Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Will Amani Hooker have an expanded role with the Titans? | Does Nate Stanley stand a chance to make Minnesota's roster? | Jaleel Johnson in prime position for playing time

Episode Date: August 26, 2020

We are joined by the hosts of Locked On Vikings (Luke Braun) and Locked On Titans (Tyler Rowden) to discuss how former Iowa Hawkeye football players are looking so far in training camp. In Minnesota, is Nate Stanley improving his accuracy or he is destined to be cut? With just two years remaining, how much longer will Riley Reiff remain in Minnesota and why this year is a make it or break it year for 4th year player Jaleel Johnson. Down in Tennessee, Parker Hesse is released but Amani Hooker is on the rise within the organization.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.ManscapedGo to Manscaped.com and use code LOCKED to get 20% Off and Free Shipping. Manscaped is #1 in men’s below the belt grooming and offers precision-engineered tools for your family jewels.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get $10 off your first order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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

It is caught. No offense. Touchdown. That's either one or you have it. Go ahead and three. Yes. Two-point lead for the Hawkeyes. Welcome back, Hawkeye Nation, to another 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, and I'm excited for another episode of the show today. And today's episode is brought to you by Built Bar. Go to BuiltBar.com and use promo code LOCKEDON and you'll get $10 off your next order. And on today's show, I teased this yesterday, but we do have two hosts from our Locked On NFL channel joining us today to talk about the Iowa Hawkeyes currently on their team's rosters. We have Luke Braun from the Locked On Vikings, and we have Tyler Rowland from the Locked On Titans to talk about Riley Reif, Nate Stanley, Jaleel Johnson, Parker Hesse, and Imani Hooker.

So that'll be coming up on the show today. Before we get into that, though, please make sure to like, review, and subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast at. Give us that five-star review if you liked it. If you didn't like it, let us know why. And if you can, just follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, that's how you can find all of our latest episodes and what is coming on the

show. We had a great interview with Matt Dermody, former Iowa baseball player and current member of the Chicago Cubs organization. Yesterday, we had Frank Garza on in the past. We had a few recruits coming on as well. We had Roy Higgins on a couple weeks ago,

and we have some great interviews coming up as well over the next couple weeks, specifically with an actor who is a big Iowa Hawkeye fan, a guy who has some pretty incredible stories and was very close to the program coming up. We have Riley Smith joining the show in the future, so make sure to join and follow us so you can make sure you tune into that as well. Before we hop into our conversations with both of the gracious hosts that spent some time with me to talk about our Iowa Hawkeye players that are currently in the NFL, I do want to touch on a couple things that came out about the Gary Barta removing four teams from Iowa Hawkeye Athletics. Basically, there's kind of two things I wanted to touch on there. And the first one is, this sounds like, from my understanding,

what I saw from Twitter and from one of the guys who works on one of the papers, he basically said that Gary Barta did not address student-athlete questions in the swimming and diving meeting, which I thought was a little bit ridiculous. Basically spoke with him for two minutes. And I personally find that to be absolutely embarrassing. If you're going to cut a program, I know it sucks, but you have to do what's right. And you have to take the time to talk to those players. And I want to make sure I give the guy credit. It was Austin Hanson. You can find him at ahanson underscore 41.

He said, just got the phone with UI Swim and Dive Senior Sage. I'm not going to be able to get his last name right. One thing stuck out to him the most, Iowa AD Gary Barta spoke with all those impacted by the UI's discontinuing of four sports. He spoke for two minutes and let somebody else field questions from student athletes. I know that the decision to, you know, basically remove four programs at the conclusion of this school year was a difficult one for Gary Barta.

