Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Will Luka Garza return after declaring for the NBA? | A look back at the Orange Bowl-winning 2009 Hawkeye squad | Pick #1 is in for the network's mock draft special

Episode Date: April 13, 2020

Luka Garza declared for the NBA Draft so what's next for the Iowa Hawkeye big man? We discuss on today's show before beginning our blast from the past segment analyzing one of the best seasons in Iowa football history, the 2009 team. On segment #3, we give you the first pick of the network's mock draft. Follow along daily by following the Locked On NFL podcast. 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 Newark. It's a time for better. 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 got it! Smith! Decks down 85 yards. Iowa. 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 Hawkeye Nation, to a Monday 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 we have some great content coming at you today. I hope you had a fantastic weekend this Easter weekend, staying safe. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade, and we have some great content coming at you today. I hope you had a fantastic weekend this Easter weekend, staying safe, staying inside, trying to see family in whatever virtual way you possibly can. And obviously now we have some sports to cover on today's show. The NFL Draft is coming up in less than two weeks, so we're going to be kind of tailoring some of our content to that just because it is a very, that's really the only sports thing that's truly happening right now. So I want to make sure we're covering that. On today's show, though, as we've been doing last week, we're going to be breaking down one of the best seasons in Iowa football history.

We're going to be talking about that 2009 team, the team that went on to win the Orange Bowl. If you didn't get a chance to see or listen to last week's episodes, we covered the 2004 team, and we wrapped it up with Drew Tate joining the show on Friday to talk all about kind of the storylines and what went on during that season. We're also going to be talking about Luka Garza declaring for the NBA draft and what that means for the Iowa Hawkeyes and whether or not we actually think he will be coming back or not. That's kind of the collective thought of Iowa Nation or Hawkeye Nation right now, just kind of holding their breath, hoping Luka Garza comes back. And then we're also going to talk a bit about Joe Weisskamp

and whether or not it makes sense for him to test the waters. And then finally, we have a very special segment on segment number three. As I teased on our Friday show, we have a brand new kind of network-wide feature coming out on the Locked On NFL podcast doing a full network-wide mock draft. So we're having episodes coming out every single day on the Locked On NFL podcast. Monday, they kicked it off with the first six picks. I don't want to give anything away, but an Iowa Hawkeye was selected in there. So make sure to check out the Locked On NFL podcast. We're doing that mock draft basically every single day, doing a couple picks each day.

But on today's segment number three, we'll be giving you the first little bit of that first episode. So you can kind of see what the flow is and kind of how it's designed. I think you're really going to like it. I enjoyed listening to it myself on Friday. So that'll be on segment number three. So let's jump into it. And I'm actually going to switch around. I'm going to talk about the Luka Garza stuff first, just because that's really the big

news that happened over the last couple of days. So in a post he put on his Twitter and Instagram, Luka Garza said, This year is one I could never have imagined. None of the awards or accolades could have happened without the University of Iowa, my coaches, and my teammates. Choosing Coach McCaffrey in Iowa was the best decision I've ever made. With that said, after meeting with my family and coaches, I decided that I will be declaring for the 2020 NBA draft, and throughout this process, I will be keeping my eligibility in all capital letters. The NBA

has been my dream since I started playing basketball as a kid, and I'm going to do everything I can to pursue that. If it ends up not being the right time to make the move to the NBA, I'm excited about the potential of what my senior season as a Hawkeye could have in store. Thank you to Hawkeye Nation for this unforgettable journey. Thus far, go Hawks. So that was scary, right? A lot of big men in the Big Ten have already declared.

People were kind of sitting there wondering, is Luka Garza even going to declare? I've been talking about it a bit on the show the last month of I think Luka Garza probably should declare. There's really no harm in the NBA draft process to declare considering you have the opportunity to go back to school as long as you did not hire an agent, kept your eligibility. So he has about a month and a half, two months until he has to make the decision to ultimately return to school or not. And in that time, he gets some really key evaluations from NBA draft people, the people who are closest to these teams.

