Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Who's the next Hawkeye football commitment? Iowa football weight gains

Episode Date: June 26, 2023

Trent Condon is back for another week of podcasts on Locked on Hawkeyes.Iowa football had a big recruiting weekend with many of the commitments for the class of 2024 in Iowa City. Some thoughts on James Resar the quarterback along with Cody Fox, Will Nolan, Brevin Doll and a few others that made their official visits this weekend.But the big question...Who's the next Hawkeye football commitment? A breakdown of guys that were on campus and who's most likely to commit to the Hawkeyes.Finally, the Iowa football roster has been updated and a look at Iowa football weight gains with some thoughts on many of the players.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coming off a huge weekend for Iowa football recruiting, who is the next to give their commitment to the Hawkeye football program? Plus an updated roster. And that means we got weight gain. Some big guys making big moves 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. Hey, 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 with the video side. Make sure you hit that subscribe button while you're there. Helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans.

Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook, official sportsbook of Lockdown. Make every moment more. Visit FanDuel.com slash Lockdown today to get started. Well, it was a weekend that was certainly circled for a very long time. Iowa had their big event for the class of 2024. All the commitments were on hand this weekend. The guys that have been a part of the Iowa program as commitments for months for most of these guys and going back for some of them for years. Well, they got to make their official visit. A lot of them all together. You had the quarterback of the class and James Reismar. You had the two running backs coming in

and Xavier Williams and Brevin Dahl on and on and on. And we will talk about those guys and a few things that popped out from the event over the weekend. But also, most importantly, the question is, who is next? Who will be that next commitment for Iowa football? We'll get into that today along with some weight games. Yeah, the roster is out for 2023. And that means we get to see who made some big gains in the off season either adding weight which is a majority of the guys or a couple of guys that went the other day and shed a couple of lbs and we will talk about that here throughout the program today want to get into just a few

nuggets coming in uh from the weekend now this recruiting class that has been together outside of the latest commitment uh that just happened recently last week, and Michael Berthie, tight end from Omaha, and every day, as you know, we talked about him a little bit last week on the program, but one thing that was relayed to me over the weekend is the closeness already of this group, and it happens a lot in recruiting classes. You hear plenty of this and guys that are get to know each other. They come from different avenues and different walks of life, but this is very much a close-knit group. These are guys that have been together for a long time. It's been trending certainly this direction for this class of 2024. And Iowa has six of the top

seven players in the state of Iowa. One that they don't have a commitment for still with his recruiting opening and Grant Bricks. And it doesn't look like he is going to be an Iowa Hawkeye, but of those guys, you have, of course, the local connection, the Iowa guys, the really the life blood of the program. And those guys have continued to communicate. There's a very close with that one. Another cool thing about this weekend is something that I learned this weekend is we know obviously the players come in and you know what it is. You're going to go through on your official visits.

You're going to talk to an academic advisor. What are you interested in studying? What do you want your major to be? Are you open? Are you still thinking about that? How that's going to work and how it's going to look at the University of Iowa. And that's a big component for a lot of these players.

Secondly, you have also the ability to have your family on the visit. And seeing the families there, you see a lot of the pictures that the players have put out on social media, having mom, dad, uncle, aunt, whoever might be with you. Sometimes it's siblings, those kind of things. And also a really cool moment, I saw a couple of pictures of Brevin Dahl with his sisters also on the recruiting visit there. So it was really cool. And to see that and see, you know, the different parts of it, they're going to go out there and they're going to have

fun. They get to go to the Ferentz's house, but also getting the component of what the families are going through. And for either the guys that already committed or guys that are thinking about making an amendment and taking an official visit or a visit to the University of Iowa, what the parents go through. And they had an opportunity to go to the parents' house and hang out with Kirk and Mary and the family for a while and go through that, but also get to know each other. These are people that are going to be part of your lives and other parents that are going to be a big part of your life for the next four or five years.

