It was a beautiful day to be in Kinnick Stadium. They opened the South endzone so the crowd was a little spread out. I'd guess 10,000 people but I'm not good at that game. I'll put together a link post tomorrow morning. For now, it's just my thoughts and observations, bullet style.
There was a long list of guys either out of practice or in a red jersey. Red jersey guys were Getz, Daniels, and Coker. I'm guessing Coker's was purely precautionary.
Out: Alvis, Hardy, Lomax, Nolan MacMillan, Casey McMillan, Raymon, Scherrf, James Morris, Alston, Rogers, Poggi. Maybe more, not sure.
Matt Tobin was working with the first team offensive line.
The defensive line was a constant rotation. Among the rotation of Dline were: Binns, Davis, Daniels, Forgy, Gaglione and Trinca-Pasat.
Darian Cooper practiced in shorts. He did participate in the scrimmage. I'm assuming the shorts are part of an NCAA requirement. I believe that there is a rule that dictates how many practices players must be in shorts before they are in pads. I think. Please, someone use the comment section to correct me if I'm wrong.
Second team Oline went Donnal, Drew Clark, Boffeli, Orne and Van Sloten.
Kevonte Martin-Manley looks to have locked up the third WR slot.
RB appeared to be Coker, White, Johnson, McCall, Canzeri/Bullock. Johnson was injured during the scrimmage and took off his pads.
The secondary, like the Dline, mixed in reps with a long list of guys. Hyde and Miller at safeties. Bernstine played both safety positions at times. Castillo, Lowery, Sleeper and Torrey Campbell worked in with Prater, Hyde and Miller. Walk-ons Gavin Smith and Jamal Overton got some reps as well.
Tom Donatell was working at OLB.
Hitchens added some size, I liked him a lot.
Bruce Davis took most of the MLB reps with Morris out. I'm hoping he has a strong final go at it.
I probably focused the most of Iowa's new faces today, here are random thoughts about most of them:
I'll start with Rudock. It wasn't a very good day for Vandenberg but JV is cleary the number one QB. Rudock looked like the second best QB on the team. His mechanics and footwork are outstanding. You can tell the kid has been in many QB camps and is very coached up. He will benefit from a redshirt and some trips to the training table. He's still a skinny kid that needs to add 20 pounds.
If you were one that thought Darian Cooper could see the field this year you are probably right. He's a quick man for his size and I was really impressed with his rush from the inside.
I was impressed with both freshman wide receivers Marcus Grant and Jacob Hillyer. They are both big targets and the depth chart after McNutt, Davis and Martin-Manley is a real question mark. It wouldn't surprise me to see them both burn their redshirts.
Both Ray Hamilton and Henry Krieger-Coble looked pretty good to me. Iowa ran a few three WR sets and I suspect will count heavily on the H-back motion this season to compensate for the lack of a fullback. Herman and Fiedorowicz looked good today but so did Hamilton and Krieger-Coble. I think Hamilton plays for sure, HKC may be iffy. Depends on injuries I suppose.
Austin Blythe has already worked into the third string center spot. The few times I saw him I thought he as aggressive and held his own. He's gonna be a good one folks.
I watched Jordan Walsh a play or two. I think he'll redshirt for sure but he'll compete for a starting spot next year.
I didn't see much of the freshman linebackers, not enough to comment.
When De'Andre Johnson went out McCall was the first freshman in. He had quite a few reps at tailback and I think it's a no-brainer he plays this year. Of Bullock and Canzeri, I'd guess Canzeri sees the field. He has super quick feet and cuts on a dime. He's still a little guy so the pass protection would be a concern but he'd be a nice change-of-pace back for a play or two. Maybe even return some kicks.
Torrey Campbell looks to have worked his way into at least second string DB. Nico Law was running with the third squad and looked like he still needs some time to learn the defensive calls/formations/etc.
Random observations from other than true frosh:
Carl Davis is a project. I think he plays a little this year but is still learning.
Donnal is being groomed for LT but he is still a ways away. His footwork was clumsy at times. It almost looked like he's still in "thinking" mode.
Trinca-Pasast impressed the hell outta me today. He has a Klug like motor and was giving Van Sloten fits.
Derby stuggled.
Fiedorowicz is getting beastier (is that a word).
There was a lot of youth on that field. It's going to be a season with growing pains. The defense will be a work in progress and won't be as stout as people have grown accustomed to. I know this, the 2011 Hawkeyes will test the patience of it's fan base.
