Iowa running back Kamari Moulton (28) celebrates with teammates during the Hawkeyes’ spring open practice on Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)
IOWA CITY — Literally, Iowa football’s open practice on Saturday was brisk.
“Not sure what happened to the 50-degree forecast,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said at the beginning of his news conference following the practice in 40-degree weather.
Metaphorically, the practice included some rays of sunshine along with some brisk reminders of the work that still needs to happen between now and the start of the 2024 season.
“We’ve made some progress and seen a lot of guys grow,” Ferentz said.
Here are seven observations and notes from the Hawkeyes’ open practice (and post-practice media interviews):
Motions, motions and more motions
Saturday’s open practice served as the first look at the scheme that offensive coordinator Tim Lester has been implementing this spring. (He said this week about 85 percent of the playbook is in at this point in the year.)
The scheme, which included a healthy mix of 11 and 12 personnel groupings, most notably had a heavy dose of presnap motions.
Whether it be speedy wide receiver Kaden Wetjen, a member of Iowa’s arsenal of tight ends or someone else, motions — sometimes presnap and sometimes during the snap — were a near constant during Saturday’s practice.
What Iowa showed this Saturday — April 20 in front of fans and media — is not necessarily representative of everything that opposing defenses will see on Aug. 31 and beyond.
“It took me 13 practices to really understand the run fits,“ Higgins told reporters. ”They just do so much. They kept it simple today — smart guys. There’s probably somebody in here with a camera.“
More work to do in the passing game
Cade McNamara was limited to individual drills as he continues to recover from knee surgery, and the absence of Iowa’s QB1 was evident during 11-on-11 drills.
Deacon Hill, who took first-team reps in McNamara’s absence, threw two interceptions and was dangerously close to further adding to that total. His second interception was intended for running back Max White on a short route, but Hill’s throw was behind White and went off his outstretched hand.
Marco Lainez, who has taken second-team reps this spring, showed the ability to extend plays with his feet on Saturday. But when it came to actually throwing, Lainez had mixed results.
On one hand, Lainez had a nice completion downfield to Kaleb Brown during the 11-on-11 portion of practice. On the other hand, the redshirt freshman overthrew one pass during quarterback-receiver drills intended for 6-foot-4 Luke Pollack and then his next throw was well behind walk-on Ayden Price.
Hill and Lainez had to work with a short-handed receiving corps. Only four scholarship wide receivers were available.
Ferentz, when asked afterward about the passing game, recalled a play where Deacon Hill’s pass sailed over Wetjen’s head.
“The throw was off by about two feet, something like that,” Ferentz said. “That, to me, was like kind of where we’re at right now. In the fall, we got to make that play.”
Linebacker depth on display
Iowa’s first-team linebacker corps — consisting of the veteran trio of Jay Higgins, Nick Jackson and Kyler Fisher — carries a high level of formidability. Saturday’s open practice was a reminder of how formidable the Hawkeyes’ second-team linebacker corps is as well.
Karson Sharar was responsible for Hill’s first interception, had a tackle for loss and nearly grabbed a second interception as well. Jaxon Rexroth, the former Cedar Rapids Xavier standout, also had an interception in Saturday’s open practice, which he returned for a touchdown.
Fisher had a “perfect view” of Sharar’s interception from the sideline.
“Textbook play,“ Fisher said of Sharar’s zone coverage. ”Gets there in the position right where he’s supposed to be and then snags the ball.“
The Iowa Falls native has, according to Fisher“ been ”making plays like that all spring ball.“
“He just does exactly what he needs to do, and he does it fast, and he does it physical” Fisher said. “Great player.”
Some injuries, but not too serious
As is often the case for Iowa during its spring open practice, the Hawkeyes were without several contributors as they deal with various health issues.
Fisher, wide receiver Seth Anderson, safety Koen Entringer, cornerback Jermari Harris, defensive lineman Yahya Black, offensive tackle Gennings Dunker and tight end Addison Ostrenga were among the players not in uniform for Iowa’s open practice on Saturday.
Center Logan Jones also was not in uniform although he took some snaps with the quarterbacks during individual drills. Jones said he “should be good to go sometime soon” after recovering from a shoulder injury that he dealt with “for a few years probably.” It was different from the ankle injury, which forced him to leave last year’s game against Northwestern.
Running back Leshon Williams was in a boot because of a “typical football injury” that was “nothing serious.” Wide receiver Alex Mota was in a boot and using a scooter to get around Duke Slater Field.
Those are in addition to McNamara’s aforementioned recovery from knee surgery. The coaching staff has been hopeful that he will be at “full speed” by June.
“We had certain guys that never were out there this spring, and those guys will be fine by June,” Ferentz said. “And then the guys that were injured this spring — it’s been mostly soft tissue. We had one little repair of a ligament in the thumb, but he’ll be going in June, too. … As we stand here right now, we’re in pretty good shape outside of the knee injuries that are going to take a little longer.”
Offensive line shuffle
The injuries to Jones and Dunker led to a slight rearranging of the offensive line.
Mason Richman was unsurprisingly at left tackle, and Connor Colby was unsurprisingly at right guard. Tyler Elsbury replaced Jones at guard, as he did last season when Jones injured his ankle. Beau Stephens stepped in at left guard — where he played 51 snaps last year, per Pro Football Focus — in place of the since-graduated Rusty Feth.
Nick DeJong, who played at four different positions on the line last year, was Iowa’s first-team right tackle in Dunker’s absence.
Iowa’s second-team offensive line consisted of Jack Dotzler, Kade Pieper, Jeremy Chaplin, Leighton Jones and Trevor Lauck.
The defensive line often got the better of the offensive line on Saturday, frequently stuffing rushing attempts at or behind the line of scrimmage, although the offense also picked up some big gains on the ground at various points in practice.
“They’ve picked up the system, but more importantly, they’re more mature and more physical than we’ve been the last couple of years,” Ferentz said of the offensive line. “That’s a good thing. … We’re not there yet, but we’re on the right track.”
Replacing Cooper DeJean
One of the taller tasks for Iowa football this spring has been replacing All-American cornerback Cooper DeJean, who is a projected first-round pick in the NFL Draft.
“You’re not going to replace him,” Ferentz said. “I don’t think there are any first-rounders coming up — not at this point, at least they won’t be first-rounders next fall.”
Deshaun Lee, John Nestor and T.J. Hall appear to be the top three options to replace DeJean. Hall is a junior, Lee is a sophomore and Nestor is a redshirt freshman.
“The good news is I think all three of those guys made strides,” Ferentz said. “We feel better about all three of them after 15 practices.”
Deavin Hilson gaining momentum
Iowa defensive back Deavin Hilson had, as Woods described it, “like a career day in practice” on Thursday.
“It was fun to watch him and see him back there,” Woods said this week.
Saturday’s practice, while not quite career-day caliber, was another impressive showing for Hilson.
The soon-to-be junior from Des Moines blocked a 30-yard field goal attempt by Drew Stevens. (It was one of two misses for Stevens despite the windy conditions, by the way, with the other one being from 50-plus yards out.)
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2024-04-20 23:51:41
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