But when you're in that position, you have to make those difficult decisions and you need to be able to stand up and answer the questions for them to then put someone else. And to answer those questions, I think it's a little bit ridiculous. I know you might not know all the answers right now, but you still need to stand up there and at least respect the fact that those student-athletes just lost their livelihood. They came to Iowa to compete in tennis. They came to Iowa to compete in swimming and diving. And they

came to Iowa to compete in men's gymnastics. And now they are no longer able to. And you can't even sit there and answer a couple questions. That just pisses me off. So I'm a little frustrated by that. I've also seen some people upset about the decisions that were made and the decision to remove those four sports. And when you look at it from this perspective, I actually saw, if you were to look at how much the, for example, the strength and conditioning coach for the Iowa football team,

you know, prior to Chris Doyle being fired, you know, upwards of a million dollars or down just a little bit under a million dollars. If you look at a running backs coach who might be making, you know, somewhere in that a six figure range, those coaches make enough to cover almost the deficit of some of these smaller programs. So if the tennis team, let's say, loses a million dollars, there might be two position coaches that could cover that cost if they were have their positions terminated. And yeah, I get it. The numbers do work out that way.

If it's tough to say, I want to cut a program versus cutting two people. But at the same time, college sports is a business. And ultimately, Gary Barta had to make a tough decision. And again, I'm pissed off at how he handled the conversation with student athletes from what it sounds like. But when it comes down to it, football is what supports most of those programs. Whether you like it or not, football is what drives the success of a lot of other programs because it allows those programs. Whether you like it or not, football is what drives the success of a lot of other programs because it allows those programs to be funded and to run at a deficit. It allows teams like the Iowa baseball team to go down to Florida and play in multiple tournaments, the softball team to go down to Florida and play in multiple tournaments because the football team

covers those deficits with their great budget surplus they typically bring in in a normal season. So, and if you're going to cut two coaches from that, how much is that going to impact the success of that program? You don't want to negatively impact the success of that program and ultimately ruin some of the other sports because it's going to have a, you know, kind of a weird cyclical effect. If you cut two position coaches, how much does that impact the football team? How much does that increase or decrease the potential revenue? Does that leave you at a deficit so you can't actually cover the other programs already? I know we're thinking a little bit ahead here and obviously a lot of unknowns and variables in that situation, but just think about it a little bit more when you're thinking about whether or not cutting two positions makes

sense versus cutting a program, especially when you factor in what that program that has those two positions brings into the overall Iowa athletic program. Also, it sounds like they are starting to make a few other cuts. I just saw on Twitter as well that the video operations assistant position was eliminated effective at the end of September. They're starting to make some cuts around the program, which is obviously unfortunate nonetheless, but something we're probably going to see more of as we get further into August and the beginning of September. We'll obviously keep you posted as to what those updates are as far as we are aware of them

and what the potential impacts are to the Iowa athletic community. That being said, though, I do want to hop into the meat of our show with our conversations with Luke and Tyler. Before we do that, though, I do want to take a quick break and give you a great message from the folks at Built Bar. Built Bar is the protein bar that tastes just like a candy bar. It is, and the best part is too, they went away for a couple months. They are back though, and they built an even better tasting protein bar.

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And right now, while supplies last, you get a free cooler with purchase. And this will only last for a week or so. So make sure to go to BiltBar.com and use promo code LOCKEDON. All right, I am joined here by Luke Braun, the host of Locked On Vikings. We're here to talk about some of the Iowa Hawkeyes currently going through the Vikings training camp, specifically Riley Reif, Nate Stanley, and Jaleel Johnson. Luke, how are you doing today, man? Doing pretty good, man. How about you?

Doing well, yeah. It's not too bad for a Tuesday. Like I said, I have the week off, so I'm enjoying it. But I'm very interested in hearing about how the Iowa Hawkeyes are doing, especially with the Minnesota Vikings. As you probably know, there's a lot of crossover friends between Iowa and Minnesota. So I'm kind of hitting two birds with one stone here. But let's jump with the guy who's a really big piece of the Vikings offensive line plans, at least short term, it seems like, and who's a guy who has a lot of name recognition for the Iowa Hawkeyes, Riley Reif.