He gets that analysis of what does he need to improve in his game to be a higher-end draft pick. I think what he's going to realize is he's not on the draft watch list from a first-round perspective. I don't even know if he could probably sneak into the second round. Even after the monster season he just had, I'm finding him consistently ranked in that 60 to 90 spot. And then also you got to factor in the fact that some of that doesn't include foreign players, some of it doesn't include players that we may never even heard of. And once you get into the second round of the NBA draft, it starts becoming less about who is the most talented player there and more about the future of the franchise from a perspective of sometimes you can draft and stash players.

So which guys are going to be accepting of a draft and stash? I think we talked about this before as well, but Jared Uthoff did not want to be a draft and stash player. He told teams he was not going to sign with them so he could have an opportunity to pick out his own spot as an undrafted free agent. So kind of an interesting round there, but that's something to keep in mind with Luka Garza. If he's not going to be a high second or a low first-round pick, I just don't see why you stay in the NBA draft, especially given all that you could accomplish the next year.

That being said, I want to touch on that a little bit more, but I want to quickly pivot to Joe Wieskamp. I do think Joe Wieskamp is also going to declare for the NBA draft. He did last year as well. He actually has a higher ceiling from an NBA draft potential perspective based off what I've seen with the rankings. Obviously, I don't think he had nearly as good of a season as Luka Garza, but he's another guy who likely will be declaring for the draft just to continue getting some of that draft evaluation and see kind of what he needs to improve even after going in the NBA draft process last year to see what he needed to improve.

So I do expect that to come as well. I do expect both of them to ultimately return. The NBA draft is kind of in limbo at this point. The NBA owners are trying to figure out what's happening with the season. When is the draft taking place? So there's a lot of interesting things kind of happening that also could impact some of these decisions. You know, if we aren't able to get in-person workouts. That definitely hurts a guy like Luka Garza who doesn't have as high of a draft stock as, you know, an Obi Toppin or whatever it may be, right?

So that is something to consider. And then the last piece on the Luka Garza news, it does sound like his dad, Frank, did want him to return. At least that's what I saw. I could probably get that. I'll try to get that verified. But it sounded like Frank Garza did want his son to ultimately return to Iowa. I think you can clearly see in Luka Garza's message that that is very much a real possibility,

and it sounds like he has no issue returning, whereas a lot of the big men in the Big Ten have kind of made the decision, no, I'm leaving, I'm gone. So something to hang your hat on, Iowa Nation. I think this is definitely going to be a him-returning situation. This is not a Tyler Cook situation

where he is just gone and he is not coming back. So we'll obviously keep you posted when that news drops. But until now, we'll all be kind of holding our breath because if Luka Garza and Joe Wieskamp, if he does even declare due return, this is a team that could be a top five team in the nation next year. There is so much talent on that team and I'm really excited to see the Iowa Hawkeye basketball team take the court next year. So that'll wrap it up with that conversation. Coming up on segment number two, we're going to begin our discussion on the 2009 Iowa football season, one of the best seasons in Iowa football history.

Before we do that, though, just a quick reminder that on segment number three, we're going to be introducing the Lockdown NFL podcast, the network-wide mock draft with airing the first pick in segment number three. If you do like the analysis that you're going to get in segment number three, make sure to check out the Lockdown NFL podcast. We have the mock draft dropping last Friday, and it's going to be hitting every single day this week with new picks coming up. And an Iowa football player was actually drafted on Friday's episode.

So make sure to check that out. All right, we are back with segment number two of the show today. And as I've been talking about, we are doing kind of a blast of the past network-wide, kind of analyzing some of the best seasons in our team's histories. For me, I picked two football seasons. I just feel like that made a lot of sense given the love and desire for football. If this is something that you all love and like, we can definitely do some basketball seasons as well. But on last week's episodes, we did a breakdown of the 2004 Iowa football team that went 10-2 and won the Capital One Bowl in exciting fashion.

