Tag: Alec Wick

Iowa Hawkeyes 2023 Positional Breakdown: Scouting the wide receivers

Iowa football has a pretty exciting wide receiver group for the 2023 season. Here is a look at the Hawkeyes’ pass catchers.

Wide receiver is a boom or bust position for the Hawkeyes, and a lot of that result depends on the help around them.

There is talent in this wide receiver room. There was talent in the wide receiver room last year as well. Unfortunately, some outside factors really contributed to a disappointing season from the unit. The group couldn’t stay healthy, and you can’t really make plays if you’re never on the field.

They also didn’t get proper quarterback play either. It was not up to par, and neither was the offensive game plan by offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz. Add in some shaky offensive line play, and you have an underwhelming passing attack.

Iowa lost some of the young talent that figured to play a big role in the offense last year. Both Keagan Johnson and Arland Bruce left through the transfer portal. Iowa, however, also used the portal to their advantage to recruit some new exciting players at the position. They also return a few helpful veterans as well.

Here is a look at the wide receiver position for the Hawkeyes in 2023.

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Iowa Hawkeyes 2023 Snapshot Profile: No. 18 Alec Wick

Can Alec Wick impact the wide receiver room in 2023 for the Iowa Hawkeyes. His 2023 snapshot profile.

Depth is extremely important to any college football team with championship aspirations. You can have the most talented starting lineup full of future NFL stars, but the players on the sideline are equally as important.

Football is a physical sport and injuries do happen. Without guys you can trust to come in and right the ship, an injury or two can derail your entire season.

This is especially true for Iowa football at the wide receiver position. Already an area of uncertainty, Iowa has experienced some horrendous injury luck. They went into the 2022 season shorthanded with starters banged up over the offseason, and then the backups picked up injuries as well. It was really bad last year. Iowa pretty much limped into the season. It made an uninspired offense look even worse.

This year, Iowa’s hoping their fortunes turn around. They have the new quarterback in Cade McNamara, and a pair of star tight ends to boot. Now, we just need to see which wide receiver will step up.

Though listed as a backup, walk-on Alec Wick might just push for more playing time this year. Impressing coaches this offseason, Wick can play a crucial role for Iowa this year. Here’s a look at Alec Wick ahead of the 2023 season.

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After hearing ‘Nico is getting close,’ both Ragaini, Keagan Johnson absent on Week 3 depth chart

After saying it’s a possibility that wide receivers Keagan Johnson and Nico Ragaini could return, neither was listed on the two-deep.

After another performance where Iowa struggled mightily offensively, reinforcements would be a welcome sight. Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said as much after the Hawkeyes mustered up just 150 yards of total offense and one touchdown.

“Hopefully, getting some players back would help us, but, you know, we can’t count on that. We’ve got to play with the guys we have and see if we can do a better job,” Ferentz said.

After Ferentz said that both wide receivers Keagan Johnson and Nico Ragaini were possibilities to play this week versus Nevada, neither one was listed on Iowa’s depth chart to start the week.

It’s obviously not Iowa’s only offensive problems, but it’s fair to look at the situation and see how several skill players being out has exacerbated the Hawkeyes’ issues.

“It’s certainly a factor. It’s not an excuse, but it is a factor if you do the math on it. We’ve got I think by my count, three guys that were out pretty much from the start of camp that play outside on the perimeter. Not so much Nico’s was during camp, and then Diante Vines got hurt during camp, too. He was doing really well, so you take those two guys, (Brody) Brecht was out, Keagan Johnson has been out. That’s four players that last December I would have told you we were counting on,” Ferentz said.

While the Hawkeyes ponder whether or not Spencer Petras will remain the team’s starting quarterback or if somebody else will get a chance, everyone in the black and gold is hoping Iowa’s aforementioned top skill players return in a hurry.

