Hi all I'm back with another post about the Iowa Hawkeyes upcoming 2012 season. We all know the offense took a hit this week as Barkley Hill tore his ACL. This post is going to break down the defense position by position and look at who can be the impact players for us on defense this year. First of all we have a new defensive Coordinator in Phil Parker who seems to be a little more aggressive wanting to play more tight man to man and blitz more. We won't know this for sure until we see the Hawkeyes play against Northern Illinois at Soldier Field.
First of all the key to this defense will be how much of a push we get from the defensive line. This will help the linebackers and the secondary if we get good pressure with the front 4. We have a lot of talented players on the defensive line they just don't have a whole lot of experience. Dominic Alvis is the top returning guy and he's coming off surgery on his shoulder last year. Carl Davis is another guy who has very little experience due to the fact that he hasn't been able to stay healthy so far during his career at Iowa. He's healthy now and could be that big Defensive Tackle in the middle that can stop the running game for opposition because he should be pretty hard to move without a double team. They guy that has really impressed has been Louis Trinca Pasat who has come on really strong to claim the other defensive tackle spot next to Davis. At the other end position we have Steve Bigach and Joe Gaglione as the guys who are battling for that spot, both have experience and could play very well at that position. On the bench we do have some good depth on the defensive line with Darian Cooper a very talented RS Freshman plus Mike Hardy, Melvin Spears and Riley McMinn all will see some time this season on the line. We also could see some freshman as Jaleel Johnson appears to be impressing and could get some time. That's 9 guys right there that will be extremely important for this football team this season without the pressure from the defensive line we may have some trouble against those spread teams that stand back and throw the football. I'm excited about this group because I feel they have all took steps in the right direction especially the starters who have emerged but everyone one of these guys needs to play a role for this team to be good.
I think you can make an argument that this is one of the best linebacking core's in the nation. We have 3 guys that all have experience and should be a very good unit. I think James Morris who had kind of a rough year last year will return to form this season and really stand out on this team at middle linebacker. Christian Kirksey looks like a player poised for a breakout season and this could really be it for him he has all the speed plus good coverage skills to really take his game to the next level. The other starting linebacker is Anthony Hitchens he hasn't played as much as the other 2 but he did get a lot of experience last season when Tyler Nielsen was hurt. Hitchens is that speed linebacker a lot like Kirksey who can do a number of things against the pass and the run. I think this unit right here could be one of our fastest linebackers we have had in a long time. All of these guys look like they should have great seasons. We don't have a whole lot of depth with a bunch of young guys after these 3 Quinton Alston has been pretty good during practice, Cole Fisher, Jim Poggi and Travis Perry are all young linebackers plus Marcus Collins who has already made some big hits on special teams. All of these guys should be capable of playing at a very high level. I think this linebacking core could be the best in the big ten this year they are that talented.
You can make an argument that this is the best secondary Iowa has had in a long time. We have 2 shut down corners in Micah Hyde and B.J Lowery, who both can be very good players. Hyde has been around for a while and should continue to play very good defense on one side of the field for us. Lowery has been a nickle corner but now he will get his shot to show what he can do with Prater's departure to the NFL B.J has all the skills to be a great shut down corner. He has size and toughness since he played with a cast on his wrist all last season. These 2 corners have a chance to be very good and should make us a very tough defense to pass on. At the Safety position we also have 2 very good players potentially Tanner Miller played free safety last year and played pretty well, he has a lot of experience coming back this season. He has the chance to really break out and be the next very good Iowa Free Safety, he has good ball skills and will will come up to tackle you. The guy that most Hawkeye fans are excited about is Nico Law this guy has been getting compared to the intensity that Bob Sanders brought if that doesn't excite you I don't know what will. The coaching staff has had to hold him back in practice a bit because he has been hitting his teammate too hard. I really think this guy has a chance to be a major difference maker because I think he can play up towards the line of scrimmage and wreak havoc like Jordan Bernstine did last season. The thing he still has to work on is being too excited to make a big hit and then not covering the area of the field he needs to be but he is only a sophomore and should improve on this. This secondary has a chance to be outstanding this season and really be a team that can shut down offensive teams. I'm not as worried about spread teams this season because this secondary should be able to play with every team we go against. We also have a lot of depth with returning guys Torrey Campbell, and Greg Castillo plus Jordan Lomax who would of been the 3rd corner but he had shoulder surgery and is out for the season. Campbell hasn't played a whole lot yet but has a lot of speed I wouldn't be surprised is we see him back returning kicks this season. Castillo doesn't always impress you but he is a consistent player that usually gets the job done he isn't going to do anything spectacular, he is just solid. John Lowdermilk, Colin Sleeper also are back plus Tom Donatell who has been challenging Law for that Strong Safety position. The 2 new comers that seem like they are going to play are Sean Draper and Kevin Buford both Freshman who have really impressed the coaches so far and could be eying that 3rd corner spot. Overall I think this secondary has a chance to be the best in the big ten we have the corners to shut people down and the safeties to make big hits.
Overall I believe this defense will carry the Hawkeyes this season and really put us in position to be one of the best teams in the big ten. With the schedule the way it this team is talented enough to win 10 games or more but the key to this team will be the back 7, it is one of the best we have had in a combination of both we have a good secondary and great linebacking core. The key to this team will be how the defensive line does this season if they take the next step forward this defense could be on of the best in the nation if they don't than the Defense could be average. I think if the Defensive line can get pressure this defense will be very hard to score on especially if we play strong man to man defense and blitz the speedy linebackers we have. I'm very excited about this defense and we will find out how good this team will be in there first game vs Northern Illinois. In my next blog I will preview the Northern Illinois game and give you my prediction for the first game of the season.
Andy
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