This week, I have chosen the 2009 Iowa football team, the team that also went 10-2 during the regular season and finished 11-2 with that win in the Orange Bowl. That team definitely is a team that has a lot of questions from the standpoint of, what if Ricky Stanzi doesn't go down? I think that's the question that Iowa football fans have been asking themselves. Does this team make it to a national championship game? Is this a team that could compete in a national championship? I mean, they were hot. They were doing fantastic. And then the freaking Northwestern game happened,

and every time we played Northwestern, it just seemingly is not necessarily a good result. They came out pretty hot in that game in general, playing pretty well against Iowa, but Ricky Stanzi spreading his ankle did not do Iowa any favors. James Vandenberg, I thought, played relatively well, all things considered, and then I thought he played really well against Ohio State the following weekend, but wasn't able to get it done. At that point, prior to the Northwestern game, Iowa was ranked seventh in the nation. They then had a weird game against Indiana where they had to come back in the second half to end up beating them pretty well. They dropped one spot in the rankings, lost to Northwestern. That really hurt them in the rankings, moving them down to 15th despite

the fact that Ricky Stanzi did get injured. Then they went on the road to take on number 10 Ohio State in Columbus and fell 24-27 with James Vandenberg at the helm. So I mean, I think you think about it like that. If we have Ricky Stanzi, what could this team have done? How far could this team have made it, they could have put together the best season in Iowa football history. I think this is definitely one of them. The fact that they won a major bowl, had won 11 games, that is impressive nonetheless. But I think this team could have even been even better.

But one of the things I noticed about this team is that people typically think of the fact that Ricky Stanzi was such a key asset to the team, and he undoubtedly was. But the offensive production overall just really was very Iowa-like. So they were ranked 86th out of 120 teams with points for at 23.2. They were 8th in the nation of points against, 15.4. And Ricky Stanzi really didn't put together the best season. I mean, he threw for 2,400 yards, but also threw 15 interceptions to 17 touchdowns. Vandenberg didn't play much better himself, throwing five interceptions and two touchdowns,

so significantly worse. And then from the running game perspective, not exactly what people thought was going to happen coming into the season. Two freshmen, Adam Robinson, a gray shirt from Des Moines Lincoln and Brandon Wagner from Sioux City basically took most of the carries and they put together, I would say solid seasons. Robinson rushed for 834 yards and five touchdowns. Brandon Wager rushed for 641 yards and eight touchdowns. And those guys basically dropped off the face of the earth for quite a bit due to issues I would say personal issues and whatnot I know Robinson got kicked off the team

Brandon Wagner left a bounce around for a few places became an all-american at Morningside before playing on the Carolina Panthers squad Durrell Johnson Koulianos DJK was the leading receiver that year with 750 yards, followed by Marvin McNutt. And then Anthony Moyaki, Tony Moyaki, had 387 yards and four touchdowns. So overall, pretty solid offensive core of some very recognizable Iowa folks, clearly. And that defense, as I said, was lights out. And that defense, look at this roster. Pat Angerer, former second-round pick.

Tyler Sash, unbelievable former sixth-round pick and Super Bowl champion. A.J. Edds, Adrian Claiborne, future first-round draft pick. Carl Klug, long-time Tennessee Titan. Sean Prater, Brent Greenwood, great player. Obviously had the unfortunate issues. Amari Spivey, Broderick Binns. Mike Daniels was on that team. Micah Hyde.

That team was just loaded from top to bottom with talent that was going to play in the NFL on the defensive side of the ball. So just all-around very impressive team. And that defense is really what carried them throughout that season. As we do go a little bit more in depth though, on Wednesday's show, we're going to be breaking down game by game. We're also going to try to get a few, another guest similar to like Drew Tate coming on for the 2014,

get another guest from that team to talk a bit more about that season and kind of walk through some of the storylines as we do some digging into the things that Iowa fans are thinking about at that time, looking at old news articles, looking up, you know, old, old takes on what was happening, kind of seeing the hype that probably built up prior to that Northwestern game. And then seeing the subsequent downfall of that after that. And also, I'm curious to see what people thought about that 12 nothing Minnesota game. I remember watching that on TV and not exactly a particularly entertaining game. But again, that Iowa team just found a way to get it done like good Iowa teams do. So coming up, though, that'll wrap up segment number two. But coming up on segment number three,

