Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - NFL Draft recap: Which Hawks went where and how do they project with those teams + Joe Wieskamp returns for junior season

Episode Date: April 27, 2020

We break down every single pick and undrafted free agent signing that happened for former Hawkeyes and discuss the great news of Joe Wieskamp returning for his junior season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I thank God I was born on the good arms of the Midwest, and not on the battlefields of the U.S. It's a time of panic, and it's intercepted! It's picked off right away! Intercepted by Marty Hooker! Pick six! Eight seconds into the game! Buffen sets up deep in the pocket, goes down the field for Smith!

Oh! He's got it! Smith! Touchdown. 85 yards. High on. Touchdown, 10. Taking a shot in the end zone.

It is caught. No offense. Touchdown. That's either one or you have it. Go ahead and three. Yes. Two-point lead for the Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Sports Network.

As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade, and excited to do a recap of this weekend's NFL draft. A few Iowa Hawkeye players saw their NFL dreams realized this weekend. And we had five draft picks from the Hawks. And then we had three others who signed free agent deals at the time of recording this, which is Sunday evening at seven central. So if any new signings come out, obviously I'll, I'll be putting that on our Twitter account, which is a good reminder to go follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. And if you do like what you hear today, if you haven't listened before and you do like

it, make sure to subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast at. That helps us. It also helps other people find the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. So I absolutely appreciate that. So like I said, on today's show, basically I'm going to be breaking down the NFL draft and where some of these guys fit on these teams and whether or not they can get a roster spot or kind of what the prospects of them sticking on these teams are. And then we're also going to break down the decision from Joe Wieskamp to not declare for the NBA draft, a huge decision for the men's basketball team as well.

That's all coming on today's episode of the show. We'll kick it off with actually the Joe Wieskamp news before we jump into the NFL draft talk. So yesterday, it might have been Saturday, yeah, by the time you're listening to this, was the final day to declare for the NBA draft, and he ultimately decided not to declare. And it's important to know, obviously, with the NBA, if you declare, you still have the opportunity to come back,

even if you declared for the draft. That's what Luka Garza is leaving open as an option as well. But the decision to not even go, to me, is pretty telling. I think Joey's camp isn't ready to go. And I think he didn't feel like he put together the best season to be able to maybe make the leap to the NBA. And I also feel like he just has some unfinished business. Luka Garza declaring makes a ton of sense. You want to learn what the NBA thinks of you,

that you want to learn what the NBA needs you to get better at to join the ranks there. So that kind of makes sense. But if Luka Garza also decides to return, this Iowa Hawkeye squad is going to be filthy good. I am just pumped to watch this team next year already. You have, you know, all of your starters returning for the most part, right? I mean, you think about Ryan Creener is technically a starter, but he is more of a six man from last year. You basically have your entire team returning.

Plus you get Jordan Bohannon back as well. Patrick Nunge, you know, obviously going to be returning back from injury. This team is one to reckon with. And all those polls, you know, the going to be returning back from injury. This team is one to reckon with. And all those polls, you know, the way too early 2020-2021 rankings. Iowa should be in the top 10. I see no reason why they shouldn't be in the top 10. This is a team that was already good last year or good this past season. They were a team that I wouldn't have wanted to play in the NCAA tournament.

They can take down some tough teams. They showed a lot of resiliency and a lot of willingness to battle through adversity. They were a tough, tough team. And so that was shown this year, and they dealt with so many injuries. Now they're going to get restocked and reloaded onto an already strong team. Jordan Bohannon returning. You have Connor McCaffrey in his third year running the point guard spot. You have a couple different fantastic recruits.

The Murray Twins have really kind of elevated their game since going down and playing a prep year. Just a lot of really good talent coming onto this team, and I'm really excited to watch them play next year. What's actually going to be interesting is how does Fran McCaffrey divvy up the minute tier? One of the things that I think actually helped him this past season was the fact that there really wasn't much of a bench to turn to, so it kind of forced him to keep some of his

guys in a little bit longer than he probably would have wanted to. Now, that's not to say that's a good thing. You obviously want to keep your guys rested. I think we saw that with Luka Garza, who played just a ton of minutes this past year. Just never really got a chance to come off the court. And granted, that was also for the reason of the fact that he was typically the best player on the court at any given time. But the big bench, we've seen it kind of hurt Fran McCaffrey in the past. He likes to play a bunch of different guys.

