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football Edit

Big changes to the two deeps

True freshman QB Nathan Stanley now in the two deeps.

OFFENSE

QB: Beathard (SR), Wiegers (SO)/Stanley (TFR)

No surprise at the top of the depth chart. Anything other than Beathard would have been the shock of the century. Now the real story is the shared second spot between Tyler Wiegers and Nathan Stanley. On Tuesday, Greg Davis indicated that Stanley was at least third team and pushing for second team. He also indicated that they would like to redshirt Stanley in a perfect world. Reading between the lines a bit here, but perhaps the idea at quarterback is to only use Stanley if they have to use Stanley this season, which makes some sense. However, at other positions Iowa will get true freshmen out there when they can, particularly on special teams, to get them prepared for the future. I think at this point it’s fair to say that Stanley may be the odds on favorite to be Iowa’s QB when next season rolls around.

RB: Daniels (SR), Wadley (JR)

FB: Kulick (JR)/Ross (RFR), Kelly (SO)

No surprises and no real drama here. Depth chart is pretty much close to what we thought it would be. What we don’t have is an indication of whether Iowa will play Toks Akinrabade or Toren Young this season. Fullback was always going to a shared spot, much like last year.

WR: Scheel (SO), J. Smith (SO)

WR: VandeBerg (SR), Nash (SO)

WR: McCarron (SR), D. Young (TFR)

Iowa fans, we have a Jay Scheel sighting at the top of the depth chart. The former four star battled health issues early in his career, but he’s really got going in the right direction since the spring and could be an impact player this fall. Jerminic Smith will also see plenty of work. I expect they will have a similar number of snaps early in the season. No surprise with Matt VandeBerg and Riley McCarron at the top of the depth chart. They are the two most trusted receivers on the Iowa roster right now. Two nice surprises behind them in Ronald Nash and true frosh Devonte Young. It’s no surprise that Young is in there given what we have seen and heard about him from camp. He’s earned the spot. Nash has really come on in fall camp and could see some work this fall.

TE: Kittle (SR), Pekar (JR)

No real changes here. With the injury to Jon Wisnieski, this cleared up the either/or reserve spot that was there earlier. Big question is the same as running back, are true freshmen Noah Fant and T.J. Hockenson going to play? We don’t know that and one other thing, keep an eye on redshirt freshman Nate Wieting, who is probably Iowa’s third TE right now.

LT: Croston (SR), Waechter (RFR)

LG: Myers (JR), Reynolds (SO)

C: Welsh (JR), LeGrand (SO)/Ferentz (SR)

RG: Daniels (SO), Render (SO)

RT: Boettger (JR), Levi Paulsen (RFR)

On face value, there aren’t any changes with the first unit. Of course, as mentioned earlier, I still think the center spot is very much up in the air and don’t count out seeing Daniels there on Saturday and Welsh at right guard. Based on what the coaches have said, I think Render is Iowa’s backup guard, maybe at both spots. Good to see young players like Waechter, LeGrand, and Levi Paulsen breaking in there a bit. Waechter has been in there for a while, but I think he might be Iowa’s third tackle, along with the potential to move Boone Myers back out there.

Redshirt frosh Anthony Nelson now listed as a co-starter at defensive end

DEFENSE

LE: Anthony Nelson (RFR)/Matt Nelson (SO), Sam Brincks (SO)

LT: Johnson (SR), Lattimore (TFR)

RT: Bazata (JR), Ekakitie (SR)

RE: Hesse (SO), Reiff (RFR)

Some pretty significant moves on the defensive line, led by the either/or positioning of the Nelson’s. Reminder, they are not related. Anthony Nelson drew plenty of praise this week from Phil Parker, so we kind of knew he was going to get significant playing time. Now he might be a starter. The rest of the starting unit is as expected. Biggest surprise is probably Brady Reiff, who has really risen up during camp. Also, true freshman Cedric Lattimore is going to play this year and he’s fourth in the rotation at tackle.

OLB: B. Niemann (JR), Ward (JR)/Welch (TFR)

MLB: Jewell (JR), Hockaday (SO)

WLB: Bower (JR), Jones (TFR), Mends (SO)

Well, here’s some really big movement in the two deeps. Two starters remain the same, which is no surprise since Jewell and Ben Niemann were starters last year. As fall camp has continued, the writing appeared to be on the wall that Bo Bower would be the starter on the weakside. Lots of shifting in the backup positions. First a pair of true freshmen are in the mix in Amani Jones and Krisitan Welch. They will both play quite a bit on special teams. Hockaday moves from weakside to the middle. Mends had the biggest drop going from starter to shared backup.

LC: Mabin (SR), Ojemudia (RFR)

RC: King (SR), Rugamba (TFR)/Jackson (SO)

SS: Taylor (JR), Gair (SR)/Hooker (TFR)

FS: Snyder (SO), Gervase (SO)

No drama at the top of the depth chart. The four starters are the four starters heading into the season. Perhaps the only real surprises are the two true freshmen jumping into the depth chart. Rugamba and Jackson are the backup’s behind King. Still believe that Jackson is the nickel back for Iowa after his success late last season at the position. Hooker is probably right in the mix to back-up Taylor, but most of his playing time is likely on special teams.

SPECIAL TEAMS

K: Duncan, Ellis/Recinos

PT: Coluzzi, Rastetter

KOR: King, McCarron

PR: King, McCarron

One real surprise here and that’s Keith Duncan as the starting placekicker. Really the only glimpse that we saw that Duncan was a serious contender was the other day when Kirk Ferentz brought up his name. Maybe there’s no shared spot after all? Coluzzi had already won the punter job in camp, so it wasn’t a surprise to see him listed that way in the two deeps. He will also handle kickoff duties this fall. King is the return man for the Hawkeyes. Still believe that someone other than McCarron would be the backup kickoff return man if needed. Might be Akrum Wadley.

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