Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Where does Hawkeye QB Cade McNamara rank in the Big Ten? Gable Steveson steam building?

Starting point is 00:00:00 For the first time in years, Iowa has a competent quarterback. But where does Cade McNamara rate in the Big Ten? We break things down and Gable Stevenson to Iowa, the former gold medalist in the Olympic Games and two-time national champion. Is it happening? All today, Locked on Hawkeyes. You are Locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:41 Welcome in. I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We're available wherever you get podcasts. You can also find us on YouTube. While you're there, make sure you hit that subscribe button. It helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Well, we got plenty of football talk here as we gear up for football media days

Starting point is 00:01:03 coming up right around the corner, less than a week and a half away and we will get things started in indianapolis and a whole lot more about this iowa football team we know about the three players that'll be accompanying kirk ferentz to indianapolis it'll be noah shannon making his way there also on his way luke lachey and cooper dejean will be the three players there. One that was a surprise, we talked about this a little bit last week, is the quarterback, Cade McNamara. McNamara comes in much ballyhooed after a career at the University of Michigan, led that team to a Big Ten championship, led them to the college football playoff, and then ultimately lost his job this year to J.J. McCarthy.

Starting point is 00:01:41 But hey, somebody's back up for Iowa. That can be a good thing. And certainly what we've seen over the last three seasons and cratering this past season of Iowa football and what happened offensively and the quarterback play, it's going to be an upgrade. I don't think there's any doubt about that. And some interesting numbers.

Starting point is 00:01:58 So here about a month ago, maybe a little more than a month ago, we got a group of questions for all of us podcast hosts on the Lockdown Network on the college side. And we went through and we rated a bunch of different things. Program strength, athletic department strength, basketball brands, football brands. And then we also broke down quarterback play at each of the institutions. And it ultimately led us to ranking the quarterbacks in the Big Ten 1 through 14. I think you're going to be a little bit surprised.

Starting point is 00:02:25 This is not just my rankings. This is everybody across the Lockdown Network and ultimately where they landed with Cade McNamara. Let's, in fact, take a look at this list. And quarterback, obviously, it is the most important position in sports. There's no doubt about it. We certainly know that year in and year out, just the importance of the position and not just in football and maybe sport there isn't a position that is more important for what it is a running

Starting point is 00:02:51 the offense secondly the notoriety that comes along with it the leadership qualities that can be so important in this one there's just so many factors that make quarterback play completely different than anything certainly in football and maybe any other sport. So let's go through it here and take a look at what the other lockdown hosts ranked the quarterback play. Well, starting at the bottom, we'll go up from 14 up to 1. And at the bottom spot, it was whoever wins the Rutgers job coming up this year, be it Gavin Wimsett or Evan Simon,

Starting point is 00:03:23 whoever it is, they got ranked 14. Number 13, Ben Bryant, the transfer from Cincinnati. He is the heir apparent at Northwestern coming up this season. He comes in at number 13. Number 12 is Taven Jackson for Indiana. Number 11 is Noah Kim. Now, this will be the one that, you know, we can argue about the merits here. They've had transfers there, Michigan State. It's just had so much happening inside that program. It's very

Starting point is 00:03:50 difficult to get a read on what they anticipate. I know they like him. I think they believe that this is their future. And Mel Tucker, after a disappointing year two, trying to gear things up and going with a little bit younger guy there. Here's the next one on the list. And I would like to get your guys' perspective on this one. Number 10, Minnesota quarterback, Ethan Kalamonis. So we see Kalamonis last year and at the beginning of the year, he was terrible. So when he's taken over from Tanner Morgan with the injuries that started to pile up on him, you saw Kalamonis and he was rough. The great quarterback that he was down there at img he was a guy that was pretty ballyhooed coming out of the high school level and it looked like this was going to be a miss

Starting point is 00:04:31 but then all of a sudden at the end of the year started clicking a little bit more played well against wisconsin towards the end of the season when we saw him against iowa not very good when i saw him a lot of times throughout the first couple of years on campus didn't seem like he was going to be a guy but just at the end of the year it started to click saw him a lot of times throughout the first couple of years on campus, didn't seem like he was going to be a guy. But just at the end of the year, it started to click for him a little bit more. I think he's going to be a fun one to keep an eye on. And if he can play at a high level this season, I think the Gophers have a chance to certainly move their way up in the Big Ten West.

