Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - NFL Draft Analyst Nick Kendell joins us for the final segment of Iowa Hawkeye draft coverage looking ahead to next year's team

Episode Date: January 29, 2019

We are back with our fifth segment of Iowa Hawkeyes NFL Draft coverage, but instead of talking about this year's crop of players, we look ahead to next year and who may enter the draft early and what seniors we should be on the lookout for to breakout in a big way and strengthen their NFL draft stock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to another fantastic episode of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. The Locked on Hawkeyes podcast is delivering you daily, bite-sized episodes about your favorite college team, the University of Iowa Hawkeyes. I'm your host, Andrew Wade, editor over at DearOldGold.com, where we focus on everything about Iowa Hawkeye athletics, and we have a fantastic episode for you today. If you've been tuning in the last few days, you know we've been talking a lot about the NFL draft. It's draft season now, and there's plenty of Iowa Hawkeye football players who are preparing for an opportunity to showcase their skill set to NFL talent evaluators. On today's show, we actually have Nick Kendall joining us for the final segment of our five-show series where he's been talking about draft prospects from the 2019 class of Iowa Hawkeyes.

However, on today's show, we're actually going to be taking a step forward and focusing on the 2020 class. Who could possibly be taking the spot of first round draft pick for Iowa Hawkeyes? Who could be in the senior bowl? Who are guys to look out for on next year's team? Who are the guys who could be in the senior bowl, who are guys to look out for on next year's team, who are the guys who could be leaving early even. As we've seen this past year, we've had four guys who decided to leave college early, leave the University of Iowa football program a little bit early. There could be just as many next year possibly. So I want to focus on that for today's

episode. Before we jump into that though, if you haven't had an opportunity to, if you love what the kind of content we're producing, if you love listening to stuff about the NFL draft, you love listening to news on Iowa basketball and news on all the other Iowa Hawkeye athletics, including wrestling, women's basketball, tennis, swimming and diving, so on and so forth. Make sure you're subscribing to our podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast at. Also, if you have a smart speaker at home, it's very easy to listen to the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. All you need to do is tell Siri, Google, or Alexa to play podcast Locked On Hawkeyes. It's that easy to listen to one of the most recent additions to the Locked On Sports Network's growing lineup of college podcasts, the Lockdown Hawkeyes.

That being said, let's jump right into it right now. We have an action-packed episode with Nick Kendall talking about the seniors and the juniors from next year's class of Iowa football players. So without further ado, we're going to jump right into the conversation right now. conversation right now one of the things that's really interesting and no one's really talking about is the potential for a mass attrition next year when we have nate stanley who's going to be graduating we have aj panessa who is you know i mean he is going to be a top 15 pick probably we have a larry jackson and tristan wiristan Wirfs who have some up and down play, I think, throughout the last two years. They're still young, though, and again, they're growing in that Iowa

offensive line scheme, learning from Kirk and Brian Ferencz, but they have a ton of talent. Their size is very NFL type of size. And then we have Geno Stone and Matt Hankins in the secondary. We saw Stone emerge this year playing that third safety role because of Iowa's move to that 4-2-5. And then obviously we saw what Hankins can do and what happens when Hankins isn't in the lineup. I think the best case about that or the best example of that was the Purdue game where

Iowa got lit up by Purdue's number three wide receiver who had about four catches all year so we could see kind of what happens when Hankin wasn't playing so I wanted to get your thoughts first on Nate Stanley his kind of the the floor and the ceiling I mean there was some talk about him being a first rounder even this year I think there's a lot to improve on for him I think accuracy is a big thing. I think decision-making is another one. He usually has about one to two throws a game where you just want to literally shake him and be like, what were you looking at there? So I want to get your thoughts first on Nate Stanley.

