Yes, just three. It was difficult to choose just four players for the Ferentz Era Mt Rushmore in last week’s poll, but over 1,600 of you cast your ballot. We’re looking forward to the results of this poll and if it’s anything like last week’s, there may be as urprise or two along the way. Again, choose just three games.

NOTE: I typed Meyer kick vs PSU in 2008..but it’s Daniel Murray of Iowa City Regina who made the kick..I can;t go back in and edit it…just wanted to point out the error and give credit to the man who made the kick

That makes sense when comparing this May to that of May 2010. At that time, the league was cloaking itself in privacy, trying to keep the media off its trail as well as off the trail of the Nebraska Cornhusker’s interest in joining the league. They did a decent job of that right up until the end.

This year, the topic at hand is a football playoff, what it will look like and how the Big Ten and Pac 12 go about protecting their Rose Bowl tie in.

Delany said this week that the Big Ten (coaches, admins, etc) are in favor of a playoff system that incorporates the best of the bowl system. That may not cater to the Big Ten getting on campus home games, but as long as the league can keep its tie in to the Rose Bowl, it seems like foregoing the on campus opportunities makes some sense to the league.

As to how the teams would be chosen, Delany gave this quote that I saw on ESPN, and it’s a mouthful:

“That would mean if we’re going to use computers, people are more up front about what’s in those computers,” he said. “It would mean perhaps the pollsters that we have would have to refrain from ranking teams before they ever play. It would mean we would have to honestly discuss strength of schedule and how we measure it. … If a computer guy is unwilling to explain to me and everybody else what’s in his program, I don’t think it ought to be part of the process. If a coach is arguing for championships, I’d like to hear the rationale behind that. If someone is arguing that you don’t have to win championships and they’re willing to live with a poll that is not even transparent, I’d like to hear that. And I’d like to hear coaches talk about the influence that a poll-only process, how that plays out in the nonconference scheduling.”

Obviously, a playoff solution is still a ways off, but the parties involved are on board with a playoff of some nature, most likely a four team playoff.

I agree with Delany related to many of his comments above; I’d love to know how the computer guys do what they do. As much as I love preseason polls, it does make more sense to wait until at least October before publicizing the first poll. However, the AP will probably stay separate from the solution in any case and they will conduct their own preseason poll which would probably have at least some effect on whatever poll is decided upon.

I am up in the air related to whether or not a team should be a champion of its league to qualify for the four-team playoff. A few years back when Michigan and Ohio State played a season ending game, they were 1-2 in the nation and the game was a high scoring affair decided by three points with the home team winning. You can’t tell me that the Big East Champion was more deserving than Michigan, who lost that game to Ohio State. This year, we saw a repeat of the Alabama-LSU regular season game which LSU won at Alabama but lost in the rematch. Alabama not only didn’t win the SEC title, it didn’t win its division, yet it won the national title.

Circling back around to the bowl system, Delany also said that the league is in favor of only sending teams to bowl games who have won at least seven regular season games. He also hinted that the league’s bowl partnerships may be changing following 2013 when the contracts are up.

I’d love to see the Big Ten maintain its relationships with the Outback and Cap One bowls, but if I had to pick one over the other, I’d keep the Outback. I’d love to see the league get back in touch with the Alamo Bowl, as San Antonio is a fantastic bowl destination. If it did that, one or both of the lesser Texas bowls would need to go. I’d love to see the Big Ten tie into the Holiday Bowl and have a match up against a Pac 12 team and give the bowl a marquee New Years Day position. I think playing a bowl game in the Phoenix area is also a winner, regardless of what they call it (the Insight is done as the official sponsor).

Changes are coming to the college football post season and it sounds as though the bowl process will remain a vital part of the landscape.

If there is a BCS conference program in more disarray than the Hokies are right now, please share it with me because I’ll not believe it until I see the evidence.

