Hey all how are you doing on this Tuesday August 20th don't look now but the football season is right around the corner. The Hawkeyes open up the season at home against Northern Illinois on August 31st. I got the chance to go down to the Iowa's scrimmage this past Saturday and have some thoughts on what the team looked like on offense
The biggest question I had coming into the scrimmage was if the Hawks would run the no huddle offense which was the rumored. During the scrimmage Iowa ran no huddle the whole practice so it sure looks like we will be in no huddle most of the time the offense is on the field. They were signaling plays into the quarterbacks and the play would be called at the line.If you have seen ISU play the offense it will be similar to this where it's not a traditional huddle.So the biggest change offensively besides going to the no huddle is the elimination of the fullback unless we are in a short yardage situation. I see the offense running 2 TE sets and using the TE like a fullback with a single back for the stretch play we are known for. Also expect to see a lot of spread formations with 3 and 4 WR sets on the field most of the time this season. The Wide receivers lining up on the outside won't be only wide outs expect to see tight ends line up on the outside and running backs. I saw a lot of Damon Bullock and Jordan Canzeri on the outside for more than specific plays. So the offense has changed a lot now to get to the biggest question to answer this camp who will be the starting quarterback?
I watched the scrimmage all the way through so I got to see all the QB's take a lot of reps at the position and there was one constant, Jake Rudock took all of the snaps with the number one offense. Now Jake didn't do anything too spectacular but was very solid. He lead one Touch down drive and one field goal on the day. So what does Jake bring to the table first he is very smart, has a good arm, and he can run. He was very confident in what he was doing on the field against a defense that looked great but I'll get to that in a later blog entry. So if Rudock is the starting QB even though Ferentz hasn't named a starter yet number 2 is CJ Beathard he was always the number two quarter back and as a RS FR has a lot of potential. He has an absolute cannon for an arm throwing a few deep balls down the field that were right on target. He really impressed me with his arm seemed to make smart decisions and he also can run the ball. The number 3 QB seems to be Cody Sokol but he showed off a nice arm and lead a TD drive. The constant with all the quarterbacks is they were very comfortable in the pocket not getting happy feet like Vandenburg did some last year. So still a lot of question but I think either of these guys will do a good job for us now onto the running backs.
The starting running back for the most part was Mark Weisman as he lined up in a lot of single back sets. The interesting thing was who came in after him as it wasn't so much Bullock and Canzeri getting carries. Michael Malloy received a lot of carries and looked good he has speed and power as does Leshun Daniels who is reminding a lot of people in Iowa City of Shonn Greene but faster. Damon Bullock and Canzeri will get carries but expect to see them split out at wide receiver a lot this season. They really seemed to be working on getting Bullock and Canzeri the ball in space by running quick screen's. Even the Freshman showed some good things Akrum Wadley had a great run after the catch on a pass he caught on one side of the field than took it all the way across the field for a 60 yard touchdown.
Another big question coming into camp was who is going to play receiver? Kevonte Martin Manley impressed me he looks a lot faster this season than last making some nice moves and creating some yards after the catch on Saturday. He will be one of the starters the other 2 who lined up with him a lot were Don Shumpert and Damon Bullock. Shumpert didn't have a great scrimmage but looked good in the wide receiver drills before it started. He has all the speed his problem has been catching the ball consistently if he can do that he could be a very good receiver and legit threat. A number of guys played but the two receivers that stood out to me were Tevaun Smith, and Damon Powell. Smith made a great diving catch and was making plays all game. Damon Powell can fly and they even had some plays to try and get him open he is a threat to take it the distance anytime he touches the ball. He doesn't just have speed but is very elusive..He had two plays where he shook the defender and got big yardage, he also went up high to catch a TD pass where he got drilled by Nico Law but still held on. He was very impressive and will play it just depends how long it takes him to pick up the playbook. Jake Hillyer flashed a little has great size the surprise to me was Jordan Cotton didn't get a lot of snaps and he seemed to be coming on at the end of the year. The other surprise is Riley McCarron he is a walk on who looks just like Wes Welker he had a big spring game didn't do as much this scrimmage but he is still a receiver to watch. These are the main guys I see playing this season the freshman wide receivers looked physically ready to play maybe a Derrick Willies could get a chance to play if any one struggles or an injury. Overall the speed of the receiving core is much better and I'm excited about the potential of this group.
Tight end is a position we have depth with some familiar faces and a new face to add to the mix. Fiedorowicz should have a huge season for the hawks with an inexperienced QB the best thing to have is a good safety valve tight end. Jake Duzey played a little at the end of the year and played a lot on Saturday the top 2 tight ends were Fiedorowicz and Hamilton. The other Tight end who has emerged is George Kittle a RS FR he played the outside wide receiver position and made a number of nice catches. I don't know if we have more depth at tight end or running back but we are in good shape in both places.
Offensive line looked pretty good for the most part being able to give the quarterback time to find an open receiver. I think this will be one of our better offensive lines it has a lot of experience with Brandon Scherff, Brett Van sloten, Austin Blythe all returning there is also a battle for the right guard spot between Jordan Walsh, Andrew Donnal, Nolan McMillan. Blythe is taking over at center so that will be a little new without James Ferentz at the helm. I think this offensive line could be very good and can only help our defensive line having to go up against a good Oline and vice versa the oline going up against an improving Dline.
So that is what I saw from the offense it will be an interesting year for the Hawks this year I don't know what to expect from this offense. They will be playing a lot faster this season the running game should be improved this season and the passing game should be a lot better. I think this offense could surprise some teams this season I feel like we finally have some explosive play makers that defenses will have to watch out for. The biggest question on how good this offense will be is whether the qb's are really good and wide outs improve. At the scrimmage I saw the offense was much improved which has me excited.
GO Hawks
No comments:
Post a Comment