as I teased a little bit, we have a very special treat for you on today's podcast. We are going to be playing the first portion of the 2020 Lockdown NFL Mock Draft Special. It is a project that is a culmination of every host on the Lockdown Podcast Network's NFL channel and many of the hosts of the college channels, including myself. I am on there on the very first show that aired on Friday and that you're going to get a clip of today. So not only does it include insights from us, it includes insights from the draft network from the host of Lockdown NFL Draft with Trevor Sikama and Benjamin Solak, and the draft dudes with Kyle Krabs and Joe Marino.

This mock draft is not a predictive draft. So that's really something to be cognizant of. This is where we think teams should pick players and what players these teams should actually pick. So it's what we would want to do if we were running the teams. That means there will be trades. There will be surprises. There's going to be a lot of fun. I think you're really going to enjoy it.

Not only are our NFL draft analysts providing some commentary on these types of items, we're getting thoughts from a former NFL scout himself. And they were also just giving these profiles. So not only are you getting a draft selection from the NFL host, you are getting breakdown and commentary from a NFL draft perspective from the NFL draft analyst. You're also getting a scout's perspective and you're getting our college host perspective of that specific player. Things that people might not know if they didn't watch that player consistently throughout the season. So all 32 of these NFL teams are featured, even teams without a first-round selection or even a second-round selection if you're the Houston Texans.

And like I said, this mock draft special started on April 10th and is going all the way through April 17th. So make sure you're subscribing to the Locked On NFL podcast on Apple podcast or follow on Spotify so you do not miss a show. And if you do, just go back into the archive and find the old shows that you have not missed. So that being said,

coming up after the break, we're going to enter into the 2020 Locked On NFL mock draft special. We are back for our third and final segment, the segment that I have been teasing over the course of the last 15 minutes of hearing me talk on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Now we're going to listen to a few others talk, specifically starting with Brian Peacock and Matt Williamson of Locked On NFL.

You're also going to hear from Kyle Krabs and Joe Marino of the Draft Dudes and Trevor Sikama and Benjamin Solak of Locked On NFL. You're also going to hear from Kyle Krabs and Joe Marino of the Draft Dudes and Trevor Sikama and Benjamin Solak of Locked On NFL Draft. And then finally, you're going to get some analysis from Joe Goodberry and Jake Lisko of Locked On Bengals as they make their first selection in this 2020 Locked On NFL Mock Draft Special. So you're going to be hearing from those guys. And as a quick reminder, this is just going through the first pick, but the general structure and format is what is going to be overlaid throughout the entire mock draft special. So if you like this, make sure to go

check out the Lockdown NFL podcast. Episode one aired on Friday and a former Hawkeye was drafted. There's obviously episodes dropping today, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as well. So I hope you enjoy that. Let's jump into it now. They've been playing the game their entire life. From the playground. I promise to act so sadly and eat right. Don't forget 60 minutes of play a day, right? I'm playing the NFL.

Yes, sir. I'm going to be dressing number one. Maybe. To their high school. Let's hear it, gentlemen. Clear eyes. Full hearts. Let's go play some football. Let's go. To their high school. Let's hear it, gentlemen. Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can't lose.

Let's go play some football. Let's go. To the university. We have 95 players here. So accomplished as athletes in high school, we gave them full scholarships to the best football program in the country. Now, their lives are about to change forever. Become your mom's favorite player. Whoa.

