Five takeaways from Iowa Football Practice
That giant exhale you heard on Saturday afternoon in Iowa City was for one thing and one thing only, thank goodness Cade McNamara wasn’t seriously injured.
The Iowa quarterback went down just past the midway point of the annual Kids Day Open Practice and showed a slight limp as he headed to the locker room for examination.
McNamara went down on a non-contact play, which immediately makes you concerned. Generally, non-contact injuries involving the leg or knee is bad news for the person involved. Thankfully, that was not the case for Iowa’s signal caller.
Kirk Ferentz reported after the Kids Day practice that McNamara sustained a ‘soft tissue” injury and the hope is he won’t be sidelined long. A source close to the program shared with us that it is a quad strain, which is about as good of an outcome as you could hope for in this situation.
What other thoughts emerged on Saturday afternoon in Iowa City?
The short answer is plenty.
IOWA NEEDS A HEALTHY CADE McNAMARA
When I did my most important Hawkeyes for the upcoming season, McNamara was at the top of the list. Saturday’s near disaster illustrated why. We got a glimpse of what life might be like for the Iowa offense without him.
This is no disrespect to Deacon Hill, Marco Lainez, or the currently sidelined Joe Labas, but if Iowa is going to contend for a Big Ten West crown, then they have to have McNamara guiding the offense.
Keeping him upright will be key. Keeping the turf monster away from his legs will also be very important.
While McNamara didn’t set the world on fire, he was completing deep balls and was the clear #1 quarterback on the Iowa roster.
THE DEFENSE IS ONCE AGAIN WAY AHEAD OF THE OFFENSE
Every year fans tend to freak out when they watch the open practice or see reports coming from fans and reporters at Kinnick Stadium at Kids Day that the defense is demolishing the offense.
Folks, this is how it works every year. I have been doing this for over 20 years and every single year we have a Kids Day practice and every single year, the defense dominates the offense. Every year, everyone gets worried that the offense is going to be horrible. Some years it’s not great, but more often than not it’s good enough.
Time will tell with the offense this year.
THE WR ROOM IS BETTER THIS YEAR THAN LAST YEAR
Last year there was just too much drama with the wide receiver room. The whole situation with Keagan Johnson and if he was going to play or sit just about every week was a complete distraction.
This year the room seems to be on the same page and the depth of talent is stronger. Seth Anderson looks the part and after missing most of the spring with a hamstring issue, he’s now pushing for starter reps. Iowa knows what they are getting from Nico Ragaini and Diante Vines is finally healthy and he’s playing good football. There’s also the addition of Kaleb Brown. The expectations might have needed the breaks to be pumped, but my midseason or sooner, he’s going to be making an impact. Also, keep an eye on true freshmen Jarriett Buie and Dayton Howard. Buie is one of the stories of fall camp and Howard is a size mismatch waiting to happen.
THE JURY IS STILL OUT ON THE OFFENSIVE LINE
Kirk Ferentz has gone out of his way to be very positive about the potential play of his offensive line. Position coach George Barnett has been the same way.
Those two have forgotten more about offensive line play than I will ever know. But, it still feels like there is a lot of work to be done along the offensive line. Logan Jones looks much more comfortable at center and Mason Richman is the clear top choice at left tackle. After that, still a lot of question marks. Rusty Feth jumped in to replace Connor Colby at guard during practice. Gennings Dunker is certainly a character, but he’s still working on being the best offensive tackle.
This will be a big two weeks for the Iowa offensive line to find their groove.
YOUNG PLAYERS WERE SHINING BRIGHT ON DEFENSE
It was a good day for several young players on the Iowa defense. Leading the way were Deshaun Lee and Brian Allen. One was not a huge surprise based on the comments on media day from Phil Parker. The other one was certainly a surprise given Kirk Ferentz post practice comments.
Let’s start with the least surprising development and that was from Lee. He’s a redshirt freshman and right now he’s probably Iowa’s fourth cornerback. He made a case to rise up the ranks on Saturday. While Cooper DeJean was sidelined with a soft tissue injury, Lee picked off a pair of passes.
Then there was Allen. Also a redshirt freshman, he spent what seemed like the entire afternoon in the backfield. That was particularly true against the second string offensive line, but he did really well all practice. Of course, Kirk Ferentz said after practice that his performance was not in line with his play the rest of fall camp.
It is worth noting that Allen played well in the final spring practice, so perhaps he leans to being the allusive “gamer”.
The post Five takeaways from Iowa Football Practice appeared first on On3.
