Tag: Iowa

This list will have the Bucs even happier about their Tristan Wirfs selection

In his ‘Pipeline to the Pros’ series over at NFL.com, Chase Goodbread listed the top 10 schools for producing offensive linemen.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered the 2020 NFL draft hoping to snag one of the top-rated offensive tackles to be a building block for them up front and help keep new quarterback Tom Brady upright.

After watching three tackles get taken in the first 11 picks, Tampa Bay moved up from No. 14 to 13 in order to draft Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs, who some had ranked as the second-best tackle available.

Wirfs will be looked upon to have a major impact in his rookie season for a Bucs team looking to make a deep run into the postseason. And while it remains to be seen how things will pan out for Wirfs in his first year in the NFL, the Bucs should take comfort in the fact that their new offensive tackle comes from one of the best schools for producing NFL offensive linemen.

In his Pipeline to the Pros series over at NFL.com, Chase Goodbread has been examining which schools produce the best talent at each NFL position. His list of the best schools for offensive linemen had Wirfs’ alma mater ranked at No. 10, with guys like Bryan Bulaga and Brandon Scherff as some big-name alums.

Hopefully, Wirfs can do his Iowa Hawkeyes proud this season in the NFL.

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Texas now targeting top-rated tight end in 2021 recruiting class

Texas recently sent an offer to the No. 1 rated recruit in the state of Iowa, four-star tight end Thomas Fidone.

Texas recently sent an offer to four-star tight end Thomas Fidone out of Council Bluffs, Iowa. Continue reading “Texas now targeting top-rated tight end in 2021 recruiting class”

Notre Dame Offers Four-Star ’21 Iowa Defensive End

Notre Dame is looking for depth at defensive end in the 2021 class, offering one of the best Iowa prospects in the class earlier this week.

Notre Dame became the 20th team to offer a scholarship to four-star weak-side defensive end TJ Bollers earlier this week.  The Tiffin, Iowa (Clear Creek Amana) product is a top 150 player nationally on the 247Sports composite ratings (147) and a top ten weak-side defensive end (eight).

Among the 20 to make scholarship offers are Alabama, Iowa State, Nebraska and Wisconsin that are listed as the favorites to eventually land his commitment, something he told 247Sports he thought he was close to making before the Notre Dame offer came in.

“I had thought about making a decision sooner rather than later but that stuff can change depending on how things go with Notre Dame” – TJ Bollers to 247Sports

Bollers checks in at 6-3, 250 pounds and ranks as the second prospect in all of Iowa for the 2021 class.  Bollers participated in Notre Dame’s camp in June of 2018 and told 247Sports that he’s already made a gameday visit to South Bend as well.

It may seem like Notre Dame is late to the party for Bollers in terms of offering but it also sounds like the offer coming in got him to rethink a few things if nothing else.

Why Iowa’s Cedrick Lattimore could make Seahawks roster

The Seattle Seahawks are thin on interior defensive tackles, and former Iowa star Cedrick Lattimore is a candidate to steal a roster spot.

The Seattle Seahawks brought in a whopping 17 undrafted free agents from the 2020 class to compete for spots on the active roster.

Most years, teams are lucky to get one UDFA to make the squad, as they are primarily brought in to give the team extra bodies during training camp.

However, the Seahawks have had plenty of luck in the past, going all the way back to Dave Krieg and including Jermaine Kearse, Doug Baldwin and more recently, defensive tackle Poona Ford.

In fact, the Seahawks had an interior defensive tackle make the roster as an undrafted free agent two years in a row, as Ford was followed by Michigan’s Bryan Mone in 2019, who appeared in four games for the Seahawks.

If they are going to keep the streak of undrafted defensive tackles alive, hope likely rests on Iowa’s Cedrick Lattimore.

Lattimore is a beastly six-foot-three and 295 pounds. He started all 13 games for the Hawkeyes last year, recording 44 combined tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, four QB pressures and a fumble recovery.

He also won the Iowa Coaches Appreciation Award on defense, and was named honorable mention All-Big Ten as well.

Lattimore’s path to a roster spot is less crowded than many other UDFA, simply because Seattle has a lot less interior defensive linemen standing in the way.

Jarran Reed and Poona Ford will start on the inside, and right now the third DT spot is an open competition between Mone, Demarcus Christmas and the two undrafted guys, Lattimore and Josh Avery.

Seattle is expected to sign a run-stuffing veteran, potentially Mike Daniels or Damon Harrison, but if they opt to use that money elsewhere than Lattimore could contend for a spot on the opening day roster, extending Seattle’s streak of hitting on undrafted defensive tackles to three years in a row.

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Member President Expects every Big Ten Teams to Play Football this Fall

Will football be played by all 14 member schools of the Big Ten in 2020? Northwestern’s president certainly thinks so.

Much has been made about what conferences will do in 2020 if some member schools aren’t able to have a football team ready for the season.  as Thursday saw the ACC Commissioner admit they would proceed without those unable to go.

Friday, the president at a Big Ten member school and chair of the Big Ten’s council of presidents/chancellors, spoke to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg about his expectations for Big Ten football in 2020.

Schapiro clarified his statement shortly after:

Schapiro also noted that the Big Ten presidents and chancellors have their annual meeting on June 7 and that he expects that to be a key date for the fall sports season.