But it also can lead to him, at times times kind of forgetting about people on the bench. I think Isaiah Moss was probably the biggest recipient of this forgetfulness. Maybe it's not forgetfulness. Maybe it was intentional, but it sure seemed like there were times where Isaiah Moss would go to the bench and just wouldn't come in for 15 minutes a couple years ago. It seemed like Fran McCaffrey just totally disregarded him as an option coming back off of the bench after putting him there. So this lineup is going to be really unique to see how he handles so much talent on

this team. But one of the interesting points actually that I was talking to Matthew Crawford, the general manager of the Iowa United, which I'll get to here in a bit. We're talking a bit about this Iowa team and how good it could be next year. And he did bring a really interesting point up that I didn't even think about. But a lot of the teams that are in the top five, they have one or two guys who are locks for the NBA, locks to be top 15 picks, top 20 picks. This Iowa team doesn't really have a lock for an NBA draft pick. I think Joe Wieskamp can certainly be drafted if he continues to improve his game. I think Luka Garza can be drafted as well, but neither of those guys at this point look like first rounders. Connor McCaffrey likely going to be drafted by the MLB

for baseball as opposed to going anywhere for basketball. Patrick Nunn, no draft hype for him as of right now. Hasn't really played a lot of minutes at this point with the injury last season. And then you think of CJ Frederick, fantastic shooter, great defender, but where does he fit at in the NBA? I think there's always a need for a 3 and D kind of guy, but is he an elite 3 and D kind of guy that can play at the next level? That'll be something to watch going forward. But this team is just, they're a great team.

I think that's what makes it so much fun to watch them. They really stick up for each other and play well off of each other. So it'll be a lot of fun, though, watching them next season and, again, seeing how they're going to move some of the pieces in and out. You have Tony Perkins and Aaron Ullis joining the team from recruiting and going to be new players next year. But you also have so many other guys that can play that one or two spot. Connor McCaffrey, Jordan Bohannon, Joe Toussaint, CJ Frederick.

That's quite a few guys that you want to be able to get in the lineup. So my guess is, based off of some of these older guys returning, I think there's a good chance we see Aaron Ulis probably redshirt. And I think it'll be interesting to see where they want to slot Tony Perkins. And I think he can be a huge asset next year. Very explosive guy who can go end-to-end with the ball and slam it down with some ferocity. So it'll be interesting to see if they decide to actually retch or him or not.

But he could be a really good asset to sit behind C.J. Frederick and spell C.J. Frederick coming off the bench and being an athletic defender as well with the combo of him and Joe Toussaint. That could be a pretty lethal number two lineup for the Hawks. So it'll be interesting to see how Fran handles all of that. Not a lot of big men depth with the team. Obviously, Riley Till and Cordell Pemzel leaving.

You have a couple of guys coming in from the recruiting ranks, the Murray Twins, the big guy Josh from the East Coast and from Great Britain, ultimately. Those will be guys to watch for that could actually get some playing time just because of the lack of depth from a big man perspective next season. But again, all this kind of depends on Luka Garza and if he returns. And if he does return, I hope he does. But if he does return, we'll break that down as well. But great news for the Iowa Hawkeye basketball squad

to be getting Joe Wieskamp back for a third year on the team. Coming up after the break, we're going to break down the NFL draft, where some of the guys landed and where I think they fit at and how, how likely it is for them to make the roster. We are back for segment two of the lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. And I broke down the draft selection of Tristan Wirfs on our Friday episode. I did get it out a bit late, but did break down kind of where he fits with the Bucs. I think it's a great fit for them.

