Voice of the Hawkeyes Board

You are right, Willies has gotten much faster just from the beginning of track season. He has cut a full second off his 110m hurdles, down to a 14.07 (#19 in the U.S. & #2 in Illinois) and almost 2 seconds off his 300m hurdles, down to a 38.04 (#89 in u.S. & #2 in Illinois). It looks like he has been working out very hard to lower his times like that. With his size and speed, Willies will be a great weapon for the hawkeyes.

As fans we tend to put too much stock in the rankings of recruits. Especially fans of teams who consistently get players with 4☆ and 5☆ rankings (You know who you are). Today I was looking at 247's top 10 classes for 2013. For whatever reason, I was drawn to South Carolina's 10th rated class. Curious, I went to see what made it so special. 4 kids rated at 90 and 1 at 91 that helped their cause. Good for them.

One of those 4☆ recruits was DE/ILB, named David Johnson, whose measurables was 6'1 240lbs. Well that compares well to David Kenney's, who we're thinking was downgraded due to his height. So I checked out his video. Good for South Carolina. Not that the kid isn't deserving of a 90 ranking and a 4☆, but I would take David Kenney's game and the 86, 3☆ ranking that comes with him easily. Hands down. Its not even fair. Kenney is far more explosive off the ball and has better moves (his swim technique is impressive for a high school kid). What I found to be to be startling is that after Kenney's initial burst off the ball, and he gets by the blocker, he has another gear. He flat out gets to the ball carrier. I saw none of that from Johnson. Like I said before, its not a knock on Johnson, its something special we get in Kenney. There will be several coaches kicking themselves in the years to come for whiffing on this kid.

Delano Hill. First off, I am curious as to why he committed as early as he did. He still had combines to attend that would have coaches there. Coaches that most likely had not seen him play. From what I am hearing, he "wowed" at these combines. I blame Lile and Taylor for this. Thanks guys! Everybody on this and I am sure every other Hawkeye forum, myself included, was going gaga over Antonio Allen. And rightfully so. Allen is a tremendous player. Forget about him. I was not upset when Hill committed to us, prior to Allen's visit. Would I liked to have Allen too? Sure. But since it didn't happen, oh well.

Gressel and Bazata are typical Iowa interior defensive linemen. Undersized, but powerful and nasty. Just what we need to go with the Kenney and the DE's from 2012's class.

John Kenny I think is going to be a player who will get his shot probably as a RS-sophomore. I really think hes that good.

At the same time, I think Willis will also get his shot as a RS-sophomore. Once he gets the offense down, I think he can be something really good on the outside as a deep threat.

Shimonek...well that remains to be seen. A big kid with a big arm, fast release, questionable mechanics at times and two hunks of concrete wrapped around his feet. I think he may be, in the end, a security blanket for Greg Davis. A career back-up if you will. Someone who doesn't have the athletic ability to be a star, but won't kill you if have to go to a back up QB in the middle of the 2nd quarter.

I still think we will get 2 RB's, at least 1 or 2 OT, maybe a C/OG, 3-4 WR/DB with speed (duh), an ILB and TE.

I'm ecstatic about the class so far, especially considering how few commitments Iowa has historically gotten in the pre-June 1st (i.e. pre-summer camp) time period. The coaches have done a great job early this year.

I think Brian Ferentz has been a huge asset in Ohio thus far. And Eric Johnson always did a great job in Indianapolis, but Iowa finally found a match of very good players with mutual interest in that area, and it's paid off this year. Also, as others have said, Coach Campbell deserves a ton of credit for closing the deal with Delano Hill before his recruitment could really blow up.

Agree with pretty much what you said concerning the Iowa recruits, especially Shimonek. I just don't think Iowa can afford to bring in a QB that is going to be just a "security blanket." Iowa needs kids that will come in and compete for the job and I know the staff doesn't recruit this way - meaning Iowa recruits kids with the intentions of coming in to play. Personally, I hope Shimonek is the second coming of Chuck Long, After all, he was lightly recruited too, but I just can't get the idea out of my head that Davis is rolling the dice here.

Todd,

A couple questions for you. You have praised Brian Ferentz a few times for his work in Ohio. Gressel is the lone commitment from Ohio, was Brian behind that? Also, with knowledge you have, to what extent has Brian done a good job recruiting Ohio? Is his success attributed to the number of doors he has opened for Iowa or what is his secret in your opinion? Thanks

Just curious since this is Brian's first time around the block concerning recruiting.

Rodney Coe will be a great answer to that DE question.

Iowa sure did miss out on a lot of their top OL and RB prospects...

Just curious but why hasn't Henry Poggi taken a liking to Iowa? You would think he would Iowa would have a good shot with his brother at Iowa and Iowa's track record putting DL into the NFL but I think Poggi has eliminated them...Whats the deal?

And end up mowing their yards on Sunday.

I have a sneaky, yet unconfirmed suspicion that the Rhabdo incident (which his brother was involved) played a role in Iowa not getting any shot with him.