Though Ferentz didn’t offer a specific timeline, it does seem like Brody Brecht, Keagan Johnson and Nico Ragaini could be back soon. He updated both Brecht and Ragaini’s statuses while answering if Iowa might consider some schematic changes.

“I’m not sure that’s going to help us right now. You know, really, we just need to find some ways to move the football and score it. I’m not sure that’s going to be going to a gimmick or wholesale change. You know, I mean, as I said earlier, we’re two weeks into it now, we should have a better idea of what we can do and what we can’t do and where the hotspots are and try to compensate for that, and then hopefully we’ll get some personnel back, too. I think, you know, Nico has a chance this week. Hopefully, Brody Brecht this week three, so maybe we can get him involved. Hopefully, that’ll be part of the solution here, but we don’t have a quick fix right now,” Ferentz said.

Nico Ragaini was Iowa’s third-highest in receiving yardage last season with 331 yards. Brecht is a 6-foot-4, 217 pound redshirt freshman out of Ankeny, Iowa, that the Hawkeye coaching staff is excited about.

Meanwhile, Keagan Johnson still hasn’t played in 2022 either. He was Iowa’s top receiving yardage leader last season among wide receivers with 352 yards on 18 grabs. After a strong true freshman season, there’s plenty of excitement about what the Bellevue, Neb., native could wind up as in Iowa City.

Ferentz was also asked in the postgame media availability if Johnson had a chance to return this week.

“I think it’s a possibility. He improved for the first time I can say that. He’s improved this past week and gave us maybe a little room for optimism. I think Nico is getting close. I don’t know if he is there. We’ll know more as the week goes on, so those two guys are definitely possibilities. Vines is going to be a while,” Ferentz said.

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‘It’s not going well for him right now’: Iowa set to ‘reassess everything,’ including starting QB

After just one touchdown through two games, Kirk Ferentz said the Hawkeyes will “reassess everything,” including the starting quarterback.

After Iowa was only able to muster up 150 yards of total offense and one offensive touchdown against Iowa State, it sounds like it’s officially time for the Hawkeyes to perhaps make some personnel changes.

Starting quarterback Spencer Petras had another rough outing, throwing for just 92 yards on 12-of-26 passing with a lost fumble and an interception.

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz was asked why stick with Petras as the team’s starting quarterback at this point.

“I guess to me, both these games he’s still not getting enough help to really do a fair assessment. He hasn’t been perfect obviously. Nobody has. We’ve got a lot of moving parts right now on offense, and then we’re shorthanded a little bit at a couple positions. We’ll keep working through it, we’ll talk about it tomorrow, you know, and see what happens moving forward,” Ferentz said.

Then, as a follow up, Ferentz was asked point blank if Petras is the team’s sure starter in game No. 3 against Nevada.

“No, I didn’t say that. I just said today he played the whole game. In my judgment, it was the best way to continue through this game, and, you know, gave it some thought, but I felt like it was our best opportunity. We’ll reassess everything tomorrow,” Ferentz said.

With the Hawkeyes mired in an offensive desert, Iowa’s 24th-year head coach was asked why he hasn’t been the type of coach historically to quickly yank quarterbacks in general. Ferentz said part of that approach has been rooted in his quarterbacks having established reputations.

“I would agree with that comment or that statement if in fact that quarterback has built up some credit, you know, he’s got an account going. We’ve been around Spencer three years now. This is his third year playing as a starter, so we’ve been around him, seen him do a lot of really good things. And as a person, as a young man, he’s stellar. He’s been really good,” Ferentz said.

With that being said, ultimately, it’s just not working right now for Iowa, and that means that all options are on the table.

“He’s got all the attributes you’re looking for, but it’s not going well for him right now. It’s not going well for anybody on the offense quite frankly. If making a change is the best thing, then we’ll consider it. If not, we’ll just keep pushing forward, see what we can do,” Ferentz said.

Last week, Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz wasn’t completely letting Petras off the hook based on poor offensive line play.