Well, if Josh Allen going, what was it? Seventh overall last year, eighth overall taught me anything. It's that the NFL will take take tools every time now i'm not saying nate stanley has tools like josh allen josh allen is probably the closest thing to cam newton since cam newton but stanley is a guy with a big frame he's got a pretty solid arm it's not you know true lock josh allen level matt stafford level but he's got an above average arm and he can make those throws. And also he's got work under center and a pro offense. I don't think his reads are as complex as many say, you know, pro style offense. I don't see him going through like crazy reads

where he's a full field reads, so to speak a lot of more deep middle check down kind of thing. One, two, three. But yeah, I think Stanley is a guy that he's going to get a chance to be a starter in the NFL. And I know a lot of people like to reminisce about CJ Beathard. He's definitely got the bigger personality, the more, you know, smile and get on my back kind of guy. But Nate Stanley is, if I'm picking a quarterback to start an NFL franchise, if I had to pick between them, I'd pick Stanley. Stanley's got way better arm talent, and he's just a more prototypical passer. I do love how big and strong he is in the pocket, but I do think, you know, you talk about the touch, the accuracy, the base,

it's got to get more consistent, that's for sure. But the main thing I want to see him do next year is just be much more subtle and advanced in his movement in the pocket. A lot of times he would step, especially when I watched some of the All-22, he'd step in ways that would not help himself. You know, Tom Brady is not a great athlete. I mean, he's definitely not a great athlete anymore. But the way he can subtly move around the pocket and just take small steps

to create different windows to give his offensive line time, that it just, it's a world world of difference in something that Stanley is really far away. As far as his, his pocket ability. I'd also like to see him speed up his mental clock, his processing ability,

you know, get from those reads quicker. Don't stick on the first read too long, but also if you, you need to be able to see a guy breaking open. Sometimes I'll see a guy where he has that primary read, and the guy comes open the second after Nate Stanley gets off the read. So it's not just seeing if the guy's open.

It's seeing if he's going to be open, if that makes sense. No, that makes complete sense. Yeah, so that's the big thing. I do think that the tools are there. He's really tough in the pocket. I mean, he's had some crazy highlights where guys are draped around him, and he's running around, and he's big and strong. I mean, he's hard to take down. There's no doubt about that, but it's just as far as the processing, the consistency with his base

and movement in the pocket are the big things I'm looking for. Yeah, I mean, I think the Indiana game was a really good example. Obviously, he had a career game there. I believe he received a National Player of the Week award after that one, but he was chucking guys off him. People were draped around him, and he was still managing to look down the field and throw the ball. I mean, he delivered a strike too easily as a touchdown with a couple guys draped around him.

So pretty impressive overall, but I 100% agree with everything with what you're saying. I think there's a lot of potential with him, but I think this will be a really huge year for him. How much progress does he make from his junior to his senior year I'm glad he came back I think it's best for obviously his career and for the Hawks I mean they have a lot of talented quarterback quarterbacks behind them behind him but I'm excited to see what Stanley can do in year three that being said

I even talked about this earlier in the season on dear old gold but one of the things that i kind of noticed is that there seems to be some sort of regression with iowa quarterbacks when they go into their senior season or their their final year or they have a big year and they come back and uh they're just it's a statistical regression there's kind of a general play regression we saw cj bethard have a a decent year when he led i to the Big Ten championship game and then the following season is just nothing could get going and I think that's partly because it was CJ Bethard and partly because there was really no one on on offense who could stretch the field or really do much for him but again he was hurt he was really hurt yeah especially against um what

was it the was it the Outback Bowl where he went against tennis or the tax layer bowl against tennessee and he wouldn't come out of the game but he could barely freaking move so tough tough all around but it'll be interesting to see kind of how nate stanley progresses from this season to next season a couple other guys we want to touch on i think we could talk all day about aj pinesa just a quick one or two minutes feel on him what are your thoughts on him i think the big knock on him right now is his run defense, and he needs to get better against the run, which is, as you talked about with Parker Hesse, a big reason why Epineza wasn't playing as many downs

as some fans who don't really see the whole game were saying he should be. I mean, he played about 25 snaps. He was very, very effective in his snaps, but he needs to get better against the run so what do you think he needs to improve on to really solidify that top 10 top 15 status all right we'll be right back with our conversation with mckendall but before we jump back into that conversation i do have a message to give you because if you're like me you hate to miss your favorite team play, regardless of who they're playing. And that's where Sling TV comes in. Now I never have to

