thor. Have a great day, buddy. Appreciate you, man.

All right. And that concludes our conversation with Thor. I hope you enjoyed the interview with him. I thoroughly enjoyed it. You know, really appreciate him taking the time out of his day to talk to us. Always a fantastic conversation. Such a smart guy in the industry. And the fact that he loves the Hawks makes it even better.

So make sure to go follow him on Twitter. And if you love the show, give us that five-star review. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Subscribe wherever you download the podcast app. Hawkeye Nation, I always appreciate the listenership, your attentiveness, and tuning in every single weekday as we drop a show for you covering your beloved Iowa Hawkeyes.

As always, stay safe out there, and let's go Hawks.