“I felt like after watching the tape, the majority of that game, we had ample opportunity in the pocket to deliver the ball and do what we needed to do as far as making the read and getting the ball out to the correct guy on time. So, is the protection perfect? No, but if you’re waiting around for perfect protection, you’re not going to be happy with it ever,” Brian Ferentz said.

And the promise was that Iowa would play the best player, whomever that ultimately is.

“And the reality is, we’ve seen both quarterbacks play. Both guys have played well. Both guys probably have had times in their career they wish they had back — with Spencer we can look as recently as a few days ago. But the reality is they both demonstrated that they can do it. And what we need to do is find consistency at that position. I can just assure you that what we’re going to do is we’re going to continue to go with the guy, whomever that is, whenever that is, that’s going to give us the best chance to win football games,” Brian Ferentz said after the South Dakota State game.

Now, the questions are more pronounced than ever. Is Petras really Iowa’s best option at quarterback? Or, what are Alex Padilla and Joey Labas not doing to get opportunities to play?

“It’s really not that. The best way I can phrase it is we have a lot more exposure to what’s going on with our players on a daily basis. You get to see them on Saturdays, obviously you get to interview them, talk to them and all that, but we see them on a daily basis, and this goes back to the spring and last fall, as well.

“It has been our estimation that Spencer is the starter, and wanted to give him that chance again today. We’re sitting here right now, clearly we have to do better, and we’ll reassess everything this week,” Kirk Ferentz said.

Ultimately, the bottom line is Iowa needs more offensive production. As such, all options have to be on the table.

“We’ll assess all that tomorrow. Obviously the statement made about points scored, we’re not going to win moving forward if we can’t score more points than that, and we have a really good defense. But you’re not going to win a game, 7 points, 10 points a game, as a rule,” Kirk Ferentz said.

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‘Just doing what we need to do’: Arland Bruce IV outlines how to fix Iowa’s offensive ‘week one jitters’

Iowa wide receiver Arland Bruce IV reflected on the Hawkeyes’ “week one jitters” and said the fix is “just doing what we need to do.”

Iowa didn’t inspire much hope in its season opener that all of the offensive issues that plagued the program a season ago have magically been fixed. Instead, it felt and looked like the offense had gotten worse.

Sophomore wide receiver Arland Bruce IV isn’t hitting any panic buttons, though.

“Yeah, you know the first week everybody’s going to struggle at times. There’s times that you guys probably didn’t even notice where I messed up. It’s just about everybody doing their job. I just feel like with week one jitters, everybody sometimes messes up and doesn’t really complete their job like they’re supposed to and doesn’t get the task done. It’s not really about the coverage at times. It’s just a matter of us doing what we need to do first and not worrying about what the defense is doing, so it’s just figuring out what we need to do first,” Bruce said.

According to Bruce, therein lies the fix.

“Like I just said, just doing what we need to do. Getting the job done. Everybody doing their own job, not worrying about what the person next to you is and trusting that your brother’s going to do the right thing,” Bruce said.

It echoes some of the sentiments his quarterback Spencer Petras shared about the Hawkeyes’ struggles running the football and just the overall takeaways from a day where Iowa mustered just 166 yards of total offense and zero offensive touchdowns.

“Yeah, I think it was pretty representative of just the whole day offensively,” Petras said of the run game struggles. “Without having watched the tape yet, I bet all of our bad plays were probably one guy away from going. Run game that can be. It’s one guy in a run play, it’s one guy in a pass play. Whatever that may be, so the trick is just, you know, we’ve got our first game, we’ve got our first win. Now, let’s get back to who we are, because that wasn’t representative of who we are offensively.”

After a performance that brought out the boo birds on multiple occasions, Bruce had this to say in response to the fans voicing their displeasure.

“At the end of the day, it just matters what the people in this facility, in this building, on this team think, so I don’t really think too much of it. I mean, we all know that we left some on the field, but that’s why we’re going to get in the film room, get back at it tomorrow, look at what we could have done better and what we did good,” Bruce said.