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dot com slash locked on. Never miss a game again with Sistling TV. Well, he is an absolute freak, and I would be shocked if he wasn't a top 10 pick next year. That being said, I am a little bit concerned about the defensive line depth for the Hawks next season. I mean, they're losing a fair amount of guys up front. There's some transfers and some guys quitting football as well

and guys leaving early. So that'll be interesting. And obviously, if he plays a huge amount of snaps this year, he's not going to be as effective on a per-snap basis. Great NFL teams, great any teams, have great defensive line depth. I mean, that's something we saw Alabama this year in the national championship. They have a great defensive line, but they did not have a great depth or rotation of guys. And

then once Clemson started getting going, you saw them get real tired and they started losing their effectiveness. So that's, that's a big thing for me is just seeing if he can handle the bigger workload, be more consistent, still be, I mean, he's, I don't think he's going to put up the sack per snap that he had this year. If he is, he's going potentially first overall. But I think that's a big thing. And also, I'd like to see him just string some moves together. You know, I'd like to see some rip moves. I'd like to see some swims.

He has a really good bull rush. I mean, we saw Max Sharping left tackle for the Northern Illinois Huskies. He talked about guys that he went up against this year, and he went up against Brian Burns, who many people think is going to be a top 10 pick in the upcoming NFL draft. Sharping held up against Burns, and there was an interview with Sharping too. He asked, you know, is Burns the best guy you went up against this year? And he said, no.

That kid from Iowa is unbelievable. I like to call Max Sharping A.J. Epinesa's son because A.J. Epinesa put him on his butt a few times. So, yeah, I mean. As he did against a lot of Big Ten tacklers this year. I mean, he was throwing guys all over. I mean, he put one of the Wisconsin tackles on skates a couple of times. I mean, it was fun to watch him.

But, yeah, I'm really excited to see what he can do. Obviously, as you said, we can't really expect the sack per snap numbers that he had this past season. Playing 25 snaps, leading the Big Ten in sacks and being top 10 in the nation. can't really expect those the the sack per snap numbers that he had this past season playing 25 snaps leading the big 10 in sacks and being top 10 in the nation but i feel i still think even with teams you know double teaming and stuff like that he'll still be able to produce some pretty good numbers and either way the guy's an athletic freak who can really make a difference on the defensive line yeah there's just not many guys ever at the university of Iowa that have had his height, weight,

speed, athleticism, overall package. I mean, he's listed at about six, five, 270, 275 pounds.

And the amount of force he creates at the point of attack when he creates contact and the length he plays with his ability to keep guys from just getting clean hands on him is special. The raw tools are special. I mean, you're talking about a franchise-level pass rusher in the NFL. But now it's just, you know, keeping to add good muscle. Chris Doyle will be on that for sure. And stringing moves together and just being more consistent

about his pass rush plan, setting guys up as well. I mean, you saw Von Miller. That's something he learned from DeMarcus Ware. He's like, you know, you don't have to use your best move every time. You need to learn to set guys up that way on that third and ten when you need to get that sack. You've set them up all game long going in, going in, going inside, going inside. Then you show them that and bust outside of the spin move or something. That's kind of that more refined mental game stuff that he hasn't shown yet. Granted, it's been partially because of, you know,

he is a kid still and he's had a limited snaps, but yeah, he's got really high potential as I'm already on some 2020 stuff as far as NFL draft goes. And as far as edge rusher, number one, this next draft season goes, it's either AJ Epinesa or Chase Young at Ohio state, who is also an absolute freak, a little bit different type of edge rusher, more of that smaller Twitch pure speed guy where Epinesa, I mean, he's not going to have issues playing either scheme because he's athletic enough and long enough and good enough that

you just get him out there and forget about perfect fits, but both those guys are very dynamic. I'm really excited to watch them both next year in bigger roles. It'll be a lot of fun. I mean, the depth is obviously a concern for the Hawks, but A.J. Panessa is going to be a beast. I'm excited to watch him. Even Chauncey Golsan, who flashed a little bit throughout the season in his spot play

as well. He did a fantastic job. When he was on the field, he was constantly making plays as well. It wasn't just pass rushing plays. He was branching out, doing a little bit of flat zone covers, that kind of stuff. So I was pretty impressed by Chauncey Golsan as well.