Over the past couple years, he hasn't really graded well, according to PFF, and Minnesota has put a lot of resources into the offensive line. Where's Riley fitting at right now? It sounds like he's still projected to be the tackle. Is that correct? Yeah. So the last couple years, I would say he's been average. I think most people who look into it, even PFF and with their grades, like he's been like acceptably okay,

but somebody that has probably is probably overpaid for average. And you, you know, the Vikings have kind of been looking for somebody that can be the heir apparent. They did just draft Ezra Cleveland out of Boise state who probably takes over at left tackle eventually though. They've got them working at guard right now uh and Riley Reif yeah he's going to be the left tackle um it's he he doesn't seem to be like challenged for that job at all and it's just kind of a matter of you know is he going to play well enough um you know the the right tackle on the other side Brian O'Neill probably is better by this point so he's probably going to get all of everybody's best pass rusher so it's going to be a probably a tough year for him but he's he's yeah he's still the to get all of everybody's best pass rusher. So it's going to be probably a tough year for him, but he's – yeah,

he's still the guy, and there's definitely – the questions along the offensive line don't have a lot to do with Riley Reif right now. That's good to hear. As far as Ezra Cleveland, I know I saw something that he actually got bumped down or hasn't been doing super well in camp. Is that accurate or not? It's – so he's probably not ready to play he kind of he's a

little bit raw yeah he's you gotta do a little bit of um of development with him and so he was taking second team reps at left guard while there were two other players uh Dakota Dozier and Aviant Collins who are uh splitting the reps at first team on left guard and then Aviant Collins would take the third team reps and so what changed is now avion collins is taking the second team reps in addition to half of the first team reps and ezra cleveland has been bumped down to this to the third team and they've also flirted a little bit with trying him at left tackle and moving riley reef into left guard they didn't try it like too much and it wasn't like super incredible or anything. So they probably are just kind of experimenting.

But right now they're, I mean, Ezra Cleveland on a truncated offseason, learning a new position, transitioning to the NFL. That was always kind of going to take a while. And I think the long-term plan is for him to kick back out to left tackle and kind of do the, gosh, who did it? Who was it? Tyron Smith, did he do that? I can't remember. Did he?

I'll actually look that up um that makes sense then so yeah as far as yeah as far as riley reethan goes his contract ends after next season do you see him actually playing out his contract uh if i had to guess right now i mean it's that's a really tough one um i don't know for sure if i had to guess i would say no because the vikings are going to be in a rough cap place and if ezra cleveland after a year if they feel good enough about him being the left tackle and he can go start then they probably would see riley reef he doesn't come with a lot of dead cap or anything so they would see him as like a chance to save a little bit of money um but even if that happens you know wherever he goes next like he's still a starting quality left tackle he's just kind of one that you could probably improve upon if you hit on one

in the draft or whatever. But for somebody who, you know, a team that's just like super hurting there, I think Washington's having a trouble, a tough time. There's a couple other teams that just like don't have a left tackle. Then Riley reef is excellent and that he can be a bridge to something better. And then we're kind of on that bridge right now. Makes sense. Yeah. When I'm looking at it, it looks like he has two $2.2 million in dead money next year.

And the cap is expected to go down, especially with the lack of revenue coming in due to COVID. So that'll be an interesting story to watch. Yeah, that's not, not terrible and to be expected. So moving on to Nate Stanley, obviously a very what's the word I'm looking for divisive player at Iowa you have a lot of Nate Stanley fans you have a lot of guys and you know women who who don't like Nate Stanley he's very erratic at Iowa very inconsistent got drafted as a seventh round player and obviously Gary Kubiak has had a legacy of legacy I should say of handling seventh round players and giving

them the reins at some point and you know in that offensive scheme but how has he been at Vikings camp this year so far yeah so Stanley from an NFL perspective I know the Vikings like a lot about him except for his accuracy it's kind of like you you know he's got a lot of the smarts they like the way he moves around they like his size and like all the you know his throwing power and stuff and it's just a matter of he throws inaccurately way too often yeah um welcome to the last three years at iowa man exactly yeah so they took they're fine with that and they took