And that is also something that is incredibly important from the parent side of things. And a side that, frankly, I rarely think about, but now with some connections that I have, certainly thinking about that a whole lot more and how that is. So really cool stuff coming out of the weekend. But the question is, who is going to be next? A couple of nuggets from the guys that are committed. So of the commitments right now, Iowa ranked number 29 currently at on three media. That's where they are nationally number 29. They are seventh in the big 10 for the 2024 class. The headliner currently of the class

is a local kid from East Buck and Cody Fox. He has been a guy that has committed for a long time. And it's been basically over two years now since he first made his commitment to the University of Iowa. He is a monster. He plays small school football, but he's also showed out at some national competitions. I know people in the recruiting world really like him of what he's going to be and what he's going to build into on that offensive line. Speaking of offensive line, heard Will Nolan. He's got a chance. They're really excited about Will Nolan and really the belief that he has the opportunity to be the next great tackle at the University of Iowa. The other guys in this recruiting class are still,

I think, a question. Are there inside guys? Are they guards? Are they going to be tackles? That's not a question right now with Will Nolan. He is a tackle, and he is a guy targeted to be that next one, to take in the Tristan Wirfs and the Robert Galleries and on and on and on. We can play this game for a very long time. Brian Bulaga, yeah, we can keep going down this path. That is the belief, and that's what Will Nolan has an opportunity to be. With the frame that he has, the athleticism already,

get out of Illinois, part of a lot of kids coming in from Illinois for that class of 2024 in the offensive line. There are some pictures of those offensive linemen together, and that was really cool to see. James Rezar, the quarterback commit of this class. It's always important. Every recruiting class, you're going to go out there. You're obviously going to bring in a quarterback.

It happens every single year, but you want to find the right one. I think the reason that so many people are so excited about James Rezar is because that he is a speedster. Yeah. He's got some wheels back there. Now we've talked to our recruiting analysts. We've talked to different people in the recruiting game. There are still things mechanically that he needs to clean up. There are still some things that need polish in his game. But when you have the skill set that he has, the speed that he has, and adding that dynamic to the Iowa football system, I think that creates where the excitement's coming from.

Gets a blazer. He can absolutely move. And if he can get those things mechanically fixed and up to par and at a high Division I level and playing in the Big Ten, you really have something that you can mold and you can build into something really good. His family is from the Upper Midwest. They have some Wisconsin ties there. So cool to see that. You see a Florida kid, it leaves you wondering just a little bit. And all of a sudden you get, all right, he's got some Upper Midwest backgrounds. He understands what he's getting into right here at the University of Iowa and all the extra things that happen. Coming from Florida, coming up to Iowa,

I remember hearing Benny Sapp tell the story. The first time he was coming up here, and after a year where he played as a freshman, he was ready to leave. And Brett Bielema actually, as an assistant coach at the time for Iowa, talked about leaving and heading back to Florida. It's not for everybody, but at least a little something there in the background. So just a couple of things on this class, but the question becomes, who's next? Who is going to commit? There are not just singular names here. We got a lot of names to throw out. A lot of guys that seem like they are very close to pulling the trigger and becoming Iowa Hawkeyes. That is good news, no doubt about it, keeping this class going

and keeping the momentum going for the class of 2024. We'll talk about those prospects when we come back. Who will be the next Hawkeye commitment? We'll get into that as we continue here on Locked on Hawkeyes. Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Well, baseball season is in full swing. Had the great series over the weekend. Getting to see the Cubs and the Cardinals doing battle in London.

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when you join FanDuel today. Just go to FanDuel.com slash locked on to sign up. FanDuel, official partner of Major League Baseball. Major League Baseball trademarks used with permission. Trent Conant back with you again here on Locked On Hawkeyes. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Big thank you to every dayers here with us every single day. A big shout out to you being with us, hitting those subscribe numbers on YouTube,

hitting us up and giving us those fivestar reviews on all the podcast platforms. Greatly appreciate all you out there and being with us every day. Your team every day, that's what we do here on the Locked On Network. And if you've got a professional team, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, we have you covered there as well with Locked On. Well, let's move to this weekend and what we got and some of the intel coming in about the next commitments. And it sounds like that there is more than a handful of guys that are ready to make their

pledge to the University of Iowa. So I'll start with a couple of guys that are here and some intriguing prospects, I think, also on this list. Some guys that certainly leave you a little bit excited about what they're going to be and what they can be when they make their commitment. One of the names that I really like is KJ Parker. So he's a wide receiver out of Illinois.