Starting point is 00:04:58 And maybe they could be the team that's pushing Iowa-Wisconsin to win that division crown. Number nine on the list is Jeff Sims, the Nebraska quarterback, formerly of Georgia Tech, a terrific athlete, a guy that can run around and make some plays. And now in year number one of Matt Rule, we will see what he looks like out there. He checks in at number nine. Number eight, Illinois quarterback Lute Altmeier.

Starting point is 00:05:20 These are the rankings from the Lockdown Network. He comes in at number eight. Yes, we're still not to Cade McNamara as he is further up the list. So it is Altmeier at number eight. You know, he's a guy at Ole Miss. There was a couple of times I really liked him. Now, admittedly, I didn't watch him game in and game out. I think that is something where you look at Altmeier

Starting point is 00:05:39 and consistency was certainly a problem for him. But he's a guy that I really like, and he comes in at number eight. Number seven on the list, it is Hudson Carr of Purdue. Former Texas quarterback Hudson Carr. I thought he did some good things also. I liked what I saw at times. There were some spurts. I know he battled injuries at Texas. He's a guy. We'll see. You're number one of a new coaching staff there. Look, it's going to be incredibly difficult for a coach in Ryan Walters to come in right away with Purdue after what they were doing under Brahm and hit the ground running I think defensively you're going to see a step forward certainly from that program we'll see what happens offensively number six still no Cade

Starting point is 00:06:21 McNamara it is Tanner Mordecai for Wisconsin. The Badger quarterback comes in, much ballyhooed himself, threw for a ton of yards, put up monster numbers at SMU. And now with the change in offensive system, the same is anticipated for him. Though back in spring practice, it did not go very well for Tanner Mordecai. And now we get into our top five. For our viewers here on YouTube. You can see it right now on your screen.

Starting point is 00:06:47 And there is at number five, Kate McNamara checks in at number five. Number four is Kyle McCord, the anticipated starting quarterback for the Buckeyes to Leah Tug of Valoa. He is at number three, followed by drew Allard, the Penn state quarterback and. McCarthy at number one. So McNamara, really an interesting case here because statistically,

Starting point is 00:07:11 there are going to be plenty of guys this year that end up with better statistics. To think that he's going to finish statistically as a top five quarterback in the league this year when you're talking about passing yards, when you're talking about touchdowns, it's just not very likely. What we're looking at this year for Cade McNamara is this. We need to see him, first of all, completing 62, 63, 64% of his passes. If he can hit a benchmark like that, I was really in business. When I was offense is at their best. It doesn't matter if it's Brian Ferentz or Ken O'Keefe or even GDGD,

Starting point is 00:07:46 Greg Davis. It didn't matter who the offensive coordinator was. If the quarterback was completing north of 60%, you were going to be in good shape. Couldn't happen under Spencer Petras. Rarely happened under Nate Stanley. That is a very realistic benchmark. Look, they're not going to be the way and the style that Iowa plays. They're not going to be some of the run and gun offenses that are out there completing 70, 72% of their passes. It's just not the way that this offense is built. It's not the running game as part of the passing game. That's not what they are, but that is a realistic number. 62 and a half percent. That's where I put it right there. The over under this year. And if he hits that over McNamara this season, it is going to be a huge season, I think, in a step forward out of this Iowa offense. It was just great to see,