that in the seventh round uh as like a developmental thing let's see if we can teach him to be more accurate and then we can unlock this awesome quarterback uh that's always going to be a huge if that's why they didn't you know risk a ton on him just a seventh rounder right now he's fourth on the depth chart uh out of four He's taking in, in camp. They usually have three quarterbacks that are actually like doing most of the drills and taking reps. You know, they have first team, second team, third team. And then that fourth guy, a lot of time, you know, when the quarterbacks are doing quarterback drills,

the like the kind of drills you'd evaluate a guy on the fourth guy is going to be over with the offensive line and the running backs handing off for the run game drills. And that's what Nate Stanley's been doing so I would say it would be super surprising to me if he made the team it would also be super surprising to me if he wasn't on the practice squad this kind of seems like a longer term project and we'll see if it works out in a couple of years if he starts to you know throw more accurately then that's something but he'll probably be one of many quarterbacks that just kind of bounces around at the bottom of rosters.

And a bunch of coaches will think that they can unlock him, and maybe one can. But right now he's a pretty long distance away from actually contributing on the field in, like, meaningful play. Makes sense. Yeah, I mean, he has a big arm. He has prototypical NFL size. Didn't really get the best quarterback coaching at Iowa,

unfortunately. So it'll be interesting to see how he continues to develop, especially under that Gary Kubiak trillage. So moving on to Jaleel Johnson. This is a guy we talked about, you know, a little bit before the show, probably the most interesting story from an Iowa Hawkeye perspective at Vikings, you know, Vikings camp. The Vikings signed Michael Pierce in the offseason. He opted out, leaving and kind of paving a way for Jaleel Johnson. So right now, it seems like Jaleel Johnson might be on track to be a starter this season after being a backup the last couple years. Does that sound about right? Yeah, something like that. The idea of starter on defensive tackle is a little bit nebulous

because they rotate so much. So Jaleel Johnson, like, you know, whether whoever takes the first snap isn't that meaningful, and he'll rotate around and have his fair share of snaps as he kind of always has. But yeah, he, I mean, the Vikings didn't, they cut Linval Joseph to save some cap space and then they signed Michael Pierce and then Michael Pierce opted out. So they're kind of stuck with like Shamar Stephan at defensive tackle and Jaleel Johnson and and armin watts those are kind of the main three guys um and this is a big camp for jaleel johnson i think he's in the last year of his rookie deal right and he uh so and it hasn't been great he's been a healthy scratch way too often he's been kind of just a rotational guy he was i believe drafted at like the top of the fourth round i think it

was the third round pick and they traded back into the fourth and they picked him with like that pick um and yeah so it's it's been a dicey start to his career so far but the reason rookie deals are four years long is because sometimes it takes guys a little bit to develop put on a little bit of strength for jaleel johnson um they seem to like him at nose and it seems like he's been having a really really nice camp and kind of rising to the occasion under all of that pressure. So yeah, he could end up being like a really a much bigger part of, of the rotation and getting a lot of those nose tackle reps that Mike,

Michael Pierce leaves behind, but he's definitely one of the more interesting guys to watch. I'll probably do on my show on locked on Vikings. I'm probably going to try to do like a big profile on him and like what he's good at, what he isn't and stuff. So when that happens, I'll make sure I let you know. Yeah, man, I absolutely appreciate that. And I appreciate the information obviously on Jaleel Johnson as well.

Yeah, this is his fourth year, kind of a make or break year, prove it type of year coming out of Iowa. I mean, there was, that was a great fourth round pick. So it is unfortunate to see him not get on the field as much in the past three seasons, but this is really the opportunity for him. It seems like to, to make it the most of that opportunity. Luke, I really appreciate your time. I don't want to keep you too long. Where can the folks find you on Twitter?

Anyone want to get some of those Iowa updates on Julio Johnson, Riley brief for Nate Stanley, where can the folks find you on Twitter? Yeah, you can find me on Twitter at Luke Braun NFL and of course the show is also on Twitter at Locked On Vikings I'm sure there are a bunch of mutual listeners here that already know that so what's up guys but yeah that's

that's most of it I also write every once in a while super irregularly over at zonecoverage.com awesome man well thank you so much for joining and we'll talk to you later, Luke. Yeah, thanks for having me, man. All right, I am joined here now by Tyler Rowland, the host of Locked on Titans.