He's going to be playing with the GOAT, Tom Brady, and has the ability to protect Tom Brady. And just kind of looking at their depth chart, that Tampa Bay team didn't really have a great offensive line play on the outsides. In the middle, in the interior, they do have some fantastic guards. Allie Marpet, Ryan Jensen as a center. Those guys are solid. From a protection standpoint on the tackle side, though, they did not have much. Having Tristan Wirfs, selecting him at 13 overall, he's going to be slotted for that right tackle

spot from day one. I have no doubt in my mind that he's going to be slotted for that right tackle spot from day one. I have no doubt in my mind that he's going to be a day one starter. And the Buccaneers can really use that. They already solidified that offense with some really great playmakers, obviously trading for Rob Gronkowski. They already have OJ Howard. They added Keyshawn Vaughn in the third round. I mean, this offense is ready to go. They added Tyler Johnson as well, the Minnesota prospect. I didn't really think that Tyler Johnson was that great after watching him play Iowa and have a few drops, but this Buccaneers team is going to be

lethal, and Tristan Wirfs has a great opportunity to potentially go to the playoffs early on in his career and play for a great coach in Bruce Arians, and the guys he's going to be lining up against on the other side in practice is going to be pretty ridiculous. He's got Ndamukong Su, Vita Vea, William Golans, and the guys he's going to be lining up against on the other side in practice is going to be pretty ridiculous. He's got Ndamukong Su, Vita Vea, William Golston, and Jason Pierre-Paul.

Those are some guys you don't want to mess with. Shaquille Barrett, I mean, these are guys that Tristan Wirfs is going to get a lot of really good experience from having to take down every single day in practice, kind of similar to him having to go up against AJ Epineza. Just giving him a lot of good experience against some great rushers. That'll be fun to watch him there. Not really anything too surprising with that. In the second round, AJ Epineza did slip even further than I really thought.

I thought he could have gone between picks 36 and 40. Obviously, teams decided to not take a chance on him that early. He fell to the Buffalo Bills, and I thought that was a really great landing spot for him. The Buffalo Bills have a superb defense just from last year. Sean McDermott, a great head coach, a defensive-minded head coach. And now you put AJ Epineza on this squad. It'll be interesting to see where he fits. Right now, he doesn't slot in as a

starter. They have Mario Addison on the left side, Jerry Hughes on the right side. I think AJ Paneza could probably win that spot. Not having many camps is going to hurt him a little bit, though. Not as much time to see him in action and whatnot. But I do think AJ Paneza, if not in the beginning of his career, will still get a lot of playing time, but he'll be able to work his way into that starting lineup by the end of the year. I firmly believe that. This is a guy who, outside of the 40-yard dash time, was a round one talent. If his 40-yard dash time was maybe.2 seconds faster,.3 seconds faster, we're talking about AJ Ibaneza as a possible top 15 selection.

Falling to pick number 54, though, was great value for the Buffalo Bills. And they even said as much. They basically, you know, and it sounds like in some of the interviews with Sean McDermott after the selection of A.J. Paneza, to me, it sounds like they just really love Iowa Hawkeye players. You know, they have some Iowa Hawkeye players on the team.

Ike Butker, you know, Micah Hyde, and Nick Easley. And it sounds like they're just really infatuated with the program and love what the program has done for them. They love the kind of players they are getting. One of the things that Sean McDermott actually said is that he told me earlier that this is from Marcel Luis Jaquez. You can follow him at Marcel underscore LJ on Twitter. He said, Sean McDermott told me earlier this season that he's a fan of players from Iowa. It was a contributing factor in his interest in Micah Hyde back in 2017.

He said, I always love guys from Iowa because of the culture they come from. And really, he's not wrong. The culture they're building in Buffalo, and I've heard this on Twitter a couple times, it's not sexy. It's a team that is going to beat you up. They're going to play tough football, and they're going to run the ball a lot.

And on defense, they're going to be aggressive and physical. And that fits perfect for AJ Epinesa, a guy who is probably one of the most physical defensive ends in this draft class, a true and pure power rusher. He's going to be a great fit in this defense. And with a defensive-minded head coach like Sean McDermott, I'm really excited to see him play. Excited to see Bill's mafia get behind A.J. Epineza. I think I personally might have become a secondary Bills fan.