Starting point is 00:08:29 though, that I wasn't alone in my love of McNamara, that this is something across the Lockdown Network, all of our people that are doing all the Lockdown podcasts in the Big Ten see things very similar. Yeah, he's got the name recognition. He's got the Big Ten name recognition, but I think that is a huge piece there. And once again, he comes in at number five and maybe a chance to go higher, you know, ultimately, like we said, statistically different. But if he leads Iowa to a Big Ten West championship, if he gets this team in the championship game with a real shot of pulling it off, this excitement level is going to continue to go through the roof. Looking forward to this football season,

Starting point is 00:09:06 as we've talked about all spring and summer, and we will continue leading up to the opening kick coming up in September. We continue here on Locked On Hawkeyes. Gable Steveson, the monster heavyweight from Minnesota. Is there still a real chance that the Hawkeyes could be his final destination for his final year of eligibility? We touched on this last week. There was a little bit of smoke.

Starting point is 00:09:33 That smoke is billowing up and getting a little bit hotter, including a tweet from Gable Steveson. We'll talk about that. Swarm vodka is now on shelves, and we will get into a loss of a great Hawkeye. That's as we continue here on Locked on Hawkeyes. Take your first swing of betting MLB on FanDuel and get 10 times your first bet amount in bonus bets up to $200. That's right.

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Starting point is 00:11:25 That's what we do here on the Locked On Network. We got you covered on the Hawkeyes side, whatever your NFL team, your Major League Baseball team, NHL, NBA. We have you covered. Locked On Big Ten, Locked On Fantasy Football. If you're gearing up for that, we have you covered. And glad to have you aboard with us here on the Locked On Network. Well, as mentioned, a little bit of steam last week and every day, as you will certainly

Starting point is 00:11:48 know, we touched on this a little bit, Gable Steveson, and the possibility that he becomes an Iowa Hawkeye. Well, now a little bit of fuel added to that smoke here today. Later Sunday evening, there was a tweet sent out by Gable with just a little Hawkeye emoji. Well, it's a chicken emoji. Let's be honest. There's no Hawkeye emoji. Unfortunately, I would love to have the tiger hawk there or flying herky or something like

Starting point is 00:12:12 that. We don't get that. So you got to be a little different. So what I was got a little chicken out there. And then he just had a question mark behind it. And of course, Twitter went absolutely crazy. I mean, people are taking this thing. It's over.

Starting point is 00:12:24 He's coming to Iowa. Then a little bit later on, he puts out the same one emoji that is used for Michigan. That created a firestorm just on and on. Minnesota, does he go back? Here's a couple of things. First of all, he has one season of eligibility. And people say, well, Cassiope still got another year of eligibility. What would happen for him?

Starting point is 00:12:42 Are they just going to let a guy rot in his senior season? Guy that's been an All-American for you? Guy that's put in the work in the wrestling room? Is that somebody you're just going to leave aside? Not so fast on that front. Cassio Fee has an Olympic redshirt. He can redshirt this season. Then in the 2024-25 year, come back for his final year of eligibility

Starting point is 00:13:02 and be able to finish out that way. What about Ben Keeter? What's going to be his future football field here this year? You're trying to play both football and wrestling. What's going to happen for him? This is a guy also incredibly accomplished. In fact, one of the most accomplished guys here at the youth level that we have ever seen from the state of Iowa. So there's a lot going on on that front, but I continue to hear from people in the wrestling community that this is real. This is not just some smoke out there because it's the offseason.

Starting point is 00:13:31 We're always looking for something. There's a real possibility. Now, the Hawkeye Wrestling Club certainly needs to come to it. Their collective that they have, that is a big piece of this, of what it's ultimately going to be. And another component that I remember back to is his final match at Carver Hawkeye Arena and the ovation that was given to him by Hawkeye fans. Now, before that, let's not kid ourselves. I mean, if you know Hawkeye wrestling, it's not like it's

Starting point is 00:13:58 all just everybody just sitting back and being just enamored with this great athlete and this incredible wrestler. And though he's wearing a different singlet, you're loving him the whole time because that wasn't the case, right? You're giving it to him. And that's what Iowa wrestling fans did. But after the match was over, the ovation that he got, I think that's something that really stuck with him and understand the community. Look, he could go anywhere in the country that he wants. He could go wherever he wants and win another national championship. It's just the reality of what he is as an athlete and how talented he is as a wrestler.