Of course, plenty of those boos were directed squarely at Petras. Dating back to the mid-October loss last season versus Purdue, the San Rafael, Calif., quarterback now has just one touchdown pass against eight interceptions in his last six games of serious playing time.

Granted, seven of those eight interceptions came in two games against Purdue and Kentucky. Still, there was Bruce on Saturday afternoon to help swat away any criticism of his team’s starting signal-caller and to assign some of the blame on himself and the rest of his offensive teammates.

“Like I said, we all made mistakes today. I’m sure Spencer probably thought he left some stuff on the field, but there’s also some things that he probably did great. Same with me. I got a penalty. I caused a penalty. It’s just things where we leave on the field and it’s just procedural penalties and just not lining up where we’re supposed to be. Just little things like that. Like I said, it’s always the basics and the little things. We get those right and we’re going to be fine,” Bruce said.

As Iowa turns its attention to its arch rival in the Iowa State Cyclones, the Hawkeyes will once again be doing so minus two of their top three wide receivers. Neither Nico Ragaini or Keagan Johnson were listed on the two-deep.

It sets the stage for Bruce to be Iowa’s primary difference maker at wide receiver. Obviously, it would be great for the Hawkeyes to find some help from the fellow receivers on the two-deep: Alec Wick, Jack Johnson and Brody Brecht.

“Yeah, that’s the great thing with college football. I mean, we probably have 12, 13 games left. Those guys are obviously going to be back in the next few weeks. The guys that we had in today I think did a great job and it was their first time getting game experience, so I think moving forward we’re going to be just fine,” Bruce said.

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Iowa may have accomplished the unthinkable: Spencer Petras, offense might have gotten worse

What happened versus South Dakota State might be worse than every Iowa fan’s worst nightmare: inexplicably, the Hawkeyes’ offense is worse.

Let’s get the “yeah, buts” out of the way right off the top. Iowa opened with the No. 3 team in the FCS in South Dakota State. The Hawkeyes did so minus their top running back and two of their top three wide receivers with both Gavin Williams and Keagan Johnson sidelined and wide receiver Nico Ragaini announced as out to start the week.

Those injuries are in addition to wide receiver Jackson Ritter and offensive lineman Justin Britt both being lost for the season. Plus, wide receiver Diante Vines isn’t expected back from his injury before at least the midway point of this season it doesn’t sound like.

It’s an offensive line that’s young in spots and looking to replace a first-round 2022 NFL draft pick in former center Tyler Linderbaum. Just to reiterate, South Dakota State is really good at the FCS level and has beaten FBS competition as recently as last season in Colorado State and hung with Minnesota in a 28-21 loss to start 2019.

All of this is true. It doesn’t change or excuse the fact that this looked and felt like rock bottom for Hawkeye quarterback Spencer Petras and the Iowa offense.

This was a flat-out embarrassing offensive performance for a program that spent all offseason looking to address a group that finished No. 121 nationally in total offense a season ago, averaging 303.7 yards per game.

Iowa ranked 101st in the country in rushing yards per game with 123.6 and 109th in passing yards per game with 180.1 last year. In 2021, Iowa registered an average of 16.5 first downs per game. In scoring offense, the Hawkeyes finished ranked No. 99, averaging 23.4 points per game.

So far, not so good in the improvement department. Iowa managed to do worse than each of those averages from last season. The Hawkeyes finished with a measly 166 yards of total offense, 109 passing yards and 57 rushing yards. Even though the score looks like the Hawkeyes tossed a conventional touchdown and PAT on the board, Iowa scored its seven points by virtue of one field goal and a pair of safeties. Oh, by the way, Iowa finished with 10 first downs and was 4-of-17 on third-down conversion tries.

