Here is a look at the first two deep of spring ball, with some of my thoughts on each position.

WR – Marvin McNutt, Keenan Davis, Paul Chaney Jr.
WR – Derrell Johnson-Koulinos, Colin Sandeman
TE – Allen Reisner, Brad Herman

JON’S TAKE: McNutt, DJK and Davis have a ‘chance’ to be the most dynamic receiving trio we have seen in a long time. Kirk Ferentz said this of Davis at Wednesday’s press conference: “He’s really done well. I would compare it a little bit like A.J. Edds, he played a lot his freshman year, true freshman year, but he played a lot and I think that year really benefitted and gave him confidence that following spring, and we are hoping to see that with Keenan. I think we should. I think he’s a more mature guy than he was, obviously, and he’s certainly more comfortable with what he’s doing. We hope to see him at a whole different speed this spring and we are optimistic we will.”

Then Ferentz had this to say about McNutt: “Marvin played well last year, especially well at times, but he’s still learning and his best football should be in front of him. With a little bit of luck, he’ll have this coming year like Clayborn did last year where he really starts to play consistently at a level we think he’s capable of. ”

Good comments and thoughts all around…Ferentz’s mentioning McNutt in the same breath as Clayborn with regards to development should not go unnoticed. Kirk doesn’t say things like that just to be talking. He errors on the conservative. He also talked about tight end depth, and said they know they have one Big Ten starter in Reisner, but behind him, they have guys that have flashed but no one has been consistent. I think this is a spot where a freshman can come in and play some; enter All American C.J. Fiedorowicz, who I think will see the field.

LT – Riley Reiff, Kyle Haganman
LG – Julian Vandervelde, Drew Clark
C – Josh Koeppel/James Ferentz
RG – Adam Gettis, Cody Hundertmark
RT – Marcus Zusevics, Nolan MacMillan

JON’S TAKE: The offensive line is the key to the 2010 season. I can’t be more blunt than that. Ferentz said this year’s team will be smaller, “But that’s OK. We probably have eight or nine guys competing for the top spots. It’s going to be interesting. We have a lot of guys on pretty equal footing as far as the competition goes.”

QB – Rick Stanzi, James Vandenberg, John Wienke
RB – Adam Robinson, Brandon Wegher, Jewel Hampton
FB – Brett Morse, Wade Leppert

JON’S TAKE: Ferentz said all 22 positions on the team are open, and that Vandenberg will push Stanzi and make him a better quarterback. But it’s Rick’s job; in the last 14 games that Stanzi has started and finished, Iowa is 14-0. Stanzi is 18-4 as a starter, with one of those losses being the Northwestern game in 2009 where he was knocked out due to injury. At running back, Ferentz said that Hampton has been cleared to practice, which is pretty amazing. Ferentz said he’s not going to get tackled, nor will most of the running backs. But you have to think that Jewel will be full speed come August given this much time to go at it. Robinson will not practice during the spring as he recovers from off season shoulder surgery.

DE – Adrian Clayborn, Lebron Daniel
DT – Karl Klug, Steve Bigach
DT – Christian Ballard, Mike Daniels
DE – Broderick Binns, Dominic Alvis

JON’S TAKE: Alvis will not start out 100% as he is nicked up with a groin, but Ferentz did say this: ” We’re not sure how much we’ll get out of him this spring. He’s a young defensive lineman and we were hoping to get a good look at him. I’m not sure we are going to get that.” That Ferentz mentioned him is noteworthy, in my opinion. He also had high praise for Adrian Clayborn, which should come as no surprise. But this was another moment where Ferentz heaped the praise, something he doesn’t normally do. He was asked if he felt Clayborn could earn the kind of national praise heaped on Nebraska’s Suh this past year: “Assuming he keeps progressing and playing like he has, he’ll be one of the best in the country and feedback I got, he would have been a first round pick this year, so maybe, you know, a year from now, he’ll be even higher, which I think he will be. ”

OLB – Tyler Nielsen, Jeff Tarpinian
MLB – Troy Johnson, Bruce Davis
WLB – Jeremiha Hunter, Jeff Tarpinian

JON’S TAKE: Ferentz basically said that he feels Iowa will have strong linebacker play this year, and this group gives Iowa a lot of flexibility to move people around at different positions. He said he is more worried about this position for 2011, as there are a lot of seniors in this group…which he said will likely mean one or two freshmen LB’s will likely play this year if they show they can.

CB – Micah Hyde, Willie Lowe/Jordan Bernstine
CB – Shaun Prater, Greg Castillo
FS – Brett Greenwood, Nick Nielsen/Jack Swanson
SS – Tyler Sash, Tom Donatell

JON’S TAKE: Micah Hyde was someone Iowa raved about last August, and we saw him on the field last fall. Iowa has solid depth at cornerback, perhaps the best they have had under Ferentz even after they have lost a corner in each of the last two seasons that will be getting paid to play on Sunday’s. Sash and Greenwood will miss spring ball this year as they recover from shoulder surgery, but it didn’t hurt them last fall. The secondary should be one of the Big Ten’s best again in 2010, as will the entire defense. There is a chance this year’s defense could be just as good as last year’s, if not better, because the defensive line is going to kick it into another gear. This line should rival the 2004, 2003 and 2002 groups.

P – Ryan Donahue, Eric Guthrie
K – Daniel Murray, Trent Mossbrucker

JON’S TAKE: Ferentz said the placekicking job was wide open…they are looking at this as a dead heat again this year like they did last year, with Ferentz saying they can get better production from this area than they did a year ago. Mossbrucker redshirted last year, so if Murray struggles in 2010, there may be a shorter hook.

KR – Keenan Davis, Derrell Johnson-Koulianos
PR – Colin Sandeman, Tyler Sash

JON’S TAKE: Tell me that kickoff return combination isn’t a tantalizing tandem? And how about BOTH Sandeman and Sash back on punts, with Sash being a blocker at times?

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