Tech fired Seth Greenburg after this past season. Then they lost one of the more promising players on the team as freshman as Dorian Finney-Smith asked out of his scholarship. THEN the Hokies lost the most highly rated commit in school history as Montrezl Harrell decided to reopen his recruitment.

All of this from a team that went 4-12 in ACC play last year and 15-16 overall. They also lose their #2 and #4 scorers from last season’s club, too.

This is a great draw for the Hawkeyes who will really, really need to win a road game against an ACC team to help bolster their post season resume next year.

“The best thing about getting to four straight NCAA regionals, is its what we talked about at beginning of year.  We set goals, but you have to be realistic.  My first year here, we weren’t saying ‘Let’s go to the NCAA championships.  It was about work,” Hankins said.  ”But the guys on this team have worked as hard or harder than any team I have had.  Our spring has been strong compared to fall, which is a bit of a flip flop from recent years.  

The Hawkeyes are ranked 26th in the nation, the highest ranking for any team in the Big Ten despite finishing 6th place at the recent Big Ten championship.  

“We didn’t do a good enough job managing our expectations (at the Big Tens).” Hankins said.  ”We got behind the eight-ball in the first round and the golf course punished us for being aggressive. We play 12 events per year and that was one of them and it wasn’t our best, but we learned from it and have moved on.”

For this year’s team, moving on means heading to Athens, Georgia for this week’s NCAA Regional event.  Five teams will make it out of the six regionals and advance to the NCAA Championship field.   The Regionals field consists of 81 teams.  The Hawkeyes are the 5th highest ranked team in their regional, with #2 Alabama, #12 North Florida, #16 New Mexico and #25 Georgia also in the same regional.  

Last year, the Hawkeyes not only made it out of their regional but finished in a tie for 10th place at nationals, marking the best finish in school history.  The program has a lot of momentum on the course, but possibly even more off of it.

The athletic department raised $2 million in private donations to fund an indoor/outdoor practice facility at Finkbine Golf Course.  Construction on the 7,500 square foot facility began in March.  Hankins said this was needed but will be a big boost.

“We are just getting up to par in the Big Ten (related to facilities).  We have proven we can do it without it, but if you have an indoor-outdoor facility that lets kids who want to outwork everyone in the country or their team a chance to work, that is the biggest thing.” Hankins said.  ”Perhaps they had a test at 3pm and had to miss practice..they can come to the facility and get in a regular day of practice.”

“The other piece is when you are looking at convenience, these guys have a lot on their plate.  When you play golf, that is a four or five hour deal.  Then add in chipping and putting, you are looking at 6 hours.  What other athletes are putting that amount of work?  So the convenience and high quality aspects are perfect.” 

“The indoor putting green will be state of the art; we can make it faster or slower and can chip to it.  There will be a study lounge and my office is there and they can come to me and get a lesson or check their swing on video. It’s more convenient for me as well and gives me more time to give to each individual player.  How we got to this point? S pend more time with your players, finding out what they need.  Take care of indiv, team stuff takes care of itself.”

Even though the program is swimming in some heretofore uncharted waters, Hankins doesn’t believe it has peaked.

“We were really deep this year for the first time in a long time.  We had eight or nine guys who I felt good about stepping in and playing for us.  It makes it tougher to make the team and kids will practice harder and that creates consistency from tournament to tournament.” Hankins said.  ”We take the kid who is playing the best that week, a reward that week to be able to go compete in that tournament.”

As is the case in any sport, the lifeblood of your program is found in your recruiting efforts.  With the string of on course success followed up by a commitment to the program in the form of the practice facility, things have never been brighter for the Iowa Golf program.  

“We are excited about the present and about the future,” Hankins said.  ”Getting the NCAA tournament is important.  That’s where you get recognized by sponsors.  If you do well in the NCAA tournament, that’s where the contacts come in, the shoe deals, deals with the ball companies.”