Broncos are my favorite team, but I think the Bills might quickly be up there now with Nick Easley, Epineza, Ike, and obviously Micah Hyde there. Really excited to watch that play out, though. Moving on, kind of an interesting selection, a surprise selection, was Michael Ojemudia getting selected in the third round at pick 77 by the Denver Broncos. This is a team, like I said, I'm a huge Denver Broncos fan. A couple of the other guys I kind of communicate with pretty regularly from the Twitter world, the draft world.

They're also Iowa fans and Broncos fans. So I'm interested to see if we can get them on the show and talk a bit about this. But this is an interesting fit. I think it makes sense. Vic Fangio needs sure-handed tacklers into that defense. They want sure-handed tacklers. And Michael Ojemudia is a guy who's going to be physical. They also want versatile defenders.

And for me personally, after talking to Michael Ojemudia at the senior bowl, I got the feeling that he feels like he can really contribute in a variety of different ways, not just lining up on the outside corner role. I don't think he necessarily projects to be a slot corner, but he could project to be a third safety. He can slide in as a dime backer as well. I mean, he's got great size at 6'1", 200 pounds, and it's a position that he's familiar with as well, having played it in high school, and in this Broncos defense they need versatile defenders, this secondary

is revamped, they traded for A.J. Bouye, Kareem Jackson they got last year, Justin Simmons currently on the franchise tag, looking to get him to a long-term deal, for me personally after watching the Broncos play my whole life basically, but the last year, this is a great fit for Ojemudia to come in and probably get playing time pretty quickly. And it sounds like that's what John

Elway expects as well. He said this on his Twitter account, Michael Ojemudia from Iowa is an extremely talented and bright corner. We're excited to add to the Broncos in the third round of the draft. He's an exceptional tackler with good instincts and movement. And it's important to note, A.J. Bouye and Bryce Callahan, these are the starters for Denver at the cornerback spot. Bryce Callahan does a really great job of sliding into one of the best slot corners in the

NFL, if not the best slot corner when healthy. Ojemudia is going to be battling for that third corner spot pretty quickly. It just depends on when we can get back into camps. I think he does need a little bit more refinement in man coverage, considering he played mostly off zone coverage,

or zone coverage, excuse me, not off zone, off man and then zone coverage at Iowa. Definitely going to need some technique refinement, but Vic Mangio and company, right? Like at Donatello, those are guys that you want to be your head coach if you want to be a cornerback with great potential. Isaac Idem is a guy to watch out for as far as playing time

for Michael Ojemudia and Devontae Bosby, really a guy who stood out last year to me at that cornerback spot. But neither of those guys are unbeatable from a getting playing time perspective. So I do think there's a good chance that Ojemudia probably starts the season as the fourth corner. But I do think by the end of the year, he can work his way into that third corner role. I think Denver really likes the potential with him. And I think he's going to be a great fit in that defense. So really excited to watch him there as well.

Coming up, though, we're going to take a quick break and then hop into the rest of the draft selections, including some of the undrafted free agents from Iowa and how those guys fit as well. We are back for our third and final segment of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. And we just touched on Michael Ogimudia, AJ Epineza, and Tristan Wirfs, all three guys going in the first two days of the NFL draft.

Great representation for Iowa, and from a recruiting standpoint, just really fantastic as people see these Iowa guys go, especially those cornerbacks. If you're a cornerback and you're going into the recruiting process for college, how do you not choose Iowa? To learn under Phil Parker, I know Iowa's defense isn't really conducive to coming out very technically refined in man coverage. However, you come out and you are still going to be a wanted prospect. I mean, look at Michael Ojemudia. Not really on draft radars last year. Comes out after his senior year.

Very smart guy. Has a great performance at the Senior Bowl, all things considered. And gets drafted in the third round after running a 4-4-5 40-yard dash, which I think really helped his stock. Then you have Geno Stone getting drafted in the seventh round. And some people are kind of being shady on Twitter, I thought, just saying maybe it was stupid of him to enter the NFL draft as a junior. I disagree.