So we can talk about some Iowa Hawkeyes, one who is no longer with the Titans and one who is currently battling for a spot on the Titans. Tyler, how are you doing today, man? I'm doing fantastic. battling for a spot on the Titans. Tyler, how are you doing today, man? I'm doing fantastic. Thanks for having me on. Excited to talk about, you know, some of these Hawkeyes that the Hawkeye fans are missing seeing from past years.

Absolutely, man. Well, I appreciate you coming on. And let's kick into probably the easier one, the easier to want to talk to because there's not a lot to talk about because Parker Hesse is no longer with the Titans. And the fact that he was honestly still on the team was a little bit surprising, converting from defensive end to that tight end position. But he didn't make the practice squad last year. However, he was cut middle of this preseason. So can you talk a little bit about

why he was cut and what were some of the expectations for him in general? Yeah, I think Hesse has a lot of potential, but obviously the positional conversion makes it a little difficult, and especially in a limited offseason like this. He's still working on some of the, you know, the techniques and the fundamentals of playing the position, and it's hard for the Titans coaching staff to have the time to mold that kind of piece. So I think he has a lot of potential. It's just a tough year for guys like Parker. But for the Titans, I think he'll get scooped up by someone else because for the Titans, it was really just a numbers game.

They have three very solid tight ends. Jonu Smith, the starter. Anthony Ferkser, who is just like a red zone receiving type guy. And then they have Michael Pruitt, who can play fullback. He can play tight end. And then they brought my Cole Pruitt who can play fullback he can play tight end and then they brought in a Jeff Swaim a veteran who's been in the NFL for quite some time who is more of your traditional inline big blocking tight end so Hessey didn't really kind of fit in any of the molds that they needed and they trusted the three guys they had on the roster last year so it was

kind of just a numbers game for him in an unfortunate situation. But Hawkeyes fans shouldn't completely rule out having Hesse find his spot in the league and maybe get a better opportunity soon. Definitely, man. It's a tough year in general for those roster bubble type of players, undrafted free agents.

I mean, you just don't get as much of a shot. And I feel like preseason games are what makes and breaks that because you can show out on a special teams unit. You can show your ability to be on that special teams unit and provide solid tackling, and you might be able to earn a spot there. And you're not getting that this time of year, especially with the coronavirus stuff going on.

Another guy, though, I do want to talk about, and we're probably going to spend most of our time talking about him, is Imani Hooker. And he was drafted last year in the fourth round. Honestly, I felt like that was a little low considering his play style and what he provided for the Iowa Hawkeyes being such a versatile defender, but personally, I feel like the Titans got a steal there. Last year, I had 20 tackles. I would say a relatively quiet rookie season from an Iowa Hawkeye fan perspective. You didn't hear a lot about Imani Hooker, but obviously was involved in the game, played every single game.

What does his value look like to Titans currently? Well, let me say this. Value is a great word. John Robinson, the Titans general manager, got a great value with Amani Hooker in the fourth round because of his versatility. So although his actual production, his statistics are minimal, like you said, only 20 tackles, 15 of those solo. He didn't have any interceptions or anything like that. He was able to play in all 16 games for the Titans,

played in all three playoff games. And I am one of the people leading the Imani Hooker fan club because of his value to the Titans last year. So what they did with Imani Hooker, I thought was awesome. As a lot of your listeners probably know from watching the NFL game and seeing it in college as well, a lot of teams right now are going heavy with defensive backs on the field, a lot of nickel five defensive backs, a lot of dime six defensive backs. And the Titans drafted Imani Hooker specifically to fill that six defensive back role.

Instead of putting four cornerbacks out on the field and two safeties, the Titans chose to go with three safeties and then three cornerbacks. And that third safety was Amani Hooker. So although he didn't have a lot of statistical production, he did play in over 300 defensive snaps for the Titans last year, over 30% of their defensive snaps. And when you consider he's a third safety and a rookie, that's really impressive. That is impressive. Yeah, it's not just him being out there.