“I can go out on the road now and tell a recruit that if you come to Iowa, you will have a chance for a lot of individual teaching, you’ll be able to work on your game anytime you want regardless of the weather and this is also a program that plays a good enough schedule to be in the rankings and get to the NCAA tournament where you’ll have a chance to create some attention.  Everything is in place and now it’s just a matter of how hard these kids want to work.  I like their work ethic, so it’s a great time for Iowa golf.”

IOWA GOLF QUICK FACTS

4th straight NCAA appearance this year
Highest ranked team in the Big Ten
National ranking of 26th / 300 Div. 1 in the country (Golfweek/Sagarin ranking)
3 All-Big Ten Players (Barrett Kelpin – 30th in the country, 1st team), Chris Brant (2nd Team), Steven Ihm (2nd team)
Ian Vandersee (finished 2nd in Freshman of the Year – Big Ten rankings this season)
3 Academic All-big Ten honorees (Chris Brant, Brad George, Jared Walahoski)
2 Academic All-Americans candidates (Chris Brant, Brad George)

Golf Facility:

5 Indoor to outdoor heated hitting bays
3000 sq foot indoor putting green and chipping surface
2 V1 Video Analysis stations (3 cameras each)
Mens and Womens locker rooms
4 coaches offices
Team Lounge and Study area
Located on Finkbine Golf Course Driving Range

*All supported by private donations in support of Mens and Womens golf at the U of Iowa.

We kept the poll up for 10 hours and more than 1,600 Iowa fans placed their votes, voting for just four players. That’s a very good sample size, considering that most radio and television ratings samples are comprised with fewer than 1000 ‘samples’. So, the ad rates and show ratings are put together and the fates of executives and on air talents are calculated based on a sample size considerably smaller than the one Iowa fans just gave HawkeyeNation.com. Thank you for the great participation, by the way.

Here are the results, followed by my picks and some commentary:

THE FOUR

1. Bob Sanders (1,327 Votes): Bob Sanders was the leading vote getting by a runaway margin. 81.7% of fans who voted included ‘Bullet Bob’ on their ballot. I am surprised in that I assumed the percentage would be much higher than that. Bob Sanders is a no doubter as it relates to this sort of ‘category’. I would guess that if Kirk Ferentz had to pick one player more than any other who has been the face of his program and represented what Iowa football is all about, it would be Bob Sanders. Sanders was a 1st Team All Big Ten selection for three seasons and was just the ninth Iowa player in school history to pull that off back in 2001, 2002 & 2003.

2. Dallas Clark (920 votes): Clark showed up on 56.6% of the ballots and I was surprised by this. It’s not that I don’t think Clark is deserving of consideration and it’s not that I don’t think he’s one of the best tight ends in Iowa history, because he is. After moving from linebacker to tight end in the spring of 2001, Clark caught 38 passes for 539 yards and four touchdowns that year. That was enough for him to earn a scholarship heading into the 2002 season, where he caught 43 passes for 742 yards and four touchdowns. He won the Mackey Award in 2002 as the nation’s best tight end and was a consensus All American. That said, I did not cast a vote for Clark on my Mt Rushmore list. Scott Chandler caught 46 & 47 passes in his junior and senior seasons and had the same number of touchdown receptions (eight) as Clark did. But he could not stretch the field the way Clark was able to do and was not a great blocker. I wouldn’t say Clark was a great blocker either, but boy was he fun to watch and few tight ends can score from 95 yards out, pulling away from defensive backs like he did against Purdue in 2002. Clark had a flair for the dramatic, and perhaps he shines more brightly in the memories of Iowa fans due to that fact.

3. Chad Greenway (686 votes): Greenway made the cut on 42.24% of the ballots and for good reason; he’s the best WILL linebacker Iowa has had in the Ferentz era. While few linebackers can stay even in a footrace with a Derek Hagen of Arizona State, Greenway more than held his own in most coverage situations. He was also excellent in outside run pursuit and the passion he played with was such a joy to watch. More on Greenway in a bit.