I think for Geno Stone, he was a guy who his draft stock wasn't going to improve a lot more, in my opinion. I feel like he kind of is what he is, right? And that's okay. Why not go into the draft now and get that paycheck? Get paid now while you can. Get in there a year earlier. And he's going to be learning with a great Ravens defense behind one of the best to ever play. He's going to be learning behind Earl Thomas, an aging safety, but at his time, one of the best to ever play. He's going to be learning behind Earl Thomas,

an aging safety, but at his time, one of the best safeties in the league. And I do think this is a great fit really for Geno Stone, an instinctual player who didn't test very well, but is going to be a great special teamers early on in his career. And I think he's a guy that Baltimore could look at having be a starter in one to two seasons. Right now, the depth chart is basically full of a bunch of guys who are kind of late round draft picks. You have Earl Thomas at the free safety position. Chuck Clark is currently slated as the starter at the strong safety position, a former six round pick in 2017. Last season had a pretty good year, all things considered, and signed a three or $16 million contract extension.

So the starters are really locked in for the Ravens. But behind that, you've got a Sean Elliott, Jordan Richards, and Anthony Levine, all guys who are solid. But I think Geno Stone, there's a reason you take him in the seventh round. You take him as a guy who can be a fantastic special teams player and can spell your starters and kind of be groomed into being a starter. Like I said, the ceiling,

the ceiling is high for Gino stone, uh, or excuse me, the floor is very high for Gino stone. The ceiling, maybe not as much just because, um, you know,

the, the, the athleticism isn't on par, but with great instincts, I think he can carve out a really nice career with the Ravens and a great landing spot there as well. And his former teammates, Christian Welch also signed a deal with the Ravens. So, uh, I'll talk. And his former teammates, Christian Welch, also

signed a deal with the Ravens. So I'll talk a bit about that here in a few seconds, but I thought that was really interesting to see that as well. Christian Welch actually may even have a better chance of sticking on this roster. The linebacker depth is pretty low, even though, or pretty light, even though the Ravens did actually invest pretty heavily in the middle linebacker spots with Patrick Queen in the first and Malik Harrison in the third. But we'll get to that in just a few seconds. I want to make sure I talk about Nathan Stanley. Good old Nate getting drafted in the seventh round by the Minnesota Vikings.

This was something I just feel like it just made sense to go to Minnesota for Nate Stanley. He has an opportunity to learn behind Kirk Cousins and learn under a great offensive mastermind in Gary Kubiak. He has an opportunity to learn behind Kirk Cousins and learn under a great offensive mastermind in Gary Kubiak. He slots in. Right now, he's currently listed as the third quarterback on the depth chart behind Sean Mannion and Kirk Cousins. Sean Mannion is not a guy who scares me, although I think drafting, and you also got to think about Jake Browning too, but Jake Browning is garbage. Just trailer trash garbage from a playing time perspective.

Just terrible quarterback. He's not going to beat out Nate Stanley by any means. Sean Mannion, a little bit more of an older guy, 28 at the time, former starter for the Oregon State Beavers. He was actually selected in the third round by the Rams about five years ago. But since then, really hasn't done anything. His career statistics at this point, zero touchdowns, three interceptions, 384 passing yards, a 60.8 completion percentage,

57.5 passer rating. So not exactly the most impressive statistical production. For Minnesota, he's only played in one game as a starter, went 12 of 21 for 126 yards and two interceptions. To me, I don't think they don't have any ties to keep him. They don't really care about keeping him. And Nate Stanley is a guy who is going to be able to come in, especially with the fact that they're not going to have OTAs and all that stuff because of coronavirus. Nate Stanley is the quarterback you want in the seventh round

because he's a brilliant guy who understands complex offenses. He's going to be able to pick up the system real quickly and be able to be a competitor at that quarterback position very quickly. And a high IQ, high character guy. And for Minnesota, it makes sense. He's kind of a high ceiling, high floor guy. He understands the offense. He's going to be able to learn that quickly.