This is Locked On NFL, and this is the Locked On Podcast Network Mock Draft. Welcome to the 2020 Locked On NFL Mock Draft. Special Brian Peacock here alongside former NFL scout Matt Williamson. We will take you through the first round plus in a network-wide mock draft. All 32 teams represented, even those without first round picks. Hosts making picks for the teams they cover. Our friends from the college side of the network with profiles on each one of these prospects that get selected in the locked on NFL mock draft special, why they are considered worthy of first round selections and analysis from my

cohost, Matt Williamson, as well as draft dudes, Kyle Krabs and Joe Marino, and the locked on NFL draft crew, Trevor Sycamore and Ben Solak. If you're listening to this kickoff episode on a team specific podcast, you can follow along all week, every pick throughout round one on the locked on NFL channel. Teams are talking trades, so you may not know exactly where your team ends up selecting. We'll conclude this draft next Friday,

checking in with those teams in round two who didn't select in the opening stanza, some of which might jump into round one before it's all finished and recapping everything that went down all week long. Matt, I'm pumped. Are you ready to do this thing? I'm very ready to do this thing. This is a very cool event. I think people will enjoy it.

We've had so many new subscribers since last year that didn't get to enjoy it. So you're in for a treat. You're in for a wild ride and a really well put together whole situation here starting right now. Absolutely. Yeah. And it was one of the most popular. It was the most popular show on the NFL side of the network last year.

And I expected to be even bigger and better and the way things are right now in the world. And wherever you are listening to this podcast, I hope you are well. And I hope this is something fun for you to listen to all week long. Matt, as the Cincinnati Bengals go on the clock with the opening selection in the locked-on NFL mock draft, you've been through this. What are teams doing in preparation, the final days and minutes leading up to the first pick

for those specific teams? Well, this year, who the heck knows? I mean, I'm sure that there's things like you know the electronics or the it people are coming to everyone's homes to make sure everything works checking double checking doing all that kind of stuff we mentioned before you know maybe you could run mock drafts in terms of let's try to just do a whole walkthrough, basically, of how this thing's going to work. If we're going to make a trade, who's in charge of calling this team, et cetera, et cetera. But honestly, in the olden days and the not 2020 draft, most of the hay is in the barn,

really, a day or two before the draft. I mean, you might be calling agents of your favorite people to make sure that prospects didn't fall down the stairs or that knee that you're worried about isn't flaring up. But for the most part, things should be done a couple of days before the draft. Let's check in with some of our analysts here on the network. We have a pair of NFL draft shows, Draft Dudes, Kyle Krabs and Joe Marino. It's Joe Marino and Kyle Kra draft shows, Draft Dudes, Kyle Krabs, and Joe Marino. It's Joe Marino and Kyle Krabs of the Draft Dudes podcast. And let me just tell you, as a couple of draft dudes, we are really excited for this Locked On Podcast Network draft simulation where each host is going to make the picks

for their team. And I know it's not the real thing, but it's pretty damn close. And this draft promises to be very exciting with all the dynamics between the teams with multiple first round picks and all the quarterbacks. So Kyle, I'm sure you're just as excited as I am. Yeah, the big mystery here is from the quarterback perspective, how many can we get to go early? And then the other fascinating subplot is when does the offensive tackle run start and how fast does it go?

Because there's generally considered to be four top offensive tackles. There's generally considered to be three top quarterbacks, maybe a fourth with Jordan Love if he sneaks in there, remains to be seen. And the order of all seven of those players who are feasibly top 12 talents coming off the board is going to be a really interesting scenario to see how it actually plays out here I think just as interesting as the offensive tackle discussion is the wide receiver everybody knows this is a really deep and talented crop of receivers but there's really exciting guys at the top of the

board. You know, could we see six, seven, eight guys go off the board in the first round? When does that run start? And who are those late first round guys that teams that, you know, like the Packers or, or like the Saints and Eagles and Vikings, who do they get if they are a left kind of picking the later half of those top tier prospects? So offensive tackles, quarterbacks, wide receivers, the NFL is a passing league. And you can tell that this draft is going to really help these offenses be more dynamic. Yeah, it's a deep class and we're going to have a lot of opportunities to see players that in a typical class are probably off the board by 20. They might be lingering here in the late first round, early second round.

So lots to look forward to, lots to get into. Looking forward to see how these teams start their drafts. Hey, everybody, Trevor Sykema and Benjamin Solak from the Locked On NFL Draft Podcast here with you. Excited to go on this journey of the Locked On NFL Mock Draft Special. Ben, this is going to be a lot of fun. There's so many things that could happen in this mock draft. What are you looking forward to most?