It's what they were asking him to do. And it tells you a lot about a player with how much the coaching staff trusts them. So they're putting Amani Hooker out there. He's playing deep safety, post safety, and like a cover three or a cover one, for example, back deep covering up for the rest of the Titans defense, the Titans rotate and roll their coverages around the lot to try to disguise

offenses. So Imani Hooker was excellent at starting at the top as a single high safety, rotating down into a strong safety or a slot position, rotating from a slot position or a strong safety back up to the free safety position. So the Titans used his versatility as a slot defender and as a deep safety and allowed him to kind of be on the field more than I was expecting going into things and using him in that way. So I thought what he did in his rookie year and the versatility he displayed was really, really impressive. And I think by the amount that he

was out on the field for the coaching staff and then increasing that this year was something that we'll talk about here in a second that I have for you. I'm just really impressed with Imani Hooker and I could see why he was such a fan favorite for the Hawkeyes because that versatility, that energy, and he's reliable. And that's something that showed in his rookie season for the Titans. Yeah, I mean, way to tease a little bit in there. I'm curious what you're about to say, but I would have to say, you know, what you basically alluded to was everything the Iowa Hawkeye fans thought about with the Monty Hooker at Iowa.

He allowed Iowa to transition from a 4-3 defense to a 4-2-5. For the first time in the history of Iowa football, because of his versatility, the fact that he can play that slot corner role he can play a you know a single high safety role he can kind of slide in and play a little bit of a linebacker you know a dime linebacker type of role and that is something that we loved as Iowa Hawkeye fans because he allowed our defense to be significantly more you know impactful and versatile with him on the field so great to see that that's happening with the Titans as well I don't get to watch a lot of Titan games I live in Denver and so I'm pretty much big Broncos fan watch that

watch Iowa football and I don't cover the week once right around the corner that wasn't the right thing to say yeah it's not big I'm hanging up I'm hanging up I'm out of here shows over you tease me think you're out so where where week where week one, then Titans play Denver. What is going to be a Monty hookers role? Because when he was drafted last year, a lot of people were talking about the potential to replace one of the high priced defensive backs that Titans currently have. You're looking at maybe a Kenny Vaccaro who signed a big deal.

What is the role of the future for a Monty hooker? Well, I think in terms of the long future, the long term, I think eventually he will be a replacement for Kenny Vaccaro. And I think that's one of the reasons that the Titans traded up to get him in the draft is because Kenny Vaccaro's kind of physical all-out style can lead to some injuries. He dealt with a lot of injuries throughout his career. So having someone like Imani Hooker who can play that safety spot, just be a regular safety if needed, I think that was important.

But for the immediate future, this year, right now, the Titans still have Kenny Vaccaro. He's going to be the starter there. Amani's going to be used as that third safety again, like I'm talking about. But the Titans lost productive slot cornerback Logan Ryan in free agency. And the Titans are looking at a multitude of different people to fill that role, including another rookie cornerback from LSU, Christian Fulton.

Of course, Titans starting cornerback Adoree Jackson could see some time inside in the slot. But I think Amani Hooker will have an opportunity in some packages for the Titans. If you've ever played Madden before, and it's just the easiest visual, there's a defensive personnel package called Big Nickel, where basically it's a nickel package with five defensive backs, but instead of three cornerbacks, there are three safeties. And the reason for that is a safety is typically better in run support than a cornerback. So if you're going to put five defensive backs out there,

but you're going against a team that does run the ball a lot out of shotgun, you're going to want to have a third safety rather than a third cornerback because the threat of the run out of shotgun is immense. Think for the Houston Texans, someone in the Titans division, they run the ball a lot out of shotgun. So sometimes having three safeties out there to go against the three wide receiver look is smarter because the odds that they run out of shotgun are higher. So Amani Hooker can really help in the slot in that sort of defense where

there are three safeties out of the five defensive backs because of his ability to help in run support, which is what you're talking about. It allowed the Hawkeyes defense to be more versatile, change up their defensive personnel, because when you have a safety or a defensive back like an Imani Hooker who is not afraid to get up in the face of the runner and step up in the run game, well, then that can kind of change the dynamics. Now, I don't think that the Titans will rely on that consistently

because Imani Hooker is better at run support in college than he is in the NFL just because of the size and the speed. That's a reality here. But his willingness to do so, his willingness to improve his technique and being in an NFL system, an NFL weight room for a year, helped him add some bulk. So I think Imani Hooker can get even more opportunities in the Titans defense because of that same versatility that he displayed in Iowa.

