[Dragonhawk]

5 of the 2 deeps are senior, with 6 total D-line Sr's graduating the D will be very young next year, so it will be amother year the offense will have to carry

[homerHAWKeye777]

Originally Posted by Dragonhawk

5 of the 2 deeps are senior, with 6 total D-line Sr's graduating the D will be very young next year, so it will be amother year the offense will have to carry

The big question is how many quality reps will Bigach and Carl Davis get this year.

If they get enough quality reps ... I think that they could be ready to be pretty solid contributers by the 2012 season.

Also there is the issue of the development of the young guys.

I agree that the DL will be a bit green ... however, there will also be the possibility for the group to develop into a really good unit too.

Besides, the back 7 on the D has a lot of promise too.

Lastly, look at the 2012 schedule. We get ISU at Kinnick ... and they're the only BCS conference squad that we face prior to the B10 slate.

On the flip side ... the Iowa O looks like it could be an absolute monster in 2012. Personnel-wise ... they'll be about as complete a group as I've seen at Iowa in a long time!

[Dragonhawk]

the young players will be even younger than this year, there will be 4-5 gone from the offenses if Reiff goes pro, that makes 3 off the O-line, this also makes it more attractive to D-line recruits, to lose Neilson, Prater and Berstienfrom the back 7, may take the Da couple of games like this year to gel, but the offense is more loaded at the skill position than it has ever has in the past

[homerHAWKeye777]

Originally Posted by Dragonhawk

the young players will be even younger than this year, there will be 4-5 gone from the offenses if Reiff goes pro, that makes 3 off the O-line, this also makes it more attractive to D-line recruits, to lose Neilson, Prater and Berstienfrom the back 7, may take the Da couple of games like this year to gel, but the offense is more loaded at the skill position than it has ever has in the past

My take on the O is still based on the premise that Reiff stays for his SR campaign. If he doesn't stay ... then the OL will have to endure more bumps than I'm comfortable with.

If Lowery doesn't get to see more quality reps in the latter half of the season ... then I will have more concerns about the Iowa secondary. However, if he does get to see quality reps ... then I think that a starting duo of Hyde and Lowery in '12 will be pretty good. What's more, I think that the trio of Lomax, Castillo, and Campbell would help give the group some nice depth.

At safety, I think that we'll see a really high level of competition between Sleeper and Law for the SS spot. And, without a doubt, I think that Miller is money. On of that ... I would imagine that Lile would have a pretty good shot of contributing at safety too (hopefully he gets to redshirt though).

At LB ... Hitchens has been playing A LOT! I honestly believe that Iowa has quite a solid group between Kirksey, Morris, and Hitchens. On top of those guys, Alston and Collins will be a year more experienced ... and Poggi, DiBona, and Getz will hopefully be good to go after getting back from injury (hopefully Poggi will be good to go in the latter part of this season).

[TylerSash]

DL will be a mess next year. Bigach isn't even in the two deeps; not a good sign for him.

We need some JUCO help on the DL or next year is going to be even worse on defense and a major rebuilding year overall.

[CAARHawk]

I agree about the JUCO call. The Hawks have a hard time recruiting immediate impact DT's. Would really help if they get some immediate mature D Line Help.

[TylerSash]

Had a great chance last year with a local kid in Jeremy Ebert.

Obviously our coaches didn't realize how empty our cupboard was at DL.

[CPHAWK82]

Next year does look much worse than this year on the line as far as experience. We have a lot of potential, but you can't expect all our young guys to just step in. Jaleel Johnson looks like he could be a stud along with Cooper. Juco seems very likely.

[urohawk]

I think unless coaches see guys like Raymon or Hardy are going to be major contributers next year then we need to go JUCO. That is assuming Cooper and Davis are going to take a step forward. If we are counting on Bigach to be more than a role player we are in trouble.

[spudhawk]

i think the interior will be very good. a lot of bodies vying for time. chances are good that davis, cooper, bigach or trinca-pasat can grow into bigger roles next season. alvis will most likely have a full season of starts and iowa has a few options at the other end spot.

[CPHAWK82]

Does anyone follow junior college football? I'm curious if there are any junior college defensive lineman turning heads. I imagine we'll need to let the year play out to see who our best options are.

[hawkfarmer]

Fortunately for us the coaches do know what they are doing. I'm hoping that between Cooper, Johnson, Davis we can have a good enough DT spot. And between Raymon, Pasat, Hardy and anybody that gets brought in that the DE spot is solid. Fans need to remember that a JUCO would have to learn the system and be good enough to beat out the current players. Not sure Iowa is going to get that kind of Juco.

[CPHAWK82]

Hopefully Johnson can get to campus "on time" and try to get the system down going into next year. Cooper should be ready to go and Davis will be more experienced. Hopefully we can get another big time recruit this year (Faith Ekakite) to come in with Johnson.

[Dragonhawk]

the O-line will be fine if Rieff stays, Donnal is backing him up, MacMillan will man the guard spot next to him, Scherf, looks good and should be good to go to replace Gettis at the other guard, Van Sloten is looking good and loks to be the replacement for Zues. from the media standpoint we will be weak again and rebuilding, to the fans that follow Iowa it is getting to the point of just reloading on offense

[Hawkfromnorwalk]

Originally Posted by Dragonhawk

the O-line will be fine if Rieff stays, Donnal is backing him up, MacMillan will man the guard spot next to him, Scherf, looks good and should be good to go to replace Gettis at the other guard, Van Sloten is looking good and loks to be the replacement for Zues. from the media standpoint we will be weak again and rebuilding, to the fans that follow Iowa it is getting to the point of just reloading on offense

The O-Line should be good period, even if Rieff leaves. Look who we have behind the starters. Scherff, Donnal, MacMillan, Haier, Walsh, and Blythe just to name a few. If we can't find a combination of good lineman out of those guys to plug the holes we are screwed.