But I don't want to get into – Tim, I wanted to quickly get on to Larrick Jackson and Tristan Wirfs, two guys who have a ton of NFL potential. They are huge guys, very, very, I think, highly looked at or very – what's the word I'm looking for? They have a lot of potential NFL teams are kind of gushing over their size, but I think they need to put it all together. They've had some inconsistencies over the last two years. They, you know,

they started out, they started as freshmen at tackle for the Iowa Hawkeyes, which is not something that happens very often in the Iowa football program. And they've kind of, they've, they built on that. They've gotten better, but there's still those inconsistency flashes. What do you think they need to do to potentially be talked about in the first, second or third round of next year? And do you think that's even a possibility? I think it's possible that both those guys could bolt for the NFL or Jackson. Both of them have already actually had some incidences off the field,

you know, or academically off, off field, et cetera, et cetera, have already actually had some incidences off the field, you know, or academically off the field, et cetera, et cetera, where they've missed some playing time. So it wouldn't be surprising to see if those guys bolt at their opportunity. I'm taking Tristan Wirfs over Alaric Jackson. You know, I always thought that Tristan Wirfs was more of a natural left tackle. And I think he is the guy with the higher upside, the higher ceiling as an overall player. I mean, he's actually, you know, you're talking about both him starting as a freshman and sophomore.

Jackson's has another year on Worfs in the program. So Worfs will be a true freshman next year, or a true junior next year, excuse me, whereas Alaric will be a redshirt junior. So the fact that he's able to come in his freshman season and play like he did. I mean, the only other person I can think of playing tackle for Ference as a true freshman is Brandon Scherf.

So that's pretty good. Yeah, exactly. Worfs, looking at his body size, you'd think he'd be a more dominant run blocker than he is. But really, it's his pass blocking that really sets him apart. And people are a little bit worried about losing the tight ends next year. But if you've got those bookends like the Hawkeyes have in Jackson and Worfs, and bringing three solid wide receivers back, I'm actually pretty excited about Tyrone Tracy playing that slot role. I think that you'll be fine.

But yeah, I like both these tackles a lot. I think Alrick Jackson, if the talk is true that he's just much more comfortable with his left hand, that's why he's at left tackle. I wonder how much that's going to affect him in the NFL because I don't know his overall athletic upside at that position as a blindside blocker. He's a little bit more lumbering than Tristan Wurst is, and skill-wise, he makes more sense as a right tackle because he's going to be working with more double teams, et cetera,

on that side, and obviously the blindside matters. Not as much as it used to because teams are moving around their edge rushers to isolate guys and find matchups but still that matters so i'm curious about his talks i can't confirm for sure because i didn't say right tackle but talks that he's much more comfortable with left tackle than right tackle how much that's going to affect his stock but i think worse is the guy that is the the more talented of the two that if he has another good season next year takes another step forward he could definitely be a guy that's in the talk for a first round pick if not you know top 60. Yeah that'll be really interesting to see and I yeah I'll try to like see if I can get any

more information on the left hand thing I think that's a really interesting take that I haven't really heard yet but if that is the case like you said that'll be interesting to see how that translates that really makes him kind of inflexible to be able to move around and is he a true left tackle in that sense so yeah that's something like prototypical skill set wise tristan works with how smooth he is as an athlete as a pass blocker he's more of your prototypical left tackle in my eyes and i would have worse at left tackle with jackson at right tackle but apparently i mean it's not that simple, obviously. The technique is different.