4. Robert Gallery (680 votes): The Mountain made 41.87% of the ballots, receiving just six fewer votes than Greenway. I was surprised to see this total be so low, as I assumed Gallery and Sanders were the two easiest picks for this list. He won the Outland Trophy as the nation’s top lineman following the 2003 season and was the #2 draft pick in the 2004 NFL draft. While he was devastating at the line of scrimmage, I always loved seeing him laying waste to defensive backs 10 to 15 yards down the field and right up to the whistle.

Clark was a walk on to the Iowa program while Iowa was Sanders and Greenway had just one offer from a BCS school (Iowa). Sanders was headed to the MAC before Ferentz mentor Joe Moore told Kirk ‘He will make your football team better.’ Moore was coaching at Erie Prep at the time and was perhaps the biggest influence on Ferentz early on in his Iowa career while Moore was still alive. Greenway was going to take up Nebraska’s walk on offer before his Iowa offer came through.  Gallery had offers from Iowa and Iowa State, as a tight end, where he played for Iowa for the first six games of his redshirt freshman year before starting six games as the team’s right tackle. None of these players would have earned any more than two-stars in today’s recruiting rankings world.

MY BALLOT

Sanders and Gallery were the first two names I wrote down and did so in two seconds. After that, I went with Ricky Stanzi fairly quickly. He was 26-9 as Iowa’s starting quarterback, the second most wins for any Iowa starter QB in history (behind Chuck Long). His ability to shake off slow starts or bad throws was fun to watch and he was such a leader on and off the field. Some folks on twitter and the message boards felt that Brad Banks should have garnered more votes and certainly more than Stanzi, as he was the runner up for the Heisman Trophy and the AP Player of the Year for 2002. Banks led Iowa to an 11-2 record and an Orange Bowl appearance in 2002; Stanzi did the same in 2009 and Iowa won the bowl game. Stanzi is also the only Iowa quarterback to start and win three bowl games. These two were separated by just 11 votes; Stanzi with 484 and Banks with 473.

My last pick was the toughest, but I went with Abdul Hodge. He was an outstanding leader and great force on and off the field. Having given this pick more thought throughout the day on Wednesday, I started to lean more towards Greenway. The reason is because I feel Pat Angerer may have had the best season (2009) at middle linebacker by an Iowa player since Larry Station in 1985. But Hodge played at an elite level for three seasons at Iowa and was an absolute beast in run support. Angerer was better in pass coverage (six career picks to none for Hodge) but there was just something about Abdul that won the day. The gap between Greenway and any other WILL is significant where it’s not the case at MLB. I’ll stick with Hodge but won’t argue the Greenway selection at all.

In the actual poll, Shonn Greene was 5th with 575 votes. He had a season for the ages in 2008, one that may not be duplicated at Iowa. But that was his one shining moment, yet he made the most of it.

Nate Kaeding received 284 votes, more than Mitch King, Angerer, Matt Roth, Hodge, Marvin McNutt and others. Yes, a kicker. But when you look at how important Kaeding was to the Iowa program when he was there and just how good he was on the whole, you can’t criticize folks for voting his way.

When he left Iowa, he was the most accurate kicker in NCAA history on attempts of 40 yards or more. His first year at Iowa, he missed eight kicks. Then he missed four the following year, three the year after that (in 2002, when he won the Lou Groza award as the best kicker in the nation) and had just one miss as a senior in 2003. He also tricked Ron Zook into thinking he was a running back thanks to the fake field goal attempt at Ohio State in 2003, which counts for bonus points.

What, you forgot about that? Zook, then the head coach of Florida, was asked about Kaeding in a press conference in advance of the 2003 Outback Bowl. Here was his reply: “Well, I mean he’s a little like our situation in that all three of our running backs are a little different in the way that they run, the way they attack, their power and that kind of thing. When you look at what they’ve done running the football, you have to feel that they’ve done something right.”

Damn you, Illinois, for firing the Zooker.