Yeah, it's always nice when you're able to get 32 guys, each of whom knows their team as well as the host and the Locked On Podcast Network do, and they can control for their pick. And then you have the freedom for things like trade negotiations as the pick comes off the board. You have the ability for surprises as each individual analyst focuses on their guys. I think, number one, it's not going to be a typical mock. It's not going to be like what we see when only one person controls all 32 teams.

There's going to be a lot more aggressive moves. So I expect to see big trade-ups. I expect to see surprising picks. And that's that's the reality with these when you're controlling just that one team you go and get your guy that's what we see in the league i guess that's what we'll be seeing in this mock as well i'm really interested to see how the offensive tackles go here in the first round because it's just the possibilities are endless we saw that in our guest mock draft series that we're doing on our podcast

but i mean what other positions are big ones quarterback wide receiver probably right well i think yeah i think that when you're making these sorts of picks and it's it's catered to your audience for your podcast you're tempted sometimes to go for those sexier positions and the sexy position in this draft is undoubtedly wide receiver so to me i'm really interested to see we know the big three will come off the board and jerry judy cd lamb and henry rugs who's wide receiver four who's wide receiver five and just to see. We know the big three will come off the board and Jerry Judy, CeeDee Lamb, and Henry Ruggs. Who's wide receiver four? Who's wide receiver five? And just how many can we fit in this first round? It's going to be a lot of fun. Ben and I are going to be back with you recapping a lot of these picks throughout the mock draft. I'm very excited. So let's get it started. Okay, Matt,

we're here. The Cincinnati Bengals are on the clock. Is there any doubt what the Bengals should do here? They earned the right through their poor play in the 2019 season to be drafting number one overall on everybody's list. It seems to be the same name, the same prospect that should go first overall. If their phone is ringing, should they even be answering it, or do they know who the pick will be with the first overall selection in this draft? I mean, you answer it, and if someone offers you a godfather-like offer, you consider it, and you still might not even say yes.

I mean, I think Burrow is the super prospect. He would go first in almost every draft, you know, nine out of ten years. That's a gift, and the Bengals need it. He's an Ohio guy. They need to sell tickets. They need to sell jerseys. The offense that he falls into isn't in that bad a shape as first overall selections go. So I think it's kind of too good to be true.

All right. With that, this draft is underway. Let's go to the hosts of Locked on Bengals and get the pick for Cincinnati. Joe Goodberry and Jake Lisco. and get the pick for Cincinnati, Joe Goodberry and Jake Lisco. With the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals easily and without second thought select Joe Burrow. In fact, Joe, we received no calls in the war room for the number one pick.

I guess everyone just knows not to ask. And I don't think we would have considered any offers anyway. So we make this pick. This pick has really been made since maybe late December when the Bengals lost to the Miami Dolphins in week 16 of the regular season and clinched their first overall pick. Joe Burrow went on a tear in the playoffs after that, and the Bengals will finally get a franchise quarterback. First time they've drafted number one since 2003 when they drafted Carson Palmer out of USC. They're in that position again. The roster has been turned over on the defensive side through free agency. And I think they're looking at this squarely of saying our Super Bowl window opens again

if we draft Joe Burrow number one in 2020. That's right. The Bengals don't just spend money to spend money. This is a strategic injection of funds into the defense to make themselves competitive while they have Joe Burrow on his rookie deal for five years. He's of course expected to come in and be a day one starter in Cincinnati. Andy Dalton is still on the roster but will not be on the roster by the time training camp comes around. He might not is still on the roster, but will not be on the roster by the time training camp comes around. He might not even be on the roster by the time the draft is finished. We are looking openly to trade Andy Dalton for whatever assets we can recover, and if that doesn't work out, he'll be cut before Joe Burrow shows up for rookie camp or for the first offseason activity that we're allowed to

hold with these rookies this summer. Joe, how much better does Joe Burrow make this team? Well, the quarterback is the most important position, and I think we're looking at a guy coming off a historic college football season that many have said is the best passing performance throughout a whole season in the history of college football. What does he do better than Andy Dalton? Andy Dalton has been the Mendoza line for starting quarterbacks in the league for a long time. And I feel like all of the skills you look for typically when you look at college quarterbacks, usually they're the big guys with the strong arms going near the top.