I think he'll be used in that way. But one other way that he has a bigger role on the Titans team going forward is in special teams. So last year he played over 300 defensive snaps, but he played over 300 special team snaps as well, 84% of the Titans special team snaps. Yeah, he was basically the number one special teams player on the team, in my opinion. And this year that role is being increased.

Kevin Byard, who most Hawkeyes fans probably have heard of, he's one of the top safeties in the NFL. He's the up guy, not the snapper, the i guess the quarterback of the punt team the guy who stands directly behind the center calls the snap count to the long snapper and kind of uh quarterbacks the punt team i guess that's the best way to put it um and amani hooker has taken that role from kevin byard this year so they're giving him increased responsibilities as the play caller on the punt team um increasing that responsibility on special teams, along with increasing that role on defense.

So everything that he did last year, he's going to be asked to do this year, but given more on his plate. And I couldn't be more excited for what his contribution could be to the Titans this year. I expect more explosive plays from him, more disruptive plays from him as he gets more comfortable. And often you see a huge leap in intelligence and production from a player from his first year to his second year if he's going to be a player that's worth anything.

And I truly do believe Imani Hooker is worth something, has a lot of value in the NFL. And I expect to see a big jump from him this year in terms of his usage on the defense and his role and importance on special teams as well. So really excited for Imani Hooker. Tyler. I mean, I, I love Imani Hooker and I'm very excited about his career, but you just got me more hyped. Yeah. I'm really excited for it. I don't get to watch a lot of Titans games. So knowing that is, I think fantastic. And that was great insight from you.

Any last words you want to say before we close out the segment, man? Just really enjoyed you having me on. It's a great opportunity. I usually do cross-pollination with other NFL shows, so it's nice to get in the mix with the college show, and I look forward to when the Titans draft more Hawkeyes, because clearly they have their eye on the Hawkeyes. It's probably because the coaching staff is so amazing. Kirk Ferentz is practically an NFL level coach. So when guys come out of that program, they're a little bit more ready to go than normal. I mean, we see all the highly drafted Hawkeyes every single year, offense and defense doesn't matter. So just really excited to maybe have more conversations with you and your listener base in the future about some of these Hawkeyes that can come in and help

the Titans right away. So appreciate Imani Hooker. That's really what I have to finish with. I love it, man. And where can the fans find you at? If you are a Titans fan or you just want to hear more about Imani Hooker, of course, any of the podcast apps that you stream on, the Locked on Titans podcast.

I'm also on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans. I do a lot of film breakdowns that I put out on Twitter as well. My Tic Tac Titan film reviews, because we focus on the X's and O's. But yeah, Tic Tac Titans, Locked On Titans, the show, the Twitter account. That's where the people can find it. I love it, man. Well, thank you so much, Tyler. Have a great night, buddy.

Yeah, you too. Thank you. All right, and that will wrap up our show. Again, a big shout out to Luke and Tyler for hopping on and talking about some of the Iowa Hawkeye alums who are currently playing on their teams. I hope you all enjoyed that because tomorrow we have the exact same thing coming at you with some other NFL teams. I'll obviously let you know more once that show drops.

I want to confirm I get those interviews in place, but we should be having more of this tomorrow as well to talk about the Iowa Hawkeye alums around the NFL. And if you like this show, please make sure to like, review, and subscribe. Give us that five-star review and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I hope you all have a very fantastic hump day, Hawkeye Nation. And as always, let's go Hawks! We'll see you next time.