Thanks again for your voting. We are going to try to create a poll each week this offseason, and not just for the sake of creating a poll. We hope to come up with questions that will be fun, informative and perhaps eye opening when the results are tallied and your participation is greatly appreciated.

NOTE: There was one glaring omission from this list and it’s totally my bad. I should have included Drew Tate on the ballot. While I don’t believe Tate would have altered the Top Four, his contributions to the football program certainly deserve mention. The 2004 season is my all time favorite Iowa football season and I am sorry for that oversight.

It’s a good time of year to have some fun with debates like this which allow everyone to express their opinion, as well as a good look back at some of the high points of Iowa athletics.

Tim McLaughlin (@Gr82baHawk) asked this question of a few Iowa media members on twitter: “Who is on your Mt Rushmore of Ferentz-era Hawkeye Football players?”

I retweeted it with my thoughts and it created quite a lengthy back and forth with folks who had different opinions. So I thought it would be fun to create a poll and open this up to the HawkeyeNation. We’ll leave the poll open for a few days then I will circle back around with the results and also lay out the rationale for the four I would choose. Please vote for just four players. Thanks for your participation. If you’d like to leave a comment in the area below the story, feel free to do so

The reason given was related to a new NCAA rule that allows college coaches to spend more time working with their players during the summer. The new rule will allow coaches to have up to two hours per day and eight hours per week to work with their players. This, from the linked item: “Under the new rule, incoming freshmen in summer school will be allowed work with coaches. Sophomores must either be in summer school or have 30 semester hours under their belts along with a 2.2 grade-point average to have access to their coaches. As juniors and seniors, players must continue making progress toward graduation or be in summer school for access.”

This type of ruling is something college coaches have wanted for quite some time and most all of them believe it’s a good thing.

So if they believe it’s a good thing, what was wrong with the way things were, i.e. sanctioned summer leagues?

In my opinion, the more time a coach can spend with his players in their on campus facilities, the better. The more time teammates can work together and with their coaches, the better. This is especially true for a program like Iowa’s, which is trying to climb its way back to relevance after a lackluster to horrid past decade.

The casualty of this ruling, on a local level, is the Prime Time League. The UNI players are going to stay home as they will be able to spend more time with their coaches and teammates. The Iowa coaching staff asked Randy Larson, the PTL director, to cut back the number of games played in the PTL to accommodate the extra time he will have with his players. Now, there will be four teams playing seven games and most all of the games will be played on Sundays.

The biggest loser in all of this will be the fans who have flocked to the North Liberty Community Center to watch these games. One could argue that since Iowa players (past and present) will still be involved, the fans will still have a chance to see what they want to see. The incoming recruits will still be taking part in the action and the PTL has served as the ‘first look’ opportunity for the fans and media to see the new recruits live and in action. It’s where you can begin to make some projections as to how the new players will blend with the returning players and see what type of changes the returning players have made to their repertoire.

Will fewer games and fewer teams be that big of a deal to the fans? In the long run, probably not.

I also think that fewer games and fewer teams will result in fewer ‘local legends’ trying to make a name for themselves against a Big Ten player. Thankfully (and somewhat surprisingly) there have been few serious injuries in the PTL through the years. Larson deserves a lot of credit in how well he has organized the PTL both on and off the court. Sure, the ‘pick up game’ aspect is on display in most games, where you have isolation breakdowns and individuals attempting shots they wouldn’t take in games or shooting more of them. But the league has served a purpose.

But for how much longer? Is this new NCAA rule the beginning of the end for leagues like the PTL? Time will tell. I enjoy making it over to a game or two but I am also very pleased with the new NCAA rule which will allow for more time between the players and coaches.

The ‘joke’ aspect to that statement is related to how often Ferentz has chided and or derided the social media platform and how he does not allow his players to use their twitter accounts while they are playing football for the Hawkeyes.

However, Kirk Ferentz may soon be coming to a twitter feed near you.  Check out this tweet by his son Brian from last week:

@Culbertson4431 You will not be seeing our players on Twitter – but expect to see a few more coaches joining the ranks soon. #HeadCoach

— Brian Ferentz (@CoachBFerentz) May 3, 2012

I don’t expect Ferentz’s twitter feed to be all that interesting or ground breaking and I suspect others will be at the keyboard when a tweet is sent from his account. However, I do think it’s a good idea for Kirk to have a twitter account. Why? Recruiting.

When you follow someone on twitter, that person receives an email from the service saying ‘@soandso is now following you on twitter’.

If you are a high school football player, seeing that a head coach from a BCS conference school has chosen to follow you on twitter might mean something. I’m not saying it will mean the difference between that player choosing your school over another program who might not be following them on twitter, but I am saying that sort of ‘awareness’ on the part of a player is probably every bit as more valuable as sending them a form letter in the mail.

Iowa does its share of that, just like other programs. Kirk Ferentz is also a serious hand written letter writer, which is a great tool, too. But in today’s tech world, having the head coach ‘follow’ prospective recruits on twitter is just another way to ‘touch them’ within the rules.

Iowa Strength and Conditioning Coach Chris Doyle will be honored as one of the elites in his profession. From the linked item: Chris Doyle will be named Master Strength and Conditioning Coach by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches association (CSCCa). This honor is the highest given in the strength and conditioning coaching profession.

The article also says that Doyle will be just one of 15 strength and conditioning coaches in the nation to have earned this honor.

How important has Chris Doyle been to the Iowa football program the last 13 years? In my opinion, he’s just as important as any other member of the coaching staff if not more so. He gets to spend more time with the players on a year round basis and when you look at Iowa’s success in turning their players into NFL Draft picks, look no further than Doyle as the man who literally lays the foundation.

Our resident talent scout and NFL Draft guru HawkeyeGameFilm decided to watch the 2009 Iowa-Ohio State game again over the weekend. Not sure why, but you don’t need a reason to rewatch that classic. He tweeted quite a bit during his viewing (@hawkeyegamefilm) and wrote this about James Vandenberg’s NFL prospects for the 2013 draft:

JVB’s draft stock? Has the big arm teams covet. He looks like a mid round value as things stand.Could rise/fall fast with new system.

— Hawkeye Gamefilm (@hawkeyegamefilm) May 6, 2012

Going back to that 2009 game against Ohio State, I remember saying on Soundoff that night that Vandenberg had a better physical skill set than Ricky Stanzi, but it would remain to be seen if he had Stanzi’s crunch time abilities.

Vandenberg struggled away from Kinnick Stadium as a first year starter last year, winning just one road game (at Purdue). He didn’t have the kind of defenses Stanzi was fortunate to have in 2008, 2009 and 2010, perhaps the best three-year run of high end defensive linemen in Iowa history, but he never showed that comfort level Stanzi had at times during his career.

It’s tough to argue with the numbers Vandenberg put up last year, a season that was one of the best statistical passing seasons in Iowa history and put him in the conversation with Chuck and Chuck from a stats point of view. He’ll need to put up big passing numbers again this year (and he’ll have ever chance at that) as well as be a more consistent passer on the road if he wants to work his way into the second day of the draft. Also, I hope that JVB is also 6-3, as he is listed in the Iowa media guide.

Iowa received a verbal commitment from Detroit Cass Tech Safety Delano Hill last month. He had a great weekend in Columbus, Ohio at the Rivals combine. He was named the MVP of the Defensive Backs group and received this praise from Michael White of ESPN. White is the Director of Player Personnel for ESPN High School football:

Observation from today’s Nike Camp. Cass Tech (MI) is a DB factory. Today’s MVP Delano Hill is 1 of the top S in the country. #hawkeyes

— Michael White (@MikeWhiteESPN) May 5, 2012

LINKS

Camp Courageous Day Grows Hawkeye Connectivity – Morehouse
Iowa Linebackers Trying to Forge Own Identity – ESPN
How Well Do You Know Your Hawkeyes? – Pat Harty
Ferentz Ranks 5th in Big Ten – Sporting News

NOTES: Adam Gettis signed his contract with the Washington Redskins..former Hawkeye Reggie Evans is averaging 8.3 rebounds per game in 20/minutes per game in three playoff games for the LA Clippers against the Memphis Grizzlies. He has had 13, 1 and 11 rebounds in the three games…

Iowa and Nebraska will play on the Friday after Thanksgiving for the second straight year.  The game will kickoff at 11am and will be aired on ABC.