In fact, Iowa’s seven points were the fewest by a winning Big Ten team since Iowa’s 6-4 triumph over Penn State in 2004. The Hawkeyes are also the first Big Ten team to win a game without scoring a touchdown since Nebraska beat Michigan State 9-6 in 2018.

At halftime, Petras was 6-of-15 passing for 41 yards with an interception. He finished 11-of-25 for 109 yards. All of the talk about this being a new-look offense sure didn’t hold up over the course of game one.

It could be as simple as Iowa truly doesn’t have a better option than Petras at quarterback. That’s what Ferentz said to start this season.

“It’s a long evaluation, and we evaluate everything, we tell our guys starting in January. Obviously we’re not doing football stuff, and both Spencer and Alex are both quality guys, but just the time on the field, I think Spencer has outperformed Alex a little bit at this point. He’s further ahead and gives us a better chance to be successful. That’s not to diminish what Alex has done. Both have improved.

“Now the thing is can we put this whole thing together and be a little bit more productive offensively. Both guys have done a good job. Spencer has continued to climb,” Ferentz said earlier this week when asked why Petras was able to secure Iowa’s starting quarterback job.

If that’s the case, then so be it, but it’s difficult for fans to reconcile not seeing other quarterbacks like Padilla or Labas get their chance outside of practice and in a game to try to deliver better for Iowa.

After all, as many in the Iowa echo chamber would pass along, right now, it doesn’t feel like it can get any worse. So, why not give those other two a chance and see if it can provide a spark?

It will get sold and painted as a positive that Iowa won the game 7-3 over South Dakota State despite offensive struggles. It’s not. It’s a negative that Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz and offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz were able to stick with Petras for the game’s entirety and win.

It sets up for the Hawkeyes to stay with a quarterback that means this team’s ceiling isn’t a Big Ten championship or maybe even a return appearance in the Big Ten Championship game. Today was the day to try out and see what it looked like once again with backup quarterback Alex Padilla or redshirt freshman Joe Labas.

Instead, the moment came and passed and now it’s on to Iowa State where tinkering at the quarterback position in-game could mean losing to your biggest rival for the first time in the past seven meetings. Obviously, the Iowa coaching staff hopes it doesn’t come to that.

The results versus the Jackrabbits indicate that it’s probably a matter of time before it does. Like the frustrating play that has defined Petras’ career at Iowa in the past, the San Rafael, Calif., native overthrew targets with regularity, struggled against pressure to identify where his open receivers were, he was intercepted on a pass behind his intended target in tight end Sam LaPorta, and missed a deep shot to wide receiver Alec Wick that could have helped sealed the game.

To be fair, Petras deserves a pass in this regard: like the subpar play that defined the back half of last season, it truly isn’t and wasn’t all his fault. The offensive line showed some serious weaknesses in game one.

Petras was under regular duress and the offensive line never could establish the Hawkeyes’ patented run game. Leshon Williams ended his day with 24 carries for a hard-earned 72 rushing yards, though he even had a costly fumble on Iowa’s lone offensive drive that seemed destined for the end zone. As a team, Iowa averaged just 1.6 yards per carry.

It’s week one, so overreactions are a dangerous game, but this was wildly uninspiring offensively from a program that needs improvement on that side of the football in the worst way.

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Iowa Hawkeyes to open season minus RB Gavin Williams, WR Keagan Johnson

Iowa opens the 2022 season minus its top running back and top wide receiver in running back Gavin Williams and wide receiver Keagan Johnson.

Reports surfaced just before kickoff of the 2022 season opener against South Dakota State that the Iowa Hawkeyes would be without their top running back and arguably their top wide receiver in running back Gavin Williams and wide receiver Keagan Johnson, respectively.

According to Hawk Central’s Chad Leistikow, it sounds like an ankle injury that is sidelining Williams. Meanwhile, Johnson has been dealing with injuries all throughout the offseason and now he is set to miss the Hawkeyes’ opener per the Iowa communication staff.