Starting point is 00:14:34 But I think that stuck with him. And the Iowa wrestling fans and the community and the ability to come back for one more season and not be out there in front of a couple of thousand people. But 15,000 strong in Carver Hawkeye Arena every single time that he's on the mat, I think that is something that is incredibly important to him. Here's another component, though. He's not officially in the transfer portal.

Starting point is 00:14:55 Again, he says he's going to come back for another season of eligibility. He's going to complete his eligibility. But he hasn't officially entered the portal yet. There's another wrinkle into things. At least there are some reports out there that are saying that. Now, it very well could be a formality if he ultimately chooses to be a Hawkeye. Very simple process. Get into the portal, and away we go.

Starting point is 00:15:17 And you got your heavyweight coming up for 2023-24. That is an exciting time, though, because the gap between Penn State and everybody else and the gap between Penn State and Iowa, it's still significant. We went into last March hoping if everything came together, if everything broke completely right, Iowa wrestled as well as they could. And it also had to happen that Penn State took a step back from their anticipation of what they were going to be, that maybe Iowa would have a chance. And that's a lot of ifs there. Second place isn't good enough. And not only second place, but second place with the gap between Iowa and Penn State wrestling. It just isn't good enough. And everybody in that wrestling room understands that.

Starting point is 00:15:57 Every one of the coaches understand that too. That is something that everybody knows. But this is exciting. And this is something that continues to have some real momentum to happen. As we continue here on Locked On Hawkeyes, we've been talking about the new Swarm beer. Now Swarm vodka is available. Not only can you help out Iowa student athletes when you're drinking beer, well, you want to make that Bloody Mary in the morning, we got you covered there as well. Plus, Iowa basketball loses one of their biggest champions. We'll do that as we come back here, Locked on Hawkeyes. Trent Conner back with you one final time here on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked on Hawkeyes your first listen every day.

Starting point is 00:16:42 As we finish things out here on a Monday, getting a new week started. I'll be in Iowa City a bunch this week. Always looking forward to getting over to Iowa City. Going to be over there for the state baseball tournament. We'll see some future Hawkeyes out there on the field at Dwayne Banks Field. And one final go around before renovations begin at Dwayne Banks Field. But be there covering things on the radio. If you don't want to pay to watch the games as you have to now,

Starting point is 00:17:07 we got you covered on the radio. And follow along with me on social media. You can find all the places that you can listen to all the games at no charge. Just make sure to thank my advertisers. So as we continue here, a couple of things. Talked about the Swarm Goldnail. And continue singing the praises. Continue to be out there.

Starting point is 00:17:27 Get into a bunch of different people. So today, my nephew getting married. So we had a wedding shower here on Sunday. And during the wedding shower, he's a big Iowa State fan. Grew up an Iowa State fan. Went to Iowa State. I said, all right, he's a big beer guy. I had to have him try it.

Starting point is 00:17:46 Now, I was going to give him a blind taste test first, but we're starting to play bags and we're having a good time. So I just, all right, have a swig. And he said, pretty good. Coming from an Iowa State beer drinker, that's pretty commendable. And that's pretty high praise coming from my nephew, Dick, too. that was a real good one there congratulations to him and me getting ready to be married here in a couple of months but uh yes a cyclone fan even gave it another thumbs up there i will definitely take that but we've talked about it a ton available through exile they're doing a great job of getting it out there we talked about last week the financials came in just for the month of june you remember june well it was launched towards the middle of the month and that was only at the actual tap

