[homerHAWKeye777]

While Lile was given a chance of picking whether he wanted to play safety or WR ... it sounds like he figures that there will be more opportunity for him at S. So, given that little tid-bit of info, here is what the position breakdown of our commits appears to be:

D:

DE - Ott
DT - J. Johnson
LB - Taylor
CB - Fleming
S - Lile

O:

OL - Keppy, Ward
WR - Wilson, Malloy


ST:

P - Kornbrath

[thejumper5]

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Lile ended up being a Will LB down the road. He's already in the 6-3, 200 lb range, so when he works out at Iowa, I bet he adds enough weight to slide down.

[clim33]

HOmer how many at each spot do you think the staff is targeting. I'm guessing we need at least one more OL and two more DL. Where else are the critical gaps now??

Thanks for doing these recruit updates. You do a nice job and I love to read them

[urohawk]

I know the staff is very selective on the JUCO route but a JUCO dline would make a lot of sense for next year.

[big10fan]

would be nice to see more d-lineman, how many more do we have on the radar?

[JHHawk]

How many are we taking total this year?

So far, nice distribution. On offense need to add another WR(McDonald,hopefully) and a rb, and a couple more offensive linemen, and a QB.
Defense: another couple of d-backs, couple more d-lineman,and a LB.

[Montanahawk]

Using Homer's offer sheet as a reference I suspect we'll take 2 more DL. We probably have the best shot at Lohn, and Curry, but it's tight between a number of them. Expect we'll end up offering more DL if we don't get more than one of the remaining offer list. Lohn, might end up at DT. So, if they took say Clark, they could take Lohn with the expectation he'd possibly end up at tackle.

As an irrelevant tid bit. I lived for several years in Cookeville, TN, the home of Tennessee Tech. Texas coach, Mack Brown, is from there.


DE:
Trace Clark (KS)
Nate Lohn (MO)
Bryan Cox Jr (OH)

DT:
Vincent Valentine (IL) [strong Nebby lean]
Jamil Pollard (NJ)
Jarron Jones (NY)
Aaron Curry (TX)
Javonte Magee (TX)
Faith Ekakitie (IL)

[Hawkeye11en1]

Can someone give me a better outlook on J Johnson? I watched very little of his game film from the other day and it just didn't look good. He was getting shoved around it seemed. I think I remember watching his highlight tape and wasn't too impressed either. Give me a reason to change my mind on this kid. **

**It won't be hard, I haven't done in-depth research on the kid. Just want some more info from someone who knows more.

[homerHAWKeye777]

Originally Posted by Montanahawk

Using Homer's offer sheet as a reference I suspect we'll take 2 more DL. We probably have the best shot at Lohn, and Curry, but it's tight between a number of them. Expect we'll end up offering more DL if we don't get more than one of the remaining offer list. Lohn, might end up at DT. So, if they took say Clark, they could take Lohn with the expectation he'd possibly end up at tackle.

DE:
Trace Clark (KS)
Nate Lohn (MO)
Bryan Cox Jr (OH)

DT:
Vincent Valentine (IL) [strong Nebby lean]
Jamil Pollard (NJ)
Jarron Jones (NY)
Aaron Curry (TX)
Javonte Magee (TX)
Faith Ekakitie (IL)

We're pretty much out of the running for Pollard and Jones. I'd probably agree with your assessment ... probably nabbing 2 more DL commits in this class. If the coaches could nab 3 ... they probably would.

[homerHAWKeye777]

Originally Posted by clim33

HOmer how many at each spot do you think the staff is targeting. I'm guessing we need at least one more OL and two more DL. Where else are the critical gaps now??

Thanks for doing these recruit updates. You do a nice job and I love to read them

If I were to guess ....

2 more guys on the OL
2 more guys on the DL
2 more WRs
1 or 2 RBs
1 or 2 ATHs (primarily DB/WR/RB types)
1 more LB (ideally)

Also, if Will Johnson were to opt for the Hawks ... we'd take him in a heartbeat.

[imported_ankle23]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye11en1

Can someone give me a better outlook on J Johnson? I watched very little of his game film from the other day and it just didn't look good. He was getting shoved around it seemed. I think I remember watching his highlight tape and wasn't too impressed either. Give me a reason to change my mind on this kid. **

**It won't be hard, I haven't done in-depth research on the kid. Just want some more info from someone who knows more.

Jaleel Johnson - US Army Combine - YouTube

Jaleel Johnson - US Army Combine - YouTube

[homerHAWKeye777]

Originally Posted by urohawk

I know the staff is very selective on the JUCO route but a JUCO dline would make a lot of sense for next year.

First off ... we only take JUCOs if they can participate in the spring. That seems to be one of the operating "rules" that the coaches seem to work with.

Secondly, the coaches prefer not to go after JUCOs if they don't have to. JUCOs can often give high school recruits the perception of a log-jam that is simply not there. That is a big part of my take on why we didn't offer Ebert (of IWCC). Ebert had the talent ... but the coaches also like to keep an eye to the future. It's a fact that we'd be having to rotate a lot of guys this year anyhow. Thus, in many respects, it was more valuable to be able to develop Alvis, Davis, and Cooper ... and then still have enough allure to be able to reel in Jaleel Johnson like we did. In the long term ... having guys like Alvis, Davis, Cooper, and Johnson on the interior is going to make our program stronger.

[Montanahawk]

Originally Posted by homerHAWKeye777

First off ... we only take JUCOs if they can participate in the spring. That seems to be one of the operating "rules" that the coaches seem to work with.

Secondly, the coaches prefer not to go after JUCOs if they don't have to. JUCOs can often give high school recruits the perception of a log-jam that is simply not there. That is a big part of my take on why we didn't offer Ebert (of IWCC). Ebert had the talent ... but the coaches also like to keep an eye to the future. It's a fact that we'd be having to rotate a lot of guys this year anyhow. Thus, in many respects, it was more valuable to be able to develop Alvis, Davis, and Cooper ... and then still have enough allure to be able to reel in Jaleel Johnson like we did. In the long term ... having guys like Alvis, Davis, Cooper, and Johnson on the interior is going to make our program stronger.

Good points. Ideally, I expect they'd like to move Alvis to DE fulltime. Certainly, Iowa has had success with undersized DT's but, that was necessity not intention. If Davis, Johnson, and Cooper develop my expectation is they'll move Alvis to DE fulltime.

[homerHAWKeye777]

Originally Posted by Montanahawk

Good points. Ideally, I expect they'd like to move Alvis to DE fulltime. Certainly, Iowa has had success with undersized DT's but, that was necessity not intention. If Davis, Johnson, and Cooper develop my expectation is they'll move Alvis to DE fulltime.

To be honest, if Jaleel Johnson doesn't "stick" on the DL ... I think that he'd make a GREAT OG for us. Either way ... it's a win-win situation for both Johnson AND Iowa!

[Montanahawk]

Originally Posted by homerHAWKeye777

To be honest, if Jaleel Johnson doesn't "stick" on the DL ... I think that he'd make a GREAT OG for us. Either way ... it's a win-win situation for both Johnson AND Iowa!

Either way it's best not be directly in front of Mr. Johnson. He has a helluva punch.