With Iowa already minus one of its other top wide receivers in Nico Ragaini for several weeks to start 2022, it feels like the Hawkeyes have taken several bullets before the season has even started. It does present an opportunity for a pair of walk-on receivers in Alec Wick and Jack Johnson to potentially star in the opener against the Jackrabbits. Perhaps Jacob Bostick as well.

Iowa has also lost wide receiver Jackson Ritter for the season and fellow wide receiver Diante Vines is out for probably the first half of the season as well.

In terms of wide receivers, Johnson and Ragaini were No. 1 and No. 2 for Iowa in 2021 in receiving yardage. Johnson finished with 18 grabs for 352 yards, while Ragaini registered 26 receptions for 331. Naturally, that’s some important production to try to replace in the opener versus a talented FCS team in South Dakota State.

Williams was Iowa’s No. 2 running back last year and finished the season with 65 rushes for 305 yards. While Gavin Williams entered as Iowa’s No. 1 running back on the depth chart this year, Leshon Williams was expected to factor in heavily. Now, he gets the chance as Iowa’s featured runner in the opener.

After Leshon Williams, look for the freshmen running backs Jaziun Patterson and Kaleb Johnson to see some carries as well.

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Nico Ragaini sidelined several weeks to start 2022 Iowa Hawkeyes season

One of Iowa’s top returning pass-catchers, redshirt senior wide receiver Nico Ragaini, will miss the first several weeks of 2022.

Unfortunately, the fact that redshirt senior Nico Ragaini wasn’t on the Iowa Hawkeyes‘ offensive two-deep that got released to start the week means exactly what everybody assumed it did.

Ragaini is set to be sidelined at least several weeks.

“He has a medical issue right now. It’s going to be at least a couple weeks, so he’s not on the depth chart, which means he has no chance to play this week. It’s unfortunate because he’s really practicing well, great guy, and another one of our veteran players, so would be great to have him with us,” Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said at his Tuesday press conference to preview South Dakota State.

The East Haven, Conn., product was Iowa’s third-leading receiver in 2021 with 26 grabs for 331 yards and a touchdown. For an offense that’s hoping the 2022 season doesn’t resemble last year’s production, starting off the season without one of the Hawkeyes’ top threats isn’t exactly ideal.

Ferentz acknowledged as much, but did say Iowa’s two walk-on receivers have been impressive and noted how tight end depth can help the Hawkeyes withstand this injury hit early in the season.

“Yeah, first of all, those guys have done a good job, Jack (Johnson) and Alec (Wick) have done a really nice job and been consistent, and they’ve been out there every day, which is a big, big part of it. They’ve done a good job and Arland has done a nice job, as well.

“We’re not as deep as you’d like to be. It seems like every preseason or every segment — spring ball kind of goes this way, too, certain segments get tagged a little bit with the injury deal, and just got to work around it. That’s what we’re doing there. I think the good news is we’re a little deeper at tight end than maybe some years past, so we’ll figure out a way to complement things and make it work,” Ferentz said.

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Week 1 Iowa Hawkeyes offensive depth chart versus the South Dakota State Jackrabbits

The Iowa Hawkeyes

The season-opening week for the Iowa Hawkeyes is upon us and that means it’s almost time for Iowa to lock horns with the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz and the Hawkeyes released an offensive depth chart ahead of Big Ten Media Days, but, now that kickoff is this week, the Hawkeyes have revealed an updated offensive depth chart.

Fans suspected that Spencer Petras would remain as Iowa’s No. 1 quarterback. That is the case in the season-opening depth chart. What other surprises await Hawkeye fans in the first in-season depth chart reveal? Let’s take a look at the full Iowa offensive depth chart for South Dakota State.

Iowa Hawkeyes wide receiver Diante Vines sidelined until at least midseason with wrist injury

Iowa Hawkeyes wide receiver Diante Vines will be sidelined until at least midseason with a wrist injury per head coach Kirk Ferentz.