Although it's a little bit different with Gary Kubiak and kind of the bootleg type of stuff they do in Minnesota and under him. But the zone running scheme is there. He's familiar with that, having ran that kind of offense at Iowa. And if he can improve his accuracy, Minnesota might be on to something. Kirk Cousins just assigned an extension. But after that, maybe Nate Stanley plays well enough to get into the lineup. But we saw this with Gary Kubiak with the Denver Broncos a few years ago, drafting Trevor Simeon in the seventh round out of Northwestern. And Simeon actually carved out a pretty, I mean, he was a starter for Denver and probably shouldn't have been, but still a very good backup and a guy you want on your team. That's how I look at Nate Stanley as well. A big physical quarterback,

big, big quarterback who kind of reminds me of Big Ben to an extent. I think this was a great landing spot for him, though. He should be able to keep a roster spot on the 53-man roster for the Vikings and be that number two quarterback in case Kirk Cousins goes down. So great landing spot for him. Three other Iowa Hawkeyes did land undrafted free agent contracts, and we've seen Iowa players do this in the past. Coaches love Iowa players.

It's a great opportunity to get a guy who is going to come in and work their butts off and going to not cause any issues. So when you're looking for undrafted free agents, you want guys with great potential who can do some of those things for you and also potentially play some solid football. So Christian Welch did end up going to the Baltimore Ravens. And as I said earlier, I think that's huge for him. He actually has a chance of sticking on similar to Ben Neiman when he was with Kansas City.

Also, we had Nate Weeding going to the Cleveland Browns. I don't like that fit a ton from a playing time perspective, unless one of the things, and I'll get to it here in a second, could be the fact that looking for a better blocker, but given what investments the Browns have made at a tight end position, Nate Weeding is, stands a very tough chance of actually getting a roster spot more unless they plan on playing.

Now that doesn't make sense either. I'm looking at the roster right now and he wouldn't play the H back role either, but we'll get to that. And then finally, Cedric Lattimore signed with the Seattle Seahawks and Ahmad Wagner, former basketball player for Fran McCaffrey. He actually was at Kentucky and ended up signing with the bears.

So great stuff for those guys. We'll keep you posted as more guys get signed through undrafted free agent deals. One of the things that'll make it kind of interesting though, is with the, with the coronavirus stuff, you can't hold, oh, you know, open, you know, tryouts, that kind of stuff. That's how Parker Hesse landed a spot with the Tennessee Titans. He had an open tryout, did a great job and got signed. So guys like Michael Sleep Dalton, Torn Young, Brady Reif, those are guys who are currently looking for jobs right now. And you know, don't have that opportunity to go to tryouts at this time.

So that'll be interesting to see where they kind of land on their feet. But let's jump into the Christian Welch signing with the Ravens. As I said, this is a great fit for him. They do play a 3-4. Obviously, Iowa plays a 4-2-5, 4-3 defense. But he does project as an inside linebacker and a fantastic special teams player. With the Ravens coming into this draft, they only had three guys that can play that inside linebacker position, and none of them really do it that well. Chris Board, LJ Fort, nothing to

really write home about with those guys. However, they invested pretty heavily in the inside linebacker position, getting Patrick Queen in the first round, excuse me, huge as he fell down to them at pick 28. Patrick Queen coming out of LSU. He's going to obviously be the starter there. Malik Harrison also from Ohio State. He got picked in the third round. Those guys, to me, are going to be the starters

for this team going forward. But again, when you have two linebacker spots and only five guys in the depth chart, I do think there's a chance they could potentially carry six linebackers, or I think Christian Welch could beat out one of the other three reserve guys. A really great guy who I think is underrated. He's a guy coming out of Iowa who, I think if Iowa has him in the Wisconsin game, Iowa wins that game. It's unfortunate that he had some injury issues late in his senior year. I think that kind of hurt his draft stock as well.

And then not getting a combine invite and then not having a pro day definitely couldn't have helped him at all. But he's a guy who I actually expect to latch on and make that 53-man roster just because the depth is so low. And he's going to come in and play special teams as well alongside Juno Stone. We saw Baltimore loved Marshall Yonda. They're going to get a guy who's also going to come in and play special teams as well alongside Juno Stone. We saw Baltimore loved Marshall Yonda. They're going to get a guy who's also going to work their butts off, just like Yonda did, and Welch and Juno Stone.

Let's move on to the Nate Weeding signing with the Cleveland Browns. I don't like this. I don't know. I guess to be fair, this could make sense that they're looking to have Nate Weeding be a blocking kind of guy, and that's really what his main skill set at Iowa was, was a fantastic run blocker, and so that makes sense for them. Maybe they're looking to try to develop him as a pass catcher as well.

