Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Should the Iowa football team be ranked in the top-25?

Episode Date: July 9, 2021

The Iowa football team landed its first commit in the class of 2023 plus we break down some preseason rankings of the Iowa football team.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 bonus Friday morning episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Sports Network. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade. Excited to be back for another show today. And if you haven't checked out our previous episodes, go do that. We had a show Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. A lot of recruiting talk, a lot of basketball talk.

If you want either of those, definitely go check that out. We're going to continue some of that recruiting talk today because Iowa did land a commit in the class of 2023. I know there's been a lot of uproar over what has been going on in this recruiting class and we've talked a lot about it. I just want to reiterate one thing and that is calm down, relax a little bit. This recruiting class has been very good for the people that we've gotten so far. It's going to pick up, I expect, and Iowa is hot on the trails of several people who are kind of under the radar at this point. We're going to talk about a commit that Iowa got in the class of 2023. We're also just going to talk a lot of football today.

What to expect from this Iowa Hawkeye football team. And before we get into any of that, I do want to give a quick homage to the Hall of Fame class, the Iowa Hawkeyes class of 2021 Hall of Fame class, the Iowa Hawkeyes class of 2021, Hall of Fame class. I want to make sure we cover that and do that justice as well. So real quickly, I'm going to run through that. We have Kerry Hamill from volleyball in 1985 to 1989. Kerry led Iowa to its first NCAA championship appearance in 1989.

We have Dan Bachman, men's gymnastics, 1982 to 1986. We got Christy Hanks, the softball team from 1999 to 2002. She's a three-time All-American. We got Frank Kenny Holbrook in football from 1895 to 1897. He was the first black athlete to compete for the University of Iowa and the first black elite college athlete in the history of the state of Iowa. We got Kristen Holmes on the field hockey team, 1992-96. She's a two-time first-team All-American and four-time All-Big Ten honoree.

And we have Fred Mims in administration. He was the Iowa's athletic administrator for 38 years. We got Diana Curry, track and field and cross country from 2006 to 2008. She was a three-time All-American and a two-time Big Ten champion. Brad Penrith in wrestling, 1984 to 1988. He won the 126 pound NCAA championship in

86. And we have Ed Podolak, football 1966 to 1968. He was a first team All-Big Ten and team MVP in 1968. And finally, we have Roy Marble Jr. in men's basketball, 1986-1989. He was a three-time All-Big Ten honoree and was the program's career scoring leader

up until Luka Garza did break that record. Obviously, congratulations to all those outstanding athletes in the Iowa history. The one I want to talk about a little bit is Roy Marble Jr. As some of you might know, Devin Marble posted some interesting comments earlier this year about the fact that he's not going to ever be a part of Iowa, basically, and he felt like they did his father dirty by not retiring his jersey especially after retiring Luka Garza's jersey at the end of the season that was a whole

hoopla around that and I think I don't think any opinion is wrong right I think there's the moral compass opinion about what Roy Marble did off the court. And then there's the on the court opinion of what Roy Marble did on the court. There's no doubt, um, probably should have had his Jersey retired at some point. How, why ever that, why that was not ever retired. I don't know. I don't know if it has to do with some of the things off the court. Um, but nevertheless, I can understand the concern or the upsetness from Devin Marble, but hopefully this is one step in the right direction for repairing that relationship with another great Iowa Hawkeye in Devin Marble and honoring his father as a Hall of Fame inductee.

I know his jersey has been hung up in the hallways, and that kind of rubbed him the wrong way as well, but hopefully this is a step in the right direction for repairing that relationship with the Marble family. Again, a lot of football talk today, though. That was a quick, long introduction, I should actually say. I want to get into some Class of 2023 talk. So I know the talk has all been about the Class of 2022,

but we have a commit in the Class of 2023, which is so exciting that the class is already getting started. And as we know, recruiting never stops, and Iowa's hot on the trails of several people in that Class of 2023. But big-time commit, Norwalk, Iowa kid, Maddox Borcharding Johnson. He is 6'3", 270-pound defensive lineman from Norwalk, already holds two offers, Iowa and Iowa State, and received his Iowa offer June 19th.

So less than a month ago, he's already decided to commit and shut down his recruitment process. Right now, currently unranked in 24-7 sports. I imagine that's going to go up as he gets a bit more exposure. And again, that is Iowa's first commitment in the class of 2023. We have several 2022 targets that are coming up very soon, which we've talked about, but be on the lookout for this. It could be happening. Some of these guys have already kind of posted when they're going to be committing, but some of these guys we just know are going to be happening soon. Those guys are Christian Stokes, Aiden

Lowry, Hunter Deo, Brian Allen, possibly Carson Hinsman, although I don't expect him to actually commit to Iowa. That is a guy to watch out for. And Chase Carter. All guys to watch out for as Iowa is in kind of the running for each of those individuals. And as we get more recruiting talk, we'll obviously make sure to be breaking that down for you right here on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast.