It’s the piece of football that there’s just no perfect defense for. Injuries happen and Iowa—like everyone else in college football—was hoping that they could avoid as many of them throughout the offseason and camp as possible.

Instead, after Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz recently announced the season-ending injuries to offensive guard Justin Britt and wide receiver Jackson Ritter, the Hawkeyes unfortunately now have another injury to report.

“On a negative note, I think I’ve already mentioned Justin Britt will not be able to play this year, Jackson Ritter, and one to add to the list, at least for the start of the season in our two deep. Diante Vines injured his wrist. He’ll be in a cast. You’ll see that, and that is going to impact the beginning part of the season for him.

“That’s unfortunate. He’s was really practicing well, and certainly would have been a guy who could help contribute to our football team. It’s not season-ending I don’t think, but, hopefully, we’ll get him back here somewhere midseason, whenever. We’ll just kind of take that day by day,” Ferentz told reporters at Iowa’s Media Day.

As it currently stands according to the depth chart that the Hawkeyes released just in front of Big Ten Media Days, Iowa’s wide receivers depth chart looks like this: the two that were listed as No. 1 receivers are Keagan Johnson and Nico Ragaini and the two that were listed as No. 2 receivers are Alec Wick and Arland Bruce IV.

Of course, Bruce started several games for the Hawkeyes last season and reeled in 25 grabs for 209 receiving yards with one touchdown reception and three more rushing scores.

Johnson led the way for Iowa receivers in 2021 with 18 receptions for 352 receiving yards and a pair of touchdown grabs, while Ragaini added 26 catches for 331 yards and one score.

While Iowa has been handed a pair of wide receiver injuries to both Ritter and now Vines, Ferentz seemed otherwise upbeat about what he’s seeing from those who are available.

“Receivers, injuries have been part of the deal there, predictably. Hopefully, we’re making progress, but seeing really good performances from Nico, our most veteran guy, and then Arland Bruce has done really a good job, too. Of note, Alec Wick has done a good job. Young guys who we didn’t know a lot about until last spring basically. He’s really done a good job, as well,” Ferentz said.

Still, it’s worth mentioning that Iowa also saw the departure of a pair of wide receivers through the transfer portal this offseason. Charlie Jones and Tyrone Tracy Jr. both transferred to Purdue.

Add to it that Johnson has been battling the injury bug this offseason and there’s at least cause for some angst among the Iowa fan base about what the wide receiver depth looks like headed into this season.

“Keagan is working back. He won’t do a lot tomorrow, but he’s working back. I think he’s close to being where he needs to be, and hopefully the same thing with Brody (Brecht). They’re really the two guys that have missed the most time now.

“If you look big picture, you’re including spring practice, too. So that’s—I don’t know if concerned is the right word, but that’s where my awareness is. They missed a lot of time. To get them back and playing effectively with the right tempo and getting the timing down on the offense, all those kinds of things, and you’ve heard me say it before, meetings are important, they have value and all that, but you learn how to play football by playing it. You’ve got to go out there on the field and play it,” Ferentz said.

Really, it’s probably more important for Brecht to see plenty of snaps throughout camp, but it wouldn’t hurt for quarterbacks Spencer Petras and Alex Padilla along with the Hawkeyes’ offensive coaching staff to get to see both of those targets back quickly.

“The sooner we can get them back, hopefully it’s next week, that’ll be encouraging. They’re both—in Keagan’s case, he’s played 12 games, 13 games, so he’s got experience there, but you still have to play the game and practice. Brody is a little different story because he hasn’t played. We really liked what we saw when he came back in the fall, but we’ve got to get him going.

“Hopefully, it’s sooner than later. I think it will be. But everybody else is doing a good job, and I think we’ve got some flexibility personnel-wise just with the tight ends. I think we’ve got a little flexibility there. We’ll figure that out, but so far, so good. I think our passing game, I think it’s on the right track right now,” Ferentz said.

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