He is 5'11", 165 pounds. Obviously, he's got to put on some weight at the next level, but he is a guy, got some of that dynamic speed. We've talked so much about Kayla Brown and his commitment coming in from Ohio state and what he can be just adding some speed out there. He can do that. And he was a big time playmaker. It is Iowa state was involved with him. Sounds like his final two or I win Cincinnati. I was not beating out the Michigans and the Ohio States for him, but it just seems like such a playmaker. Looking at the numbers that he had last year, 17 touchdowns and what, limited catches, less than 50 a year ago. He can take it to the house. He's got that game-breaking speed,

and Iowa wide receiver recruiting, it's tough. Another name that we continue to hear a lot about, a lot of people kind of wondering about, is Van Der Zee, the young man from up in Northwest Iowa. Not so sure if he is quite there. It looks like it's a two-team race. It is Iowa and Iowa State. Iowa State obviously continues to sell what they have done successfully with those big wide receivers, the wide receivers out wide and what they've been able to do in the past with their ex-guys.

That is something that they can sell certainly much easier than Iowa can right now. So don't have the same kind of feeling as some of these other guys about Reese Vanderzee. Now he very well could make his commitment to the Hawkeyes here in the next week or two. That could happen, but still sounds like a two-team race on that front. Jalen Watson, there's a name. Jalen Watson, with the connections that he has to the University of Iowa, his uncle's Fred Russell. There you go.

You have that connection. It sounds like Jalen Watson is very close to making his commitment, a guy that will be coming in as a defensive back. Also kind of hit it off back there. Another defensive back, Rashad Godfrey. Now, he looked great in his photos. He's from Armwood. That's been a place that Iowa has recruited in the past and has had some success coming out of Armwood. Not a highly

regarded guy in the recruiting services right now, but it's a guy that Iowa really liked. They gave him the offer, brought him on the official visit with all these guys this weekend. I think very quickly, Rashad Godfrey, a six-foot'2 quarterback, good size out there, 185 pounds. He's going to be very close, and he might be the next guy to make his commitment to Iowa. Another under-the-radar guy that is incredibly intriguing is Devin Kennedy from down in Arizona. So Arizona is not a place that is a recruiting hotbed for Iowa. We know the areas that they hit hit Texas, Florida, obviously around the home state here in the upper Midwest. They do plenty up here, but when you're talking about

the further outposts, it is normally Texas, Florida, and then a here and there a couple other guys, you know, they tried the Georgia pipeline for a while that didn't work out. Got a couple of guys, but nothing that really hit high outside of Tyler Goodson. They tried that because he could get a direct flight into Cedar Rapids from Atlanta, thinking maybe that was something that was going to hit. It did happen. Now you go back in the day, Hayden was able to go out, of course, to Texas and his connections down there. That was very fruitful.

We had California for a while. That was something that they tried to do. There's different things, but Arizona is not one of those places. I don't know how they got Devin Kennedy and where the connection came from but good size six foot four 240 pounds but his wingspan is what I think maybe makes you the most excited his wingspan almost seven foot again doesn't have the offers right now kind of an under the radar guy but certainly one to keep an eye on to make a commitment here pretty soon in Devin Kennedy conflicting reports and conversations

and rumors and rumblings out there about Gavin Hoffman from down in Kansas City area Overland Park he is a Kansas City kid plays a Blue Valley another really good program down there in a tight end so Iowa last week as we, Michael Burke makes his commitment, and they were looking. A couple other names, Eric Karner, who just committed to Texas A&M. That was a big name also on their list. This one, though, different with Gavin Hoffman. 6'5", 220, good size to him.

Talking about tight end, you love to see that. You know the recruiting pitch that is there. He's got offers from Arizona State, Missouri, Arkansas, Auburn, have also been involved with him. But sounds like Iowa, if there was ground to make up this weekend, they certainly did. That does not mean that there is a commitment eminent from Hoffman at this point, but I think Iowa did really, really good work this weekend

and really had a good opportunity. Another kid from down in that area, down in Missouri, is Joseph Anderson, who made his official visit to Iowa this weekend. Iowa, Nebraska, Iowa's made up a lot of room on that front and feeling really good. And then one more I want to throw out there, and that's Chima Chinecki from down in Texas. Iowa, Kansas appear to be his finalist. Oklahoma State was also on that list. He loves Kansas. I don't know.