“We are going to work out a lot of things” Schapiro told Rittenberg.

It seems like quite a stance to take with the Big Ten having both Northwestern and Rutgers as members, as Chicago and New York City both remain hot-beds for COVID-19.

Notre Dame is scheduled to play just one Big Ten school in 2020 as they travel to Green Bay to take on Wisconsin on October 3.

When Will NCAA Allow College Sports to Return?

Will we have college football in 2020? The NCAA released a plan for a return to the playing field for college sports in 2020.

We sit here on May 7 with plenty wondering when we will get sports back.  Sure, NASCAR hits the track in ten days in front of an empty crowd but when might we get college sports back?  The NCAA has finally given at least a hint of that.

The NCAA has released their three phases of re-socialization which we’ll examine a bit here as the organization offered a premise for resuming practice and competition.

First:  Core principles of resocialization of collegiate sport

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

Good News from Iowa in Regards to College Football in 2020?

The Univ. of Iowa president spoke about Hawkeyes football starting up on June 1 today. Is that good news or is just words spoken too soon?

We’re 121 days until the 2020 College Football season is to kickoff with the newly formed Week Zero.  As Notre Dame fans know the Fighting Irish are scheduled to play Navy that day, August 29 in Dublin, Ireland.

Much has been made of if this game will or won’t be played.  It makes very little sense to me that a sporting event is alright to play but other mass-gatherings in Ireland are not alright to have.  We can discuss that for literally hours but instead let’s focus on the potential good news that came from Iowa today for college football fans.

University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld said Thursday that the plan at his university for now is for athletics practices, football included, to start on June 1.

So get excited, right?  Iowa is setting the trend and the rest of the Big Ten will follow and then the rest of college football quickly after.

The good news comes from the state of Iowa being in a position that coronavirus hasn’t been as severe and that talks of this are even a possibility.  However, turn on the news and you’ll quickly see that for every Iowa, there is a New York, Michigan or Florida where you’re still seeing over 1000 new cases of COVID-19 per day.

I think Harreld comes off perhaps a bit optimistic but he also gave some reason as to why, right now on April 30, he sees June 1 as a possible starting point for football and other team activities.

I hope like all getup that Harreld is right.  That would mean the worst of this pandemic would be behind us sooner rather than later and that college football gets started as regularly scheduled, something I have not been optimistic about for quite some time.  It was Miami (FL) head coach Manny Diaz who put everything in perspective as well as anyone I’ve seen so far when he spoke to ESPN this week.

“We all know what we want, but we’ve encountered something that’s unprecedented,” Diaz said. “We have to play it out and see what we can get. That’s the difference. Let’s see how good we can get it. I believe we’ll all be appreciative for whatever we get.”

As much as I hope Harreld is correct it’s simply way too soon for us to know if things will start on June 1 like he says.  Think back how different you may have viewed this pandemic just two weeks ago.  Now think back a whole month ago.

Everything news-wise changes so quickly with this it’s almost impossible to be able to predict things getting started like Harreld suggests just a month from now.  I’m not sold his beliefs or hopes will play out this way but I’d be beyond ecstatic to be wrong and for what should be a fun 2020 season to get started after the strangest springs of almost all of our lives.

Ravens earn ‘B-‘ grade for S Geno Stone pick in 7th round

This grade would have probably been a lower if it didn’t add some depth to the safety position.

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The Baltimore Ravens addressed a minor question mark with their final pick of the 2020 NFL Draft, taking Iowa safety Geno Stone at No. 219 overall.

Draft Grade: B-

This grade would have probably been a bit lower if it didn’t add some depth to the safety position, something the Ravens needed to address after the departure of Tony Jefferson.

What I’m not sold on is Stone’s lack of speed and size to be a game-changing safety in this league, but then again that’s not really what you’re looking for in the seventh round.

That said, he does have some upside as a hybrid box and coverage safety and offers an interesting option behind Chuck Clark and Earl Thomas, especially with the way Don Martindale has found ways to use various defensive backs in his schemes.

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Instant analysis of Ravens drafting Iowa S Geno Stone in 7th round

The Ravens get a productive safety in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft in Iowa’s Geno Stone. He’ll be a depth player with some upside

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The Ravens waited until the seventh and final round of the 2020 NFL Draft to add a piece to their already deep secondary. They bring in Iowa safety Geno Stone with pick No. 219, who was the 2nd-team All-Big 10 in 2019.

Stone plays with incredible instincts and has a nose for the ball, as evidenced by his eight turnovers over his last two seasons. He also has the strength needed to cover receivers and tight ends over the middle and keep them from running a flawless route. Stone isn’t afraid to come up in run support, as he doesn’t wait to make a run to the ball carrier.

Stone lacks the speed and height to truly be a ball-hawking safety in the NFL, running a 4.62-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. His lateral quickness is a problem as well, showing up mostly when he gets beat in the red zone. His height and inability to adequately high point a jump ball means that he could get feasted on by the superb competition in the NFL if used in more direct coverage.

As a hybrid deep and box safety, Stone could be an intriguing depth option with some upside for Baltimore. The Ravens don’t need someone great at safety, but they do need depth behind Earl Thomas and Chuck Clark, which they get in Stone.

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