It's like learning, you learn how to do everything right-handed, and then you have to learn everything left-handed, right. I mean, it's not as simple as plugging in play and switching guys around in Madden. But I think skill-wise, it makes more sense. And it comes down to, if it is true that Alaric is just so much more effective at left tackle, obviously getting the best five out there. But I think that does, that will limit his demand and his value at the next level because i just do not know if he has the the foot speed and flexibility in his waist and resetting his knees or bending

his knees etc to be a true left side tackle in the nfl makes sense and then to wrap it it up with the other two guys we talked about a little bit before the show that you brought up was Geno Stone and Matt Hankins. And we saw Geno Stone played really well this season in that third safety spot, good enough to get all Big Ten honors. He had four interceptions tied for the team lead, really showed his ball hawking abilities. And then Matt Hankins, kind of that shutdown corner. What I was most impressed about with Hankins, kind of that shutdown corner.

What I was most impressed about with Hankins is not just his coverage, but his ability to tackle in the open field. I believe he was against Iowa State. He took down a 240-pound tight end, and he was the only guy left standing between him and the end zone. And really impressed me. And you talked about this a little bit earlier with Amani Hooker, but his tackling is fantastic for a defensive back. So wanted to get your thoughts on those two guys.

What would need to happen? Because, I mean, I think with Josh Jackson and Desmond King, they got a lot of hype when they went out for the NFL draft. Desmond King had eight or nine interceptions or something ridiculous. Josh Jackson had something, you know, some sort of similar stat line with a lot of interceptions. Got a lot of buzz and hype for the NFL draft. Hankins doesn't have those, you know, those high interception numbers.

So what are your thoughts on Stone and Hankins as potential defensive backs at the next level? Well, I think both have very high upside. Geno Stone might be one of the most athletic safeties the Hawkeyes have had in a while. And he's not, I don't think you're going to play him in the same role as you played hooker where he's playing that hybrid safety linebacker cornerback role that star as they called it I think you're going to see another guy kind of get a chance there maybe a Mayweather that's a Merriweather that's somebody who's been

given some hype in that role but I like Stone a lot as far as that deep safety whether it be cover two where he's the strong safety maybe even look at free safety his range back there his ball skills I mean we saw a little tidbit of it against Penn State where he returned that one back for a pick six he's physical coming downhill so I think Stone has very high potential and I wouldn't be surprised if he took a big step next year and there's another guy who could leave early and then I also really like Hankins a lot. There was the battle and injury this year, and also I believe he got in trouble with a disorderly house

in the Purdue game or the Penn State game, one of those games. That's something to monitor as well because I know Kirk runs a tight ship, so that's always something to watch. But Hankins really impressed me in the Iowa-Mississippi State game where he was up against, I mean, obviously some really good SEC talent. Mississippi State, not really a great team throwing the football. Nick Fitzgerald is a Costco brand Tebow, but still, he had a really good game, really tight coverage, and I like the versatility shows. I don't think he's a pure zone guy. I think he's

definitely got more versatility than we've seen from some Hawkeyes cornerbacks in the past. I wouldn't be surprised if he's a guy whose arrow is trending up, and I really hope that we can see both him and Brents next year on the field because I think those are your most talented cornerbacks. Although Ojemudia, solid tackler, good coming downhill, a little bit stiff. That's an issue. I mean, he got exploited in Wisconsin for that regard. Not great change of direction ability.

Maybe he's going to be the guy who plays that star role i don't know we'll see i trust if there's anybody i trust on the iowa staff it's phil parker so we'll see you back there but he'll get the best guys on that secondary and there's a lot of talent there too i mean the fact that came on merryweather blew his red shirt or his opportunity for red shirt they still have dallas cradeth who was kind of the big guy coming in you know there's a lot of talent there the safety position and the corner position and I mean I know a lot of people are down on Riley Moss but give the guy some slack I mean he was a a gray shirt you know a gray shirt freshman walk on having to start in Big Ten football clearly not I mean he made some good plays definitely not ready to start right away,

but another very talented player who's also there that they have as a fourth corner. And you can see the amount of talent they have just by how many people are leaving the program. I believe they've lost two or three cornerbacks over the last month to transfers because they're just not going to get a chance to play because there's that much talent there. Yeah, I agree.