I don't hope. If you're a defensive lineman and your options are Kansas and Iowa, what Iowa does with defensive linemen and how they put them at the next level and the amount of guys that play, I think it's a pretty easy decision. But, hey, you know, Texas, the Big 12, I guess there's pull there, but Kansas, Iowa, we're not talking hoops here. We're talking football. Hey, Jim, it'd be an easy decision if I was making it

or if I was helping you, but I'm not. Plus, this is Lockdown Hawkeyes. You know what we're going to be leaning on that front. So who will be that next commitment? Who officially is going to be the next guy to make it? I'm going to go with Rashad Godfrey. There's my prediction right there. Again, no inside knowledge.

And I know a lot of the guys and many of the guys that we talked about are going to make their commitment very soon. It is going to be something that is going to happen very quickly. Timelines are different for all these guys. But most of the guys that I mentioned mentioned unless i put that caveat in there i think iowa has a really really good chance of getting a commitment from all those guys kj parker's going to be right around the corner same with watson we'll say godfrey i'll put him next up on the list kennedy i think shots for all of those guys a possibility of hoffman and a couple others anderson chemicky those are

the names that we're looking at on that front. Continuing here with the Iowa football conversation, weight gains. We got the numbers. Some big guys put some big gains on in this offseason. Who is doing the work? Who put on the weight? Who is following those meal plans? Well, I'll tell you, it's easy if you're an old guy to put on some weight

when you don't want to. When you do want to and what these guys are doing, we got some interesting numbers. We'll do that as we continue on Locked on Hawkeyes. Trent Conner back with you one final time on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day as we wrap things up we are looking more and more at this upcoming football season we got plenty of things that we're going to dive into

we have gone through the schedule ranking them in terms of difficult nature we are going to do a lot of different things, and we've got a lot still going on here in the summer months. Of course, for your everydayers, you know coming up on Thursday, it's a throwback Thursday. We'll take a look back at great Iowa football and basketball teams. Kicked things off last Thursday. You can go back and check it out.

We went back to the 2002 team, one of my favorite teams in Iowa football history. And we got another one coming your way here on Thursday's episode. Well, as we put a cap on things here for today, let's get into weight gains. That's right. Who are the football players that put on the weight here this off season and kind of go through this list. So the biggest adder of this season in terms of weight is Jack Doetzler. Big guy, offensive lineman. Last year on the roster as a freshman, he was at 266. He gained 29 pounds since then, since the updated roster. And now he is up to 295 pounds, a guy that they talked a lot about his footwork at the high school level. He's got a chance also. It's great that we have experience, and it's not like it has been the last two years

where we have to see so many young guys that are in there having to play way too early. That doesn't appear to be the case anymore, which is very good to see for this offensive line. But there's another one. A couple other names that jumped off the list. Another walk-on and is now a offensive tackle. And that's Kyson Van Vuck. He was 247. He's up 27 pounds now to 274. Iowa obviously has had success taking guys from tight

end and turning them into offense alignment. So that was one. Another offense alignment, Kale Crow. He's up to 300 pounds after being a 274 a season ago. Now this one's going to get you excited. Aaron Graves. We saw him in glimpses last season as a true freshman. Dude looks the part. An All-American coming in. This is a guy playing small school football, and yet the recruiting services absolutely loved him, and you can see why.

