Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Predicting All-Big Ten teams plus which Iowa football units rank the highest amongst the other Big Ten teams

Episode Date: July 20, 2021

We continue our rundown of preseason previews as we break down Pick 6 Preview's All-Big Ten teams. Which Iowa football players should have made the list and didn't, and which Iowa football players were we surprised to see plus how is the national media viewing the strengths of the Hawkeye positional units in comparison to the rest of the Big Ten. We break it all down here.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back, Hawkeye Nation, to a Tuesday morning episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Sports Network. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade. Excited to be back for another show today. Today's episode is brought to you by rockauto.com. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need.

Visit rockauto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. And on today's show, we are going to be going and continuing through Pick 6 previews, preview of the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Big Ten Conference. They listed out their potential Big Ten Conference picks. We're going to be talking about that. They also did positional rankings amongst the Big Ten. Where does Iowa fit in from running back depth, quarterback depth, offensive line, defensive line?

Some of these will surprise you. Some of these will not. We're going to talk about all that on the show today, and we do have some small recruiting stuff we have to cover as well, because what would an episode be of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast in July if we are not talking about recruiting? That's why we do have some recruiting talk coming your way as well. And this is just a reminder that we are back every single day this week.

We are back into the, we're out of the off-season mode, I should say. We're ready to go. Football season is a month and a half away. We got big time media days this upcoming weekend. We have so much content we need to cover. And we also need to do our pre-season preview of every single team the Iowa football team is going to be playing. So lots of great stuff coming down the pipeline. One thing from a recruiting standpoint, we'll just hit on recruiting first and foremost.

Two people I want to make sure I cover real quick. Chase Carter is going to be committing tomorrow at 5.30 p.m. Central Time. Why that name is important to you all is that Chase Carter is a guy who has Iowa in his top two. So he's a guy to watch out for, but more than likely he is going to be going to the Michigan State Spartans. That is the expectation at this point. So while he is from Minneapolis, Iowa has been recruiting him pretty hard. Right now, the crystal ball is in it for Michigan State with a seven. So don't expect any last minute changes. We're probably going to be, you know, it's going to be one of those times where, again, Iowa was close, but no cigar. Unless something drastic changes over the next 24 hours, my guess is he is going to be going to Michigan State and Iowa is not going to be in the running there.

So that is something to watch out for. That is something to watch out for. Another guy, actually in a class next year, the 2023 class, Mack Markway from Dismat is in St. Louis, an Iowa legacy, a four-star tight end, a top 100 tight end. He has announced that he is going to be committing pretty darn soon, committing this month even, which is going to be really exciting. And I thought a lot about it. And I thought there's a really good chance he could be going to Iowa. And I thought there's

a really good chance he there is not a chance he ends up at Iowa. So just to give you some perspective on this kid. Again, he had a 2023 prospect, he is committing July 27th. So in a couple, about eight days from now, he currently holds 27 offers and on his top seven list is Notre Dame, Missouri, Ohio state, Alabama, Florida, LSU, and the Iowa Hawkeyes. As far as I am aware, I have not seen him take an official visit to this point. I didn't see anything on 24-7 sports. Could be wrong there, to be fair. What I think is interesting is that he's committing so early, and I would hope that that means there's a chance that he goes to the University of Iowa. Now, why I say that is the fact that he is already pretty familiar with the University of Iowa.

say that is the fact that he is already pretty familiar with the University of Iowa. He is a legacy of the Iowa Hawkeyes, and there could be some inclination to want to be the tight end in that class for the Iowa Hawkeyes. It could also be a signal to Iowa that we have our guy for the class of 2023. He might want to build on something at the University of Iowa. It could be timing-wise where Iowa is kind of getting relatively crushed in recruiting that he doesn't, you know, he wants to help continue to get that going. Again, his dad, Matt Markway, a former Iowa tight end. So that's the positive there. On the flip side, he hasn't taken an official to Iowa, and he has powerhouse schools on the radar like Alabama, Florida, LSU, Michigan,

and Notre Dame. Okay. Florida LSU Michigan and Notre Dame okay that is not the easiest thing to be competing with actually excuse me not Michigan he has Notre Dame Missouri Ohio State Alabama LSU and Florida again a lot of powerhouse schools outside of Missouri and those are schools that are you know in the running for several top tight ends across the country he might want to get his foot in the door and say I am your tight end now before they commit to another tight end. That's how recruiting works at some of these bigger schools. They give six, seven, eight offers out and it's whoever this first one to commit is gets that job. He might want to make that decision now so he can

get his foot in the door. I'm leaning on the positive side. I'm hoping positively speaking that this is a good sign for Iowa. Although there hasn't been a lot of things trending in that direction for Mack Markway for the Iowa Hawkeyes outside of being listed in his top seven where Iowa is. Maybe, again, he has that. He knows the program. He understands the program. He wants to get in and start to build a big class

for this Iowa Hawkeye football team. That is the positive side of looking at that, or at least that's how I'm going to be looking at it right now. start to build a big class for this Iowa Hawkeye football team. That is the positive side of looking at that, or at least that's how I'm going to be looking at it right now. And again, as recruiting news comes up, as Iowa gets involved with other players, I'll make sure to let you know about that and talk about that as well on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. One last thing I do want to say,

and this might piss off certain listeners of the show I'm not trying to be passive-aggressive here I I just don't agree with the notion that a player not going to Iowa is something that that player is clearly going to be screwed at or is a failure for not going to Iowa there was some stuff that came out after Caden Helms committed to Oklahoma. I don't think the tweet was meant in a rude way necessarily, but it certainly came off that way as why would any person choose Oklahoma over Iowa from a tight end perspective? When you look at it from a player's perspective,

and I talked to a lot of recruits after they committed to Iowa and talking about why they chose Iowa, why they didn't choose other schools oftentimes a lot of these players you know they do love the development of Iowa but a lot of these players just they believe in themselves so much that it's not as big of a concern about whether or not a school is a legacy school you know making tight ends if that was case, if a lot of kids were worried about that, they would all be going to the University of Iowa because Iowa has clearly shown they are great at developing tight ends. Or Notre Dame. Or heck, even Miami.

But to say a kid is just probably not... It just doesn't make sense why a kid would want to go to an Oklahoma school, or to Oklahoma, I should say, like in C in Caden Helms case, I think it's ridiculous. Let the kid, there's a lot of other things that are going for those kids are going for, um, those decisions. It's not just about whether or not a team can develop a player. Maybe he wants to win a national championship. You have to admit going to Oklahoma gives you a much better chance than it does Iowa typically maybe it is about endorsement deals maybe it is about name image likeness and he feels like he can get that Oklahoma and also Oklahoma has developed

tight ends in the past so my biggest thing here is I think it's my personal opinion is it's inappropriate to to try to critique a player's decision on Twitter. These are young adults, 16, 17, 18, 19-year-olds making big-time decisions, and they have the right to do whatever they want to and to criticize them for that decision and say it's a dumb idea or whatever it might be. I don't feel like it's appropriate. Now, obviously, I'm not going to change a lot of y'all's behaviors by saying that, but I'm just not a big fan of doing that and negatively tweeting at a recruit. It doesn't make us look good,

and it actually makes us look bad towards other possible recruits at the University of Iowa. Now, every fan base has people like that, but I just, I don't like it. I don't find it good. And with that being said, I'm going to get off my soapbox. No one wants to sit here and listen to me be on a soapbox. I do want to get into segment two

where we talk about pick sixes previews of the Iowa Hawkeye season and their all Big Ten team. There were some notable misses on that list, including one offensive lineman you cannot believe is not on that list. So I want to make sure I get to that as well. Before we do, though, I do want to tell you about betonline.ag, the fastest and the easiest way to bet on all of your sports action. Baseball season is in full swing, and you can track all of the action at betonline.ag. Get all the latest news, odds, and info for all of your sporting needs, including the MLB, NHL, NBA, UFC, and MMA action. And as the college football season gets going, the NFL season gets going,

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Your online sportsbook experts. All right, y'all. We are back for segment two of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. And as I noted before we took a break, I wanted to get in and dive into the Pick 6 Previews yearly college football preview edition. They came out with their All-American teams. They came out with their All-Big Ten teams. And there were some clear, obvious things that we're going to see, right? Tyler Linderbaum is going to be on that list.

Tyler Goodson is going to be on that list. But what shocked me were the guys who were not on that list and a few guys who actually were. So we're going to dive into that as this preview, this annual preview, has been noted as one of the most predictive or the best predictive preview in all of college football. So I think it's really important to kind of analyze some of the information coming out of that as we prepare for the football season. So all American team, Tyler Linderbaum was a first team all American, and that was it for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Um, now granted that's not uncommon for Iowa to get one all American or not more than two or three or whatnot, but you can always expect there to be

a surprise just like Davey and Nixon last year. What I thought was really interesting, though, was actually the all Big Ten teams. So I'm going to go through the teams first and then discuss some of the misses and some of the opportunities there. First team, Tyler Goodson, Tyler Linderbaum, and Zach Van Valkenburg.

Second team, Sam Laporta, Cody Ink, Jack Campbell, and Jack Kerner. That's as far as they went. And where I think they, obviously Tyler Goodson, Tyler Linderbaum, and Zach Van Valkenburg, I love. I'm actually slightly shocked by Zach Van Valkenburg being on that first team. Now, traditionally, you would expect a jump from a second team All-Big Ten player to go to that first team.

What I think will be interesting is to see how do his stats reflect his actual play. And what I mean by that is Zach Van Valkenburgh being the only guy, the only starter returning for this defensive line is going to get a lot more attention than he did last year with Davian Nixon and Chauncey Golston right there. And Jack Heflin even. That's going to be a bit tougher of a challenge for Zach Van Valkenburgh. Can he continue to grow when he is going to be the focal point, at least early on in the season, of any team's offensive line?

That remains to be seen. On that second team, I have no disagreements with Sam Laporta or Cody or Jack Campbell or Jack Kerner. Jack Kerner, an All-Big Ten player last year. Cody, I'm a little bit surprised he's on there and not Kyler's shot. That was actually one of my big misses for that. And the love for Jack Campbell, I think, is really exciting. shot. That was actually one of my big misses for that. And the love for Jack Campbell, I think, is really exciting. One of the things I noticed about this preview is that they are valuing Iowa's linebacker group probably more than a lot of people nationally are because they didn't get

to see a lot from this linebacker group, whether it was due to injuries, illnesses, the fact that Iowa's kind of been alternating out of a three linebacker scheme to a more predominantly two linebacker scheme with Dane Belton playing that cash position. So to see the love being given to Jack Campbell, I thought was really great. Now, a couple guys I thought were misses. I think Kyler Schott should have been on the first team, to be honest. I think he's a guy who could be a breakout player from a national perspective. I loved what Kyler Schott did. When Iowa was having issues with their interior offensive line over the past couple years, whenever Kyler Schott was in there, there was a lot of stability and he played incredibly well. He's high on a lot of people's radars, including PFFs. And not that I look at

PFF as the Bible, but in those situations, especially offensive line play, I do really like how they rank those players in that regard. A couple other guys, Riley Moss, I've seen be listed as a first-team All-Big Ten player by several outlets, I think including Phil Steele. So I was surprised to see Riley Moss not on this list as well. Or Matt Hankins. Iowa has traditionally had at least one defensive back, one cornerback, have a breakout season. Last year there was no breakout season, but overall I felt like that secondary was just so strong throughout that it wasn't as big of a concern.

Usually it's a Josh Jackson or a Monty Hooker or a Geno Stone or a Desmond King, right? This year one of those guys is going to break out. Riley Moss has shown a tendency to put his hands on the ball. Matt Hankins has shown his ability to not let people even get the ball. While his stats kind of aren't as good in that regard, Matt Hankins has been a phenomenal, a very stable, I should say, defensive back for the Iowa Hawkeyes the last couple seasons, and he wanted to return despite the opportunity to potentially go pro. So I think either Riley Moss or Matt Hankins, maybe even both, are going to be all Big Ten

this year. Dane Belton. One of the things you hear about with Sam Laporta is how the game has slowed down for him coming into his third year. Dane Belton is a guy who started as a freshman, a true freshman as a defensive back, and he's been kind of figuring it out. I've really liked some of his short spurts and man coverage from the slot.

I like his willingness to get up and at him within the run game. It looks like he's added a little bit of weight as well, which is going to be natural as he continues to grow and mature. But Dane Belton is a guy who they have him in that spot to fill that Imani Hooker role. We saw what Imani Hooker could do in that role. You see what Phil Parker likes to do with some of his chess pieces. Expect a similar season from Dane Belton. Not an Imani Hooker-like, but maybe the tier below. I think Dane Belton could be a breakout player for the Iowa Hawkeyes this year. And then finally, Seth

Benson I thought was an interesting miss. I think when you talk about Jack Campbell, you also have the group in Seth Benson. I think those two are neck and neck for the top linebacker on this team, and I'm really excited to see what they both can do as far as guys who maybe I'm not surprised are not on this list as a first team or second team and really I'm not surprised Seth Benson isn't there either to be honest or Dane Belton but two guys I'm really I think could be big time surprise players who could shock the world and end up on a first second team first or second team all big 10 team is Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Noah Shannon. Last year, I called it, I called the pick of Davian Nixon. I said, Davian Nixon is going to be the breakout player for the Iowa Hawkeyes. And lo and behold, he ends up being an all American. Now I'm not going to go a hundred percent on these picks, but my guy this year,

and it's an easy one is Noah Shannon. What I saw from Noah Shannon in pass rushing snaps last year was not exactly Davian Nixon-esque, but you could see that pass rush potential. And when you can get pass rush pressure from the interior, that opens up a lot of things defensively. Now, when we look at some of the rankings of these units, according to the Big Ten, pick six previews, they have Iowa's defensive line very high. They have Iowa's defensive line very high they have Iowa's defensive line very high nationally as well you have to imagine they are liking what they're seeing from several of the guys coming up such as a Noah Shannon so be on the lookout for that as a guy to break out and then Tyrone Tracy he's just been waiting for his time to be that number one guy in this offense and if Spencer Petras can improve his quarterback play to even be average Tyrone Tracy should be

seeing quite a few balls going his way. His yard after catch ability is truly amazing. I think he offers a little bit about what Amir Smith-Marset could do in terms of speed and agility. I think he offers a little bit about what Brandon Smith could offer in terms of the ability to go up and get contested catches. And then what he offers that neither of those guys I felt like were amazing at per se was that yak ability, the yard after catch ability. Now, some of you might be looking at me and saying, Andrew, Amir Smith-Marset was able to break away from players. Without a doubt, he could, but he's not the kind of guy who is going to go into three defenders and somehow manage to break out of that like Tyrone Tracy did last year. That's what you

give a Tyrone Tracy when the ball is in his hands. That is my breakdown of the Big Ten, all Big Ten, first team and second team teams. Coming up on segment three, we're going to get into the Big Ten unit ranks. You are not going to want to miss this. Before we do though, I do want to tell you about rockauto.com, the family-owned business that's been serving auto parts customers online for over 20 years. With the ever-increasing numbers of makes and models, it is now impossible for your local chain auto parts store to stock all the parts that you need. And the worst part is they don't have that big of an inventory, so oftentimes they have to order stuff, and it's a limited selection because they can only order what their warehouse happens to carry. Why would you go to a store and have a guy

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All right, Hawkeye Nation, welcome back to segment three of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes. Before we took a quick break, I told you coming up on segment three, we were going to be breaking down the Big Ten unit ranks according to Pick 6 Preview, and some of them are going to be interesting, some of them are not. Some of them are going to make a lot of sense, some of them are going to be leaving you questioning what is going on. So we're going to talk about all that right now. So the first position group they wanted to cover is the quarterback position group.

And honestly, I'm surprised Iowa isn't a bit lower after last season. Iowa comes in as ninth. Northwestern, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State, and Rutgers are all behind Iowa. Nebraska was shockingly in sixth in front of Penn State and Michigan. Honestly, I feel like anything after that top five is going to be kind of a hodgepodge given the new quarterbacks or the quarterbacks who are returning that have struggled. I do think there is a lot of growth potential for Spencer Petras, but being ninth, I'll take it at this point.

Running back is going to be an interesting conversation for a lot of people. Running back checked in at fourth. And they point to the depth. The depth of the running back position. Because you don't just have one running back carrying the rock. You have multiple running backs carrying the rock. What I don't understand is how people continually overlook the fact that Ivory Kelly Martin was a starter previously. And has a lot of carries under his belt.

Unless they're looking at it and saying, yes, we get that, but Ivory Kelly Martin is injured and currently working his way back. And after that, we have Gavin Williams, a guy who has very few carries under his belt. That could be the case. In front of Iowa is Penn State, Ohio State, and Minnesota. But nevertheless, I do think Iowa has the top running back in the Big Ten, even in front of Mo from Minnesota. Wide receiver and tight end, I'm actually kind of shocked that Iowa came in at fifth.

Ohio State came in at one, Penn State two, Indiana three, and Purdue fourth. Now, those, in my opinion, those schools, Ohio State clearly is number one. I don't disagree with that at all. I think Penn State, Indiana, and Purdue to me are more of the top tier of guys from a wide receiver position. Obviously at Purdue you've got David Bell, Indiana Ty Fogel. So to me, that's really where they get some of that bump in that ranking at. And then when you look at the Iowa wide receiver depth chart, anytime you lose your two starters, you get a little bit concerned.

But I truly believe with Tyrone Tracy coming into the season as the number one wide receiver with Nico Reganey, if he can catch the ball more consistently, I still believe he has some drop issues. And if Keegan Johnson or Arlen Bruce can break out, that to me will elevate this wide receiver tight end group up to possibly even two or three. And that is contingent on the quarterback play as well offensive line checking in at three Ohio State at one Wisconsin at two I have no concerns with that again we lost a lot of pieces there's a lot of guys who have significant time playing on the

offensive line but no one has been not a lot of people on the offensive line have been full-time starters for a significant chunk of time outside of Tyler Linderbaum. Obviously Cody and Kyler, guys who have had a lot of playing time, but it's been with injuries sprinkled in and a rotation as well. Moving over to the defensive side of the ball, defensive line Iowa coming in at second behind Ohio State's one. Again, I've talked about this a couple times. I'm a little bit shocked at how highly valued Iowa's defensive line is. To me, that speaks volumes to what people are starting to see in Iowa's development and Kelvin Bell's development at that defensive line spot.