And you say, can they function in the pocket? Do they have accuracy? How's their IQ? How's their processing? How's their processing? How do they do off script? All the questions you normally go into tape asking with Joe Burrow, those are all the answers you have with him based on tape and based on what he showed this past year. All of those things are not in question. He has them in spades. It's the arm strength, right? That's the only area you really question. And I would say it's very similar to Andy Dalton.

So it should be an upgrade in almost every area of quarterbacking other than that. And that's okay. Because when you look at the best quarterbacks in the league over the last 20, 25 years, whether it's Tom Brady or Peyton Manning or Drew Brees, they all had those other features in their game without having a cannon for an arm. Simply put, Joe Burrow is the most influential recruit in LSU football history. In leading the Tigers to the 2019 National Championship, Burrow was fantastic, shattering school records and setting national marks that may not be touched. 5,671 yards and 60 touchdown passes for Burrow while completing 76% of his passes. His arm strength won't wow you, but Joe Burrow makes up for it everywhere else. His decision-making is elite, just six interceptions on the 2019 season.

He's the son of a coach and a film room junkie. There's a story about LSU beating Alabama, getting back from Tuscaloosa to Baton Rouge, and when Joe Brady, the passing game coordinator, got to LSU football ops that night to go get the cut-ups of the film, Burrow had already beaten him there. Burrow has very underrated athleticism. Not only was he a high school quarterback,

he was also a high school basketball player, and his ability to move the chains with his feet is something that many have overlooked throughout this process. Burrow is a fierce competitor whose teammates love him, who rises in the biggest moments. Should Joe Burrow stay healthy, he will have a long

prosperous NFL career as a franchise quarterback. This is Matt Moscona of Locked on LSU, your source for LSU and SEC content every day. All right, Matt, there's the pick. Joe Burrow goes number one overall to the Cincinnati Bengals, and there's a lot to like about Joe Burrow. I think maybe if you're nitpicking,

you can find some knocks here and there about arm strength, which in some cases is completely overrated. And I like what was said by many smart NFL people in the past that the quarterback position isn't so much played with your arm. Once you get to the NFL level, it's played from the neck up. And I think that's where Joe Burrow really shines. Yeah, absolutely. And he is a good athlete. He has a remarkable head and poise and confidence for the game processing accuracy. He does not have a power arm. And that

worries me a little bit considering the area of the country he's going to when it's sleeting and windy and, you know, in the NFC North and late in the year, we'll see how he deals with that. But that by no means would slow me down from making such a pick. He's a tremendous prospect. More Locked On NFL Draft special coming up. The Washington Redskins are now on the clock

with the second selection. All right, we are done with our Monday episode of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Again, I hope you really enjoyed that third and final segment. Definitely a special segment. It's something that the network, the entire network has put a lot of time and effort into making very special for you all. So I really hope you enjoy that. Also, I hope you enjoyed talking about the Luka Garza stuff.

We're going to keep you posted as soon as we get more information on that. And we're going to continue our discussion of the 2009 Iowa Hawkeye football team, one of the best teams in Iowa Hawkeye football history over the course of this week on Wednesdays and Fridays episodes. So stay tuned for that as well. If you did like what you heard today, make sure to like, review, and subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast at so you can get this downloaded to your phone or your smart device every single Monday, Wednesday, and Friday when we drop these episodes. And make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. That's how you're going to get even more up-to-date information or analysis prior to

getting some of the podcast shows dropped throughout the week. So again, thank you all for tuning in. I hope you all had a very great weekend, a very safe weekend and stay safe out there during these crazy times. Again, I appreciate and love all of you Hawkeye Nation and let's go Hawks! you