However, they drafted David Njoku in the first round a few years ago. I would say hasn't completely lived up to expectations, but nevertheless, still on the roster, still an athletic playmaker. They also signed Austin Hooper to a big free agent deal this year away from Atlanta, and they drafted Harrison Bryant, FAU player. I believe he might have been the tight end of the year. I'm going to check that real quick while I'm talking through this. They drafted him in the fourth round.

So right there, you have big investments in the tight end position were the three tight end spots. And teams typically don't hold, I would say, more than four tight end spots. And three is kind of the median that you can kind of typically expect on a team to have three tight ends. Unless one is kind of an H-back and then you might see four. However, I know Cleveland wants to pound the rock. They want to run the ball a lot. That's why they traded for Andy Janevich. That's kind of the expectation with this team under Kevin Stefanski,

a guy who is committed to the run as an offensive-minded head coach. So I think they want to run the ball. They have Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb as running backs, so maybe that's what they're looking for. Maybe he does slot in as a fourth tight end and be kind of one of those special run blocker kind of guys. You're not going to get that really as much from David Njoku, more of a pass catcher. Harrison Bryant, also just a very good pass catcher, the John Mackey Award winner, but not exactly the world's best blocker as well. I'll pull up his draft right now, actually,

pull up his draft profile and see kind of what the thoughts was on Harrison Bryant, but I don't remember him being a, a great blocking tight end prospect. So I think to me, I think it's a limited chance that he actually does make this roster. I think it's more than likely he ends up on the practice squad. And if there's an injury, he could be a great fit as a blocking tight end.

If they can get him a little bit better in pass catching. And it does appear that blocking is a little bit of a concern for Harrison Bryant. So you basically have three guys that don't have the best blocking skills kind of as your top three tight ends. But I don't think Nate Weeding is going to make the roster. I think he's more than likely going to be on the practice squad. And that leaves us to our final person to talk about Cedric Lattimore signing

with the Seattle Seahawks. I thought Seattle could have been a potential fit for a Japanese. They do have some needs on that defensive line, especially since they haven't signed Jadavion Clowney yet. But this depth chart is pretty loaded, and they invested in the position outside of just Cedric Lattimore as well. But at the defensive tackle spots where he kind of projects to be at, Puna Ford, Jerron Reed, those are guys who are kind of slotted in there

who are probably going to stick. Behind that is just a bunch of college free agents, except for Nazir Jones, who got drafted in the third round a few years ago. But to me, just some names. However, I don't expect Cedric Lattimore to make this roster either. There's a decent amount of depth in general on this team. And again, not having the OTAs and the ability to show out there is going to be tough for him to kind of make an impact.

But I do expect, again, these Iowa players, even if they don't make the 53, are great assets on the practice squad because they show up every day and they work their absolute tails off. But I don't see him making that 53-man roster. I do expect him to be on the practice squad, though. He was listed as one of the most coveted free agents, though, coming out after the draft ended, which was good to see. Hopefully his running mate Brady Reif can also get a spot

as well. But that kind of does it for our recap of the draft selections and undrafted free agent signings. Kind of where those guys fit at the next level. We'll continue some of our discussions on the NFL draft as well in the coming days. I think there's going to continue to pop up things that pop up. People are going to sign

hopefully a few more Iowa Hawkeyes and there's going to get some reviews coming out as well up. People are going to sign, hopefully, a few more Iowa Hawkeyes, and they're going to get some reviews coming out as well. So I'll make sure to break that down as well on future episodes of the show. And if you liked this NFL Draft Talk, make sure to check out our draft podcast that we have on the Locked On Sports Network. We've got the Draft Dudes podcast and the Locked On NFL Draft podcast, both fantastic shows that you might want to listen to if you want to hear a bit more about some of the Iowa players and their draft selections and where they ultimately fit at as well.

Thank you all, though, for tuning in to today's episode of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. I hope you all had a fantastic and safe weekend. Let's go Hawks, baby. We'll see you next time.