Starting point is 00:18:29 house there at exile brewing and came out a couple of different places but it wasn't widely available across the state and it still netted thirty thousand dollars for the collective for the nil collective swarm that's huge and i think it's going to be bigger in July. And then we look at September and October of what it can be. This is an absolute home run. Well, they've taken a step further now and they've partnered up

Starting point is 00:18:52 with another Des Moines-based company. And that is The Foundry, right where I live in West Des Moines. The Foundry puts together a really cool distillery. If you have an opportunity to take a walk through there, they have tours that go on. Really, really cool distillery. If you have an opportunity to take a walk through there, they have tours that go on really, really cool. If you're into,

Starting point is 00:19:08 you know, just the making of a booze, they do a really cool job of putting it together. Understanding you take a tasting tour. You like the whiskey, like the vodka, whatever it is. They do a great job with that.

Starting point is 00:19:20 I have not tasted this one yet, but I will certainly do that. You know, I'm doing it for you. Everybody out there. I'm doing it for you, everybody out there. I'm doing it for the listeners, for the viewers on YouTube. I'm going to hook you up here. We'll be still drinking this warm beer, and now we're going to try this warm vodka.

Starting point is 00:19:36 So you get that Bloody Mary in the morning. You can do that. You get the whatever it is. What do you like? Screwdrivers? People still drink those things. They used to be a big thing. My parents owned a bar back in the day. People still drink those? I like a vodka lemonade

Starting point is 00:19:47 on the golf course and, well, if I have the ability, I'll have a little Swarm Vodka with it. Again, help the kids. Help the student athletes while you're doing that. And that's what you do with the Swarm Vodka. 20% of the proceeds from Swarm Beer are going back to the collective. 25% for Swarm

Starting point is 00:20:04 Vodka will go back into the collective. Have your booze and help out the Hawks. Sounds like a win-win situation to me. Finally, some sad news that came in on Sunday, and that is the passing of Randy Larson. Randy Larson, a guy that's been heavily involved in Iowa basketball for decades now, going back to the 80s and into the 90s, a guy that was around helping form the primetime league, also the game time league on the women's side of things. You know, the primetime league, I really miss it. I do. And it's not about the basketball. Look, it was summer league basketball. It was guys out there trying to get a bunch of points and shooting a bunch of threes and get some highlight jams. And that's what it was. And

Starting point is 00:20:43 there wasn't a ton of defense that was played in it. It wasn't the individual games. It was just a stepping off point. You know, we had an opportunity to see these guys in person. We had an opportunity to see what kind of development they made either physically or in their game. And you know what? This guy's really shooting the ball really well. Hey, watching this lady, she's running point for her team and she's starting to do it a little bit more. Maybe she can help out in a backup role you got those conversation pieces through the prime time league in the game time league and we don't unfortunately have that anymore but randy martin larson was a huge huge part of that i know a lot of people that knew him well i knew him in the

Starting point is 00:21:20 basketball community sung his praises and what he he did and how hard he continued to fight to continue to build up the brand of Iowa basketball. Certainly sad news on that front and just thoughts and prayers going out to him, his family, everybody involved, and a lot of friends I know, certainly in the basketball community, to Randy Larson, RIP. With that, we are out of here for today. We've got a busy week coming up this week. As mentioned, we'll be in here for today. We got a busy week coming up this week. As mentioned, we'll be in Iowa City Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, calling state baseball games. So we'll have a couple of shows coming to you from Iowa City, and maybe we're over there. We'll see if

Starting point is 00:21:55 we can sneak in a little something special from Iowa City. Always fun to get over to Iowa City, check everything out, and you know, you talk to a few more people every once in a while, you get a little more information. Every day or two or you know i got you covered on that front we'll be talking plenty about that that'll do it for the program here today continuing on thanks for making lockdown hawkeyes your first listen every day we'll talk to you again tomorrow go hawks

Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Where does Hawkeye QB Cade McNamara rank in the Big Ten? Gable Steveson steam building?

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