In that defensive line room, very difficult to get playing time. What did he do? He did just that a year ago. And think of the jump that I believe, and I think a lot of people think, we're going to see out of Aaron Graves. Another one on the defensive line, Max Llewellyn. Now, a part of it is because I saw Max play a lot

at the high school level here in Central Iowa at Urbandale, but he's put on 21 pounds. And I continue to hear inside the football offices, people involved in the program, they think Max Llewellyn's got a chance to really take a huge leap forward. And we saw him quite a bit a year ago, and I thought he popped at times coming off and rewatching the games when Max was out there and seeing that weight gain. That's a big one there. Up 21 pounds now to 264 for Max Llewellyn. How about this? Addison Estrenga. Now, Estrenga is going to be

the number three tight end this season. With Eric Gall and Luke Lachey, there isn't going to be a ton of playing time, but we do know Iowa does play three tight ends quite a bit, maybe not on the field outside of goal line situations or fourth one situations very often. However, they like to get a rotation going, and I think Estrenga certainly a year ago showed enough that he's going to be a part of that rotation, even with two NFL guys in front of him. Well, he's also put on weight. Addison Estrenga now up 21 pounds, up to 255 pounds. That is a big, big dude. Here's a fun one. We saw last year, freshman All-American kicker Drew Stevens. Tiny, right?

Put on 19 pounds. Went from 180 to a listed 199 now. That's good. Need to see that. Put on a little weight. Had a strong leg. Knocked in a 50-plus yarder a season ago. And you think, with a little more weight, maybe a little more leg strength there, that was very exciting to see.

This one came as a surprise to me. Back to the defensive line once again, and that's Logan Lee. Logan Lee's been around for a long time. Logan Lee is married. Logan Lee is an old dude. Logan Lee, this late in his career, put on another 16 pounds. He's up to 291 now, playing in the middle of that defensive line in a fully healthy season for Logan Lee oh that would be a great thing to see this one got me

pumped up because I think there's a ton you guys all know my love of what we have in the backfield with Caleb Johnson but we saw Jazz Patterson a year ago just glimpses including the bowl game against Kentucky. There's something to the dude. He's got some wiggle. He's got some size. And the size continues to go up. He is now up an extra.

What was it? Let me find it here. 16 pounds he put on. So he was 183 last year. Now he is 188 last year. Now up to 204 at the running back position. Dajon Parker comes in. I hope that he can maybe take over the right tackle position,

transferring in from Saginaw. He is up 15 pounds from when he showed up just past the winter, and now up to 315 pounds from 300. Couple other names to throw out there as we go through the weight gains for Iowa football. Griffin Lytle, he's up 13 pounds. He's up to 295 now. Deshaun Lee, saw him a year ago as a true freshman. He's up 13 pounds. How about Bo Stevens, a middle of that offensive line? He's now 319 pounds. He's gone up there. Jacob Bostic, we would love to see healthy Jacob Bostic helping out the wide

receivers. He's added some in the weight room. He's up 12 pounds from 181 at a pretty big frame up to now 193 pounds. Cohen Entringer. He is the depth piece now at the safety position. Hopefully we don't have to see a ton of them. Hopefully it's Xavier Wampa out there on one side. We're going to see him doing his thing. Absolutely.

You want to see that in Quinn Schulte. But if there is another safety that's going to be named and it's going to be Etringer. He's up 12 pounds to now 211, a couple other names to throw out there as we're going through these weight gains. I mentioned Caleb Johnson a little bit earlier. He's up 10 more pounds. He was two 12 last year up to two 22. He's going to have an offensive line. Please be good because you have a star at the running back position. Logan Jones, he's added seven pounds, up to 290, meaning the middle of that offensive line. Even Noah Shannon, they got to call him Gramps, right?

Noah Shannon out there, he's up six more pounds now to 295 in the middle of the defensive line. Nick DeYoung, he's added five pounds to it. We also got the other side, guys that have gone the other way and lost a little weight. Not a ton of them. Eric Hall, down five pounds. He was 255, now at 250.

Jeremiah Pittman, another guy, didn't get a ton of reps, but when he was in there, he opened some eyes on that defensive line. He was 297, now down to 290. So some moving parts there. Always fun to take a look at the gains that these guys make, or in some cases, a few losses. I am so pumped up for Iowa football. Can't wait for it. And we are now inside of 10 weeks before we get to see this edition of the Iowa football team. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first

listen every day. Always love the conversation. We got more football talk coming up this week. Mentioned a throwback Thursday coming on Thursday and a whole lot more. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Make sure you hit that subscribe button.

Helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks.