Spring practice is starting today for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes football team! Last year was pretty rough, a 4-8 record overall and 2-6 in the Big 10, including six straight losses to close out the season. It was the worst record since 2000, Kirk Ferentz' second season on campus. Here's a look at the two deeps.
QB: Jake Rudock SO, Cody Sokol JR/CJ Beathard FR
RB: Mark Weisman JR/Damon Bullock JR, Jordan Canzeri SO
YB: Jake Duzey SO, Henry Krieger-Coble SO
WR: Tevaun Smith SO, Jacob Hillyer SO
WR: Kevonte Martin-Manley JR, Jordan Cotton SR
TE: CJ Fiedorowicz SR, Ray Hamilton JR
LT: Brandon Scherff JR, Ryan Ward FR
LG: Connor Boffeli SR, Eric Simmons SO/Drew Clark SR
C: Austin Blythe SO, Tommy Gaul/Simmons SO
RG: Andrew Donnal JR, Jordan Walsh SO
RT: Brett Van Sloten SR, Cole Croston FR/Mitch Keppy FR
The QB position is up for grabs as of right now, and there are three candidates fighting for the spot. Whoever does emerge as the number 1 guy will hopefully have a better season than James Vandenberg last season. He only threw seven touchdown passes despite taking every single snap. The WR group didn't do him many favors, dropping several passes. Don Shumpert was high on the depth chart at the beginning of last year, but disappeared after the Iowa State game. Tevaun Smith and Jacob Hillyer are two sophomores who could blossom into solid WR's, and Juco transfer Damond Powell will add some much needed speed to the group. Mark Weisman and Damon Bullock will most likely share the bulk of carries in the backfield, but watch for Jordan Canzeri and Barkley Hill to step in and spell them at times. The TE position should be as solid as ever with CJ Fed back. He came on really strong last season, and it he can figure out how to start strong, the offense could be headed int he right direction early on. Several capable backups as well. The OL looks to be a solid experienced unit. Scherff will be the anchor like he was last season before injury took him out. Van Sloten will hold up the right side with Donnal, and Blythe was a freshmen AA, he'll scoot over to C. Nice to see walk-on, Cole Croston, crack the early two-deep, his dad was a star at Iowa in the 80s. I think the offense will be a lot better this season. Hope to see them change it up and not be so predictable.
DE: Drew Ott SO, Mike Hardy JR/Riley McMinn SO
DE: Dom Alvis SR, McMinn SO/Damauntus Venckus-Cucchiara FR
DT: Darian Cooper SO, Jaleel Johnson FR
DT: Carl Davis JR, Faith Ekakitie FR
OLB: Christian Kirskey SR, Travis Perry SO
MLB: James Morris SR, Quinton Alston JR
WLB: Anthony Hitchens SR, Cole Fisher SO
LCB: BJ Lowery SR, Maurice Fleming FR
RCB: Jordan Lomax SO, Sean Draper SO
SS: Nico Law JR, Johnny Lowdermilk JR/Anthony Gair FR
FS: Tanner Miller SR, Lowdermilk JR/Gair FR
The DL will be much better than last season even after losing two seniors. Lou Trinca-Pasat is injured as of right now, but will be one of the key guys at DT. Dom Alvis should have a solid SR year and several underclassmen will step up. I'm excited to see Darian Cooper, Faith Ekakitie and Jaleel Johnson, all of them were highly touted players out of high school. The LB crew returns to form one of the most experienced in the Big 10, not the deepest though. I'm hoping Alston will have a solid year, he hasn't really shown much. The secondary returns three starters, but they're still pretty young. It'll be exciting to see Jordan Lomax and Nico Law though, Lomax missed last year due to injury. I think Fleming could be a star, he's extremely fast. Overall, the defense won't be the best in the conference and could struggle, but I think they'll have their moments like they do every year.
K: Mike Meyer SR, Marshall Koehn SO
P: Connor Kornbrath SO, Johnny Mullings JR
LS: Casey Kreiter
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