So got to trust Phil Parker and man man i'm really excited to watch the progression of julius brents and i really hope that we can get both i hope we can get him on the table or the field more this season because his his upside is as good as any iowa defensive back that i can remember i mean his his length is he looks like slenderman out there as he continues to fill up that frame, and he looks like he's aggressive back there. I mean, he's one of those dudes who can scratch his knees without bending over. So I'm excited about him just going forward, and I'm really hoping that we can get him on the field more because he is a great talent.

But if he's not working in the weight room, not that he's not, but, like, he's going to have to be putting in the work well because Phil Parker is going to make you – you have to know the playbook. You have to be able to fill in. You have to be busting your butt. Otherwise, you're not going to see the field. So that's a good thing. Not an issue at all.

You've got to love that about the Iowa Hawkeyes. They are not going to give in to whatever your status is, how much talent you have. You need to be just as hardworking as the guy behind you that's a walk-on who may never have a chance to play. You better be working just as darn hard. Otherwise, you're not playing either. Yep.

I love it. Last thing I want to touch on before we get out of here, actually. Oh, perfect. There's another guy. Awesome. I really, another guy that wasn't really sure what the Higgs exact bowl this season, you know, is it going to be playing that outside kind of linebacker like his brother, but Nick Neiman. Yes. He is a guy who flashed a lot down the stretch i

really liked his length he's a guy who needs to keep adding weight you know 6'4 220 225 he needs to add another 10 pounds 15 pounds or so but i really think that he's got upside and i really like the way he was playing in that mississippi state game coming downhill him and also colbert both good linebackers definitely more athletic than what I was typically had at that linebacker position. So he's one that I'm really excited to see what type of step he takes next season. Yeah, I wrote, actually, there's a couple articles I had about Nick Neiman.

I mean, he never necessarily filled up the stat line. He was injured a few games, but when he played, that guy flew to the ball and he was all over the place. And you could tell the difference that, you the difference when he was in the game. And Digimon Colbert, I don't know if I said his first name right, but Colbert's outstanding too. I mean, I think coming into the season, obviously, linebacker was a big weakness.

This season was a little bit tough because there were so many injuries and people being out and whatnot. But with Neiman and Colbert, they have a pretty solid foundation at linebacker, and I'm excited to see what Nick Neiman can do next year because I really did love watching him play and how quickly and how well he flew to the ball. He obviously, like you said, he has that background.

His brother Ben played for Iowa. He's now with the Chiefs, so has that pedigree and knows what needs to happen to make it to the next level. That'll do it for our Tuesday morning episode. We appreciate you taking the time to listen to the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. Obviously, as I noted earlier, make sure you're tuning in to our last few episodes,

especially if you love the content covered on today's episode. Last Wednesday, we talked about Anthony Nelson and Noah Fant. Last Thursday, we talked about Imani Hooker and TJ Hawkinson. Last Friday, we talked about Ross Reynolds, Keegan Render, and Nick Easley. And then on yesterday's episode, we talked about Jake Gervais, Matt Nelson, and Parker Hesse. So make sure you're tuning into those episodes if you enjoyed the content on the NFL Draft. As you can expect, with NFL Draft season upon us, we're going to be covering this stuff a lot over the coming months. So stay tuned on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast.

As you may know by now, I'm your host, Andrew Wade, and you can find me on Twitter at Wade underscore Andrew, and you can follow all the exciting happenings of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast on Twitter at Locked on Iowa. Make sure you're also subscribing to our podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast at, and please leave us a review. Let us know what you think. We'd love to hear from you, the fans. Also, as a side note, I am recording this in a hotel room. So if you're hearing sirens or whatever it may be, the audio is going to be a little bit worse

than it may typically be from my home office. Currently traveling in New Orleans, so bear with me over the next couple episodes. That's going to be a common recurring theme, something I can't really change at this point. Either way, though, thank you for joining us on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Have a fantastic day, Hawkeye Nation, and we'll be back tomorrow.