We learned last month that Iowa’s October 20 home game against Penn State would be a 7pm start on the Big Ten Network.

Iowa’s 2012 homecoming opponent will be against Minnesota and that game will air at 11am and their road game at Michigan State will also kick off at 11am.  Iowa’s game at Northwestern will also be an 11am kick.   Iowa will be the homecoming opponent when it visits both East Lansing and Evanston.  Iowa games against Minnesota, Michigan State and Northwestern will be televised by ESPN, ESPN2 or BTN.

Iowa’s remaining Big Ten opponents this season are at Michigan and Indiana and home against Purdue.

With the 2012 draft in the books it’s time to take a deeper look at the Hawkeyes who are moving to the NFL and how they’ll fit in on their new teams.

Riley Reiff
Detroit drafted Reiff as the heir apparent to long time LT Jeff Backus. Backus has started every single game in his career at LT but is 34 and is coming off a torn bicep in the Lions playoff loss to the Saints. Backus also had some tough games against premier pass rushers in 2011 and Detroit is clearly preparing for the future. Some scouts aren’t sold on Reiff as an LT but this is a pretty good opportunity for Reiff. He won’t be thrown into the fire right away and will have time to learn from a successful, long-time starter. This incubation period could be vital to Reiff’s development and Detroit may play him elsewhere on the OL early in his career. However, Coach Schwartz made it clear he views Reiff as a LT in the long term.

Mike Daniels
When this pick was announced, I thought there had been a mistake. At first glance the Packers base 3-4 scheme really didn’t seem to be a very good fit, as Daniels would only fit as a 5 technique DE. Daniels is an undersized tackle who most scouts looked at as a disruptive 3 technique tackle, ideal for a 4-3. However Green Bay’s GM Ted Thompson clearly thinks he can make Daniels skillset fit in Green Bay’s scheme. Daniels size makes holding up in the run game a concern. Daniels will likely see early action as a pass rush specialist and could be an impact player. It will be interesting to watch how Daniels adjusts to the Packers scheme.

Adam Gettis
This pick by the Redskins made a lot of sense to me. The Redskins had a rough year in general in 2011 and had their lack of depth on the OL exposed by some injuries. They addressed the OL by taking two guards and a tackle in 2012 draft and they’re all guys who fit Mike Shanahan’s zone system pretty well. Gettis should have no trouble acclimating to Shanahan’s system and the fundamentals are largely the same as what he played in at Iowa. Gettis will definitely have a chance to establish himself in camp and there is room for him to get onto the 2 deep and down the line, possibly into the starting lineup. It’s not likely to happen immediately and Gettis will need to continue to develop his size and strength.

Shaun Prater
Cincinnati has a bit of a mess at CB on their depth chart. Leon Hall went down with a torn achilles in 2011 it remains to be seen how fast he gets back up to speed remains to be seen. Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones filled in for Hall after he was injured and is in the last year of his contract in 2012. The other starter, Nate Clements, isn’t getting any younger and has been in the league since 2001. This off-season before the draft Cincinnati signed free agent CBs Jason Allen (Houston) and Terrance Newman (Dallas). They also drafted CB Dre Kirkpatrick in the 1st round this year to go along with Prater in the 5th. Cincinnati also has Brandon Ghee on the depth chart at CB. Some quick math will tell you that including Prater, there are 8 CBs on the Bengals roster currently. It won’t be an easy task for Prater to make the cut but he has youth on his side, a factor many of the guys he’s competing with don’t have. Strange fact: 6/8 CBs on the Bengals roster were first round picks.