We're going to take a quick break and then get into the basketball talk. I know a bit of a shorter first segment, but I want to get into the basketball talk, and this is a very good segue into that as we just kind of wrapped up the football talk. We're going to get into the football talk here in a second. That was kind of the main meat of the recruiting pieces and the Hall of Fame piece. So segment two and segment three, we're going to get into some expectations for this season, for this Iowa football team, and what some of the experts out there are saying. Phil Steele especially has put Iowa in high regard in several categories.

We're going to talk about that. And also we got some production information, which is a very good indicator of success coming into the following season. Before we get into any of that, though, you know I've got 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 the action at BetOnline.ag.

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when you use the promo code LOCKEDON. That's right, promo code LOCKEDON gets you a 50% welcome bonus at betonline.ag, your online sportsbook experts. All right, y'all. We are back for segment two of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. I want to talk a little bit about Phil Steele's rankings, but I also want to talk about the returning production as well. There was some awesome stuff put together by Bill Connolly from ESPN.

And this is the returning production rankings as of July 6th. He noted that the typical national average is 62.6%. The 2021 average is 76.7%. And there's a big reason for that. It's simply the fact that there are a lot of people who could return this year and chose to return. As this was one of the smallest, I think maybe the smallest draft classes we have ever seen. Iowa on there is 99th at 71%. 71%, again, is good compared to the typical national average, bad compared to this year.

For example, for all of you there, all you folks out there keeping track of our little brother, Iowa State is at 88%. And we kind of expected that considering they lost very little of their starting crew. But despite that, despite the fact that Iowa is ranked 99th in terms of returning production, several big time media outlets have the Hawks doing really well this season, including Phil Steele, who has Iowa in his top 25. Checking in at 23. The Hawks are ranked 23rd according to Phil Steele. And again, not that that's going to end all and be all.

It really doesn't ultimately matter in the grand scheme of things. But when you come into it, well, I guess it kind of does. When you come into a season with expectations, it's easier to move up in those rankings than when you come into a season without those high expectations or even just being in that initial top 25. You look at that 2015 team that went 12-0. It took them a very long time to get respect.

Now, if they would have had that respect going into the season, they would have had a much easier route. They wouldn't have gotten as much criticism from a schedule perspective as they did if they would have already had that respect. But Iowa ranked 23 by Phil Steele. Look at their schedule, though. It is going to be daunting at parts of this schedule if it holds true. Indiana checks in at 18th, Penn State at 14th, Wisconsin at 11, and Iowa State at 8th.

He also had the Big Ten rankings out. Wisconsin getting first in the West, Iowa second, Northwestern third, Nebraska fourth, Minnesota fifth, Purdue sixth, and Illinois seventh. To be honest, I agree with most of that except for Northwestern. I don't think Northwestern is going to be nearly as good as many teams expect coming into this year. They lost a significant amount of people, and I've actually talked about that several times in the past, but the stats actually back it up quite significantly. Remember how I talked about the fact that Iowa is 99th with a 71%? Northwestern is 126th out of 127 teams, returning just 39%.

Even in a normal year, they would be significantly below the average in terms of returning production. So Northwestern, to me, is not a team to worry about as much. That actually brings me up to a point of going forward, I'm actually going to start doing some of my series I've done before where I'm going to break down each team, kind of what they bring to the table, what the big storylines are going to be. So we're going to be doing that over the course of the next month, month and a half. But as far as these rankings go, I agree with Iowa being at 23 and I agree with Iowa being at number two in the Big Ten West. Until they can knock off Wisconsin in a normal year. I love the fact that we beat Wisconsin last year, but we didn't have a chance at the Big Ten West title towards the end.

They can knock down Wisconsin, great. But to that point, they have not done that at all or on a consistent basis, I should say. At least not for the last couple years outside of last year's interesting season where Wisconsin had some COVID issues and whatnot. But I agree with that, Iowa being second, although I do think Iowa has a very good chance, maybe one of the best chances they've had in quite some time, of winning the Big Ten West and finally making that Big Ten championship game for the first time since Iowa versus Michigan State. And it all starts with Spencer Petras. Everything begins and dies with Spencer Petras. Can he be a consistent quarterback? If he can just be average, this Iowa

football team will be a top 25 team. They will be competitive in every single game. And I think their schedule bodes well. If they can start off hot, and they haven't traditionally done this, but getting Indiana at Kinnick, that's a good game. That's a good opportunity for Iowa. People in Kinnick are going to be absolutely bumping. And then going on the road to Iowa State, I think Iowa is probably, I'm not obviously in the locker room, I can imagine though they have something to prove here.

Every time they play Iowa State, that's always going to be a good game. It's a rivalry game. But especially now, Iowa State fans are very adamant that they could beat, you know, that Iowa State is a significantly better team than Iowa. Now, I don't think Iowa players are listening to what a bunch of random fans on Twitter are saying per se, but I better believe the fact they are annoyed

the fact that Iowa State is getting so much love in the rankings, or at least I would hope so. They would want to go into that game with something to prove and to show that they are still the top dogs in the state of Iowa, despite what Matt Campbell has done, which has been pretty significant and pretty impressive. He's gotten Iowa State to a good spot. I think Iowa can go in there and take that W. So again, I agree with the fact that Iowa is at 23, and I agree with Iowa being second in the Big Ten rankings. It's going to be a lot of fun to see.

Now, the returning production thing I think is very interesting. Not all returning production is equal. Not all people not returning is equal. So Northwestern losing 60% of their production, that's a big loss. When you start getting into that 60 to 70 to 80 range, it now starts to depend on what do you have behind those guys and who are you actually losing. For example, when you look at Iowa's linebacker group,

now losing Nick Neiman is never a good thing, right? Nick Neiman is an NFL player for a reason. However, I would argue we potentially have more or higher of a ceiling with Jack Campbell, Seth Benson, and Justin Jacobs there at that linebacker group. So that's something to watch out for. Not all returning production is equal. And I think in Iowa's case, having that much returning production is great, but there's such a developmental program that you expect them to be able to fill in a lot of those slots.

And we're going to talk about why that production level is not actually that impactful for Iowa on segment three of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. That'll be coming up here in just a few short seconds. After I tell you about, you know what I got to tell you about. It's BuiltBar.com. BuiltBar.com is the best tasting protein bar on the market today. And they have a limited time flavor grasshopper cookie. Want to know what grasshopper cookie tastes like?

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You can go to either one of those and find your Built Bars. So go to Built.com and actually use that promo code LOCKED15, L-O-C-K-E-D-1-5, and you'll get 15% off your order. Use promo code LOCKED15 or 15% off at Built.com. All right, y'all, we are back for our third and our final segment of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Lockdown Sports Network. It is going to be a slightly shorter episode today. Before we get into segment three, I do want to tease the fact that we have a very special guest coming up here in the next couple weeks.

I'm actually recording this interview today. It is with our very own Tori Taylor. That's right. Tori Taylor is going to be joining the show. And I cannot wait to give you that interview. I'm interviewing him today. I'll let you know when that is going to be dropping, but our very own punter Tori Taylor will be on the show. Let's get into the returning production though. Again, not all returning production is equal sometimes or not all lost production is equal, right? If you have a position of weakness. So for example, when Iowa lost TJ Hawkinson and Noah Fant, that loss of production

looks just the same as another team losing two tight ends, right? Or a wide receiver and a tight end. But that loss actually hurts Iowa significantly more than pretty much any other team losing two tight ends. Okay. They're losing a John Mackey award winner and another first round pick. Now when you look at what Iowa lost this year, I think they have the opportunity to replace a lot of those guys with some very solid players. Now losing Amir Smith-Marset and Brandon Smith is never a good thing.

However, Iowa has so much depth in the wide receiver position, I'm actually really excited to see what some of these guys can do. Tyrone Tracy Jr., in my opinion, could be better than both of those guys. Now, Amir Smith-Arsette is getting a lot of love in the NFL. I think he has a great opportunity to be an impactful player at the next level. So does Brandon Smith.

But Tyrone Tracy Jr., I think could be the best of those three. Charlie Jones with some more time in the slot. Watch out. I'm not as big of a fan of Nico Regani, but I'm really excited for Keegan Johnson. I'm really excited for Arlen Bruce DeForth. We have not seen a guy like that in the offense. It'll be interesting to see how Brian Ferenc decides to utilize him along with a guy like Tyler Goodson. That brings me back to running back position, Tyler Goodson.

Anytime you have a Tyler Goodson in the lineup, you are going to have a good opportunity to dominate the offensive side of the ball. Spencer Petras is returning with another year under his belt. The offensive line does lose technically three guys. And that's huge, right? Mark Kallenberger is gone. We lose Coy Cronk. We lose Alaric Jackson. We lose Cole Banwert.

That's a lot of losses. But Alaric Jackson, and he was a very, very good collegiate offensive lineman. But outside of him, I don't feel like the other guys are significant losses. I feel like Iowa does such a good job of building depth, and we've highlighted what they bring on the offensive line position several times over the course of this offseason. They are bringing guys that I think have a higher ceiling than any of those guys outside of Aleric Jackson. And that

gets me very excited. Now there's going to be some growing pains. You have no doubt. I have no doubt about that. But all these guys that are going to be stepping in to get some more playing time have had spot starts, right? Kyler shot, Cody Inks, the inside, that interior offensive line is getting a lot of hype for a lot of reasons. Those guys are very good. Now remember Kyler shotott, Cody Inks, that interior offensive line is getting a lot of hype for a lot of reasons. Those guys are very good. Now remember, Kyler Schott and Cody have had injury issues in the past. We've seen other offensive linemen be in those spots. But when those guys are playing, that interior is dominating.

So if they can get the tackle spots figured out, and again, tight end is a spot that Iowa is very good at developing blockers at. Sam Laporta is a good blocker. Luke, a good blocker. You better believe Iowa has very good blocking tight ends. If they need to, they can assist those tackles and allow the wide receivers to be playmakers. Obviously, I want to see Sam Laporta get out there and get some catches, but there's ways to help those tackle positions, at least early on as they get acclimated to the speed of the game. But a lot of those guys as well, Jack Plum has had plenty of experience over the last season at that tackle spot, and I hope he can really show the next step of his growth. I talked about linebacker. Losing Nick Neiman is never easy, but I am so excited for

Seth Benson and Jack Campbell and Justin Jacobs. I think this could be the best trio of linebackers we've had in a significant amount of time, and I'm even including the Josie Jewell era. Not saying we have a guy to Josie Jewell's level, but I think overall that trio can be the best we've seen in a significant amount of time, and I'm even including the Josie Jewell era. I'm not saying we have a guy to Josie Jewell's level, but I think overall that trio can be the best we've seen in a decade. Now losing Davian Nixon is huge. I don't disagree with that, but every year from a defensive line perspective, Iowa has done a phenomenal job at replacing at least three guys, if not four guys, every single year.

Returning Zach Van Valkenburg was such a huge get for the Hawks. And now if we can just see one guy step up outside of Noah Shannon interior-wise, that'll be great. If an interior guy doesn't step up, I wouldn't be surprised if we see John Wagner slide in, Joe Evans take that edge spot just to get the best players on that defensive line. But the biggest thing from a defensive perspective that's going to be huge for this Hawkeye squad is their secondary. Bill Steele ranked them ninth in the entire country. I would argue they might be top three. In my personal opinion,

that secondary is so good. They return every single starter and they add Xavier from you and I, that's going to be a huge win as well. They have guys that are on their second and third string that I believe could start for half of the collegiate football programs in the nation, possibly even three-fourths. That's how good even their second string guys are. Guys like Terry Roberts, right? That's a guy who could be starting on a lot of teams. We saw what he could do from a special teams perspective. The guy has a lot of speed. He's also a guy who could be starting on a lot of teams. Riley Moss

is getting so much love, and I know some of you might not like that, but Riley Moss is getting a ton of love for what he can do, especially in that zone scheme. And Matt Hankins returns for what feels like his 20th year with the Iowa football team, and he has something to prove. There's a reason why he came back despite having an opportunity to go to the NFL.

He wants to get better. He wants to get better with Phil Parker, and I'm excited for that. Can Dane Belton continue to improve at that cash position? I have no doubt that he will. It's just getting acclimated to the speed of the game. Sam Laporta has talked about it on the offensive side of the ball. When you go into your third season, things start to slow down a little bit. George Kittle has even talked about that as well and kind of getting a sense of what he actually needs to do to be successful. So I'm really excited to watch that secondary.

But again, Iowa, 99th in returning production, but not all returning production or lost production is equal. Iowa checking at 23rd on the Phil Steele top 25, expecting to be in that fringe 25 area for most of the offseason. They have a couple big tests with Indiana and Iowa State coming up at the beginning parts of their season. That does do it for our show today. Again, a little bit shorter of an episode today.

I hope you enjoyed it, though. If you want to get some more recruiting talk, go check out Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday's episodes. Really great content in my own very humble and biased personal opinion. We will be back on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday next week. If we get any breaking news, we'll try to drop an episode on Tuesday and Thursday as well, but be expecting us Monday, Wednesday, and Friday next week. If we get any breaking news, we'll try to drop an episode on Tuesday and Thursday as well, but be expecting us Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And that Tori Taylor interview is going to be dropping later in the month,

probably towards the end of July, unless I feel like I get too excited and I want to drop it for you all. If it is Friday and you want to get more Locked On content, check out Locked On Today podcast. Get all the sports news you need in under 20 minutes with the Locked on Today podcast. Host Peter Bukowski updates you on the latest news in every major sport with the help of our local experts. Follow the Locked on Today podcast on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast

app. That will do it for our show, though. Hope you all have a fantastic Friday and even better weekend. And as always, Hawkeye Nation, let's go Hawks.