And the fact that no matter who Iowa plugs in, that defensive line is going to be stout. And I believe, especially when they talk about the preview for Iowa, they even mentioned Y.A. Black. They mentioned Logan Jones, several guys who they're really excited about in that underclassmen group. And then you think about John Wagner, a four-star recruit who has just been buying his time, kind of waiting to get in there. Joe Evans, a guy who has over 200 snaps. There's a lot of guys here who have a lot of potential, and they are definitely banking on the potential, in my opinion, when elevating Iowa's defensive line to the second best unit in the Big Ten. At linebacker, Iowa checks in at three, right behind Wisconsin and Indiana.

Again, I'm not concerned about that. I do think Iowa's linebacker group has the potential to be the best linebacker group in the Big Ten and a top 10 linebacker group in the nation. And no, I'm not just blowing smoke up y'all's butt. I really believe in Seth Benson, Jack Campbell, and Justin Jacobs. And I truly believe this year or next, that linebacker group is going to be truly dominant and one of the best linebacker trios we have ever seen at the University of Iowa. But third does not bother me considering what Wisconsin and Indiana bring back this season from last season.

Again, we haven't seen a lot of Seth Benson or Jack Campbell, but the parts we have seen or the spurts we have seen have been pretty freaking fun. And then finally, a defensive back. There is no shock here. Iowa comes in at number one, and that should surprise no one. They were one of the best units last year. They returned literally everyone, and they bring in Xavier from University of Northern Iowa. A guy who should be

vying for playing time as well. They have some great depth with Terry Roberts, Brandon Dees-Fernandez. Lots of guys there that I am really excited about. There's so many guys they even brought in in last year's recruiting class. They have Cooper Dejean. There's a

lot of guys to be very excited about in this defensive back group, and the depth is there as well. So it's no shock to me that Iowa checking in at one, Wisconsin at two, and Ohio State at three. So that's kind of the breakdown of the positional unit breakdown from the Big Ten. Let me know what your thoughts are, if you disagree with any of that. Again, I don't disagree with most of it. The defensive line, honestly, I feel like should be a little bit lower.

I think running back maybe should be slightly higher. Wide receiver tight end I think has a possibility of being higher, and so does linebacker in my opinion. And quarterback, I think it's a hodgepodge. You really can't – there's not a lot of good arguments either way for either of the schools past probably five at that point. So let me know what your thoughts are. I would love to hear that.

Feel free to tweet at me at LockedOnIowa or my personal account if you really want to at Wade underscore Andrew. On tomorrow's show, we're going to talk a little bit about name, image, likeness. Lots of cool deals popping up. Some really cool apparel deals. And then we had some autograph controversy,

which I think is absolutely ridiculous when someone came at Tyler Goodson, Dane Belton, and Tyrone Tracy for the autographs or the autograph signings that they were doing this past weekend. I think that's absolutely ridiculous. I think what that young trio of young men were doing was pretty awesome, and it gives Iowa fans a great chance to meet three key contributors in this Iowa football team in 2021.

So to me, that's ridiculous, but we're going to talk about that tomorrow as well and get into some more previewing of this Iowa football team. So stay tuned for tomorrow's episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. If you want some more Locked On content, you've got to check out the Locked On Mock Draft. It is the Ultimate Mock Draft 2021. Starting, or sorry, not starting. It's already happening. Listen to the ultimate mock draft 2021 presented by Locked On and Odyssey featuring analysis from the GOAT of NBA mock drafts, Chad Ford

and Odyssey NBA experts, Brian Scalabrini and former general manager, Ryan McDonough. Our Locked On NBA local experts will make selections and trades for your favorite basketball teams throughout this week-long special event. Search the ultimate mock draft 2021 on the new Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast at. Odyssey is your audio home for all the sports, podcasts, music, and news that matter to you. That's A-U-D-A-C-Y. I'm sure you're going to be hearing some talk about

Luka Garza and Joe Wieskamp on that show, so make sure to check that out. It's going to be a lot of fun listening to that. Love the content that we're producing on an annual basis for some of these big time events. And again, thank you all for tuning in. I really appreciate you listening to the show. Please make sure to subscribe wherever you downloaded this episode app and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Have a fantastic Tuesday. And as always Hawkeye nation, let's go Hawks.