Marvin McNutt
After sliding quite a bit further than I thought he would, McNutt was taken by the Philadelphia Eagles in the mid 6th round. McNutt joins a depth cart at WR that has two clear cut starters in Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson. Behind the two starters is Jason Avant, a tough slot WR type who is adept at working the middle of the field. After Avant is a bigger WR, 6-3 Riley Cooper; McNutt will be competing with him for time.  Cooper has seen limited action in his two years with the Eagles posting 23 catches and 2TDs. Cooper has been dinged up a fair amount as well. There is definitely opportunity for McNutt to earn reps and get on the field early in Philadelphia.

Jordan Bernstine
Bernstine lands in a Washington secondary where they will be breaking in two new starting safeties and doesn’t have much depth at CB. Bernstine is a versatile player who is a better fit at safety but is capable of serving as a reserve CB as well. He’s a little raw as a safety and should benefit from being around the multiple veteran safeties in Washington. He should be a good fit for multiple special teams units in the short term as well. While at Iowa he served as a gunner on the punt team and returned kickoffs. He should be able to contribute early as a special teams guy and has the potential to become a starting caliber safety. Overall if Bernstine can stay healthy, it seems like he should have a very good shot at making the roster in Washington.

Marcus Zusevics
The torn pectoral suffered at the combine was enough to scare off teams from using a draft pick on Zusevics. However, New England grabbed Zusevics as a priority free agent right away. The Patriots currently have some depth issues on the OL and Zusevics stands an excellent chance of catching on in New England if he can overcome the pec injury. He looks like he’s capable of playing at both guard and tackle to me, but we’ll see what New England does with him. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t make the roster.

Brad Herman
I’m rarely surprised by free-agent signings but this one did. However looking at the Patriots depth chart, they don’t have a whole lot of depth at TE. Their first two, Gronknowski and Hernandez, are awfully good ones, but there is only a journeyman, Daniel Fells, behind them. Herman would likely provide special teams value and is an above average blocker for a TE. He’s not a real fluid route runner but has some decent straight line speed. Overall he has a fair chance of sticking in New England but will have to hit the ground running and prove he belongs.

Tyler Nielsen
Nielsen was grabbed up by the Vikings the hours following the draft. The Vikings are a little thin in terms of LB depth as things stand but did take a LB, Audie Cole, in the draft. Cole appears to be fit best in the middle and while Nielsen has some versatility after playing multiple spots in his time at Iowa is likely suited for the SLB spot. Nielsen could be a good core special teams guy right away and if he is able to catch on with the Vikings it will likely be due to his special teams value.

Broderick Binns
It’s not overly surprising that Binns was picked up as a free agent, but most people would be surprised to learn that a base 3-4 team picked up Binns with designs of trying him as an OLB. A lot of scouts projected Binns in this role due to being undersized for a traditional 4-3 end and it’s an interesting switch. Binns was one of the more heady and aware defenders I’ve seen on film and had a very sound year in 2011 for Iowa. He doesn’t have great natural physical tools and isn’t overly explosive off the edge but has a shot to catch on with the Cardinals if he can quickly pick up his new role. He looks like a developmental prospect who will need to flash early to hang around.

Eric Guthrie
It looks like it only took Eric Guthrie a single year of punting in college to prove he was worthy of a training camp invite. He did quietly lead the B1G in net punting in 2011 and you can credit that to the solid hang time he got on his kicks, rarely allowing returns. He was picked up by the Buccaneers to give 8-year veteran punter Michael Koenen some competition. As with any kicking competition this will be about value versus cost. If you can find a relatively cheap rookie free agent who gives you as much value as the 8-year vet, you’re going to go with the rookie and bank the savings. While Guthrie has solid leg strength and gets good hang time on his kicks but will need to be precise with his directional kicking. With so many dangerous returners in the league directional kicking is extremely important to NFL teams.