Just some thoughts on the game/season and what next year looks like:
QB: I thought that Purdy played a decent game given his lack of protection and running game. Probably got some happy feet in the 2nd half, but you can't blame him. He's still an excellent QB. Doesn't help when he's dinged up. We just have to live with the scramble around fumble kind of stuff. It will be interesting to see if Mitchell ends up in the transfer portal...we should know in the next few days. If he's staying, then we absolutely have to find ways to get him on the field more.
RB: Hall is a really good player. He probably needs more of a hole than DM, but he also had every bit of the year that DM had as a TRFR. I thought that he played pretty well given the blocking yesterday until we had to abandon the run game. Was surprised to see Croney get a carry and no Johnnie Lang. This will be another position to watch the transfer portal on. If Lang or Nwangwu leave, then they absolutely have to find another RB, whether it is FR, JUCO or grad transfer.
WR: We have a nice group, but they definitely had trouble separating vs ND. I think for next year, they will move Milton back to M, which is a more natural position for him. Then you probably start Shaw and Hutchinson. Hopefully we see a nice step forward from Scates and Wilson. Porter will add some speed on the outside too. Jones and Pettway both had really good seasons and will be missed. But I don't think the group will take a huge step back if Hutchinson lives up to the hype.
TE: Nice to see Kolar coming back. This may be the best TE group in the country next year. At the very least top 5 and best in the conference. Soehner being out really hurt us yesterday. I actually think that outside of Purdy, he might be the most irreplaceable player on the team. We don't have anyone as versatile and we missed his lead blocking. The 3 TE set is super effective and not having that option hurt us.
OL: This has been the main limiting factor for ISU since Campbell got here. Moving Knipfel to LT yesterday wasn't the disaster I thought it would be...he battled his ass off. Still, putting a road grading Guard at LT doesn't inspire the most confidence in Ramos to me. The OL definitely took a step forward this year, but they went from awful to average. How they improve on that losing 4 starters is beyond me, but they are going to have to do it if they want to go to a bowl again next year. I guess it starts with Downing and Newell. Those guys are going to need to really improve if they are going to be more than average players. Then you look at Ramos and Hudson and probably a RSFR or grad transfer. I for one am not buying the whole JGJ injury thing...I think that he probably did flunk a drug test and the staff was protecting him. But that's a conspiracy theory and it really doesn't matter.
DL: I thought that they kind of had a disappointing year given the hype and production of the past few. Still, we are going to miss Lima and Johnson. For next year, there's definitely a hole inside. Does Enyi move to NG some? How good is Bankston? Why did we not see Isaiah Lee at all this season? Does the light come on for Josh Bailey? I guess there are a lot of bodies, but pretty much no one has proven they can be the rock inside that Lima and Johnson were. DE we should be really good with Jaquan Bailey coming back. Peterson saw way too many snaps this year, but he shouldn't need to next year. Enyi is back and McDonald will only get better. We've heard good things about Suttle from the staff, so I assume he'll be in the rotation.
LB: I think that one of the primary goals this offseason should be to find a way to get Rose back inside. They took a really good MIKE LB and turned him into an average SAM. When is the last time we saw Vance make a play? He's a backup and a good one, not a starter. I do think that Hummel can man the WILL spot. We will miss Spears' solid play, but Hummel is not a huge step back. But we absolutely need to find someone that can play SAM. Whether that guy is on the roster right now remains to be seen. We've seen pretty much nothing from Pulvermacher or Vaughn. But even if it is a TRFR or grad transfer, they should move Rose back to MIKE.
CB: They definitely need help here. These guys got lost way too often. Johnson had a decent year for his first real time as a starter. He'll get better. The other spot...woof. There needs to be some improvement for sure. I would have open competition all the way through spring and fall. Kyle, Young, Miller, King...maybe a grad transfer or JUCO.
S: Eisworth's injury killed us the second half of the season. I'd probably hold him out all spring, because he's an elite player when healthy. I'm not all that impressed with White and less impressed with Lewis. With Eisworth banged up, our Safeties were a huge liability this year both in tackling and coverage. Going to need Isheem Young to really step up here or someone else if he's not the guy. I would not say that White has a spot locked up either. In this defense, you need extremely solid tacklers and he's not that.
K/P: I'd say that Assalley has earned Narveson's scholarship. He was pretty much the only bright spot yesterday. I'd also consider giving Rivera a scholarship and sending Dunn to the transfer portal. But that's just me. It will be interesting to see if they can find a kickoff guy who can get it into the endzone. Our coverage was OK this year, but we were missing that weapon.
Moving forward, I'd expect to see the transfer portal be pretty busy over the next few weeks. Campbell needs to clear out some of the dead weight to get the best roster possible for next year. I think that they need to find grad transfers or JUCOs at OT, SAM, DB. Then potentially at QB and RB if transfers thin the depth chart. OL recruiting has mystified me...we've been playing the long game for 4 years now and it hasn't really paid off. They need to inject some talent with JUCOs and grad transfers. I mean, this year we started 3 Rhoads guys and the other 3 are Iowa kids that most coaches could have gotten to ISU. The lack of evaluation and development is disappointing for having 3 OL guys on staff including the HC and OC. Gotta get this fixed soon.
One other thing that doesn't quite fit with the rest of this post...like others here, I absolutely despise shotgun on short yardage. Start practicing under center this spring. Or if you don't want to do that, then put together a short yardage package. Whether that is Re-Al Mitchell or someone else. Maybe Dekkers is that guy. They had an almost unstoppable package with Lanning in there. When he left, there was no real attempt to replace that position and we all know how important it is. Seems like there are no limits to how many WRs and DBs we'll bring in with a shotgun approach, yet we don't appreciate how the guy who can pick up that 3rd and 1 can change a game.
Overall, we're not as far off as it looked yesterday. The coaches are getting a lot of their Plan A players in recruiting, and we know that they can evaluate well at most positions. I do think that they need to take a major look in the mirror as far as slow starts to the season, falling off late in the season, cleaning up bad penalties and mistakes. This was a season of screw ups and a highlight reel of gaffs would be long. The HC preaches winning in the margins, attention to detail. This team was the exact opposite of that and the staff needs to recognize that and figure out how to change it.
QB: I thought that Purdy played a decent game given his lack of protection and running game. Probably got some happy feet in the 2nd half, but you can't blame him. He's still an excellent QB. Doesn't help when he's dinged up. We just have to live with the scramble around fumble kind of stuff. It will be interesting to see if Mitchell ends up in the transfer portal...we should know in the next few days. If he's staying, then we absolutely have to find ways to get him on the field more.
RB: Hall is a really good player. He probably needs more of a hole than DM, but he also had every bit of the year that DM had as a TRFR. I thought that he played pretty well given the blocking yesterday until we had to abandon the run game. Was surprised to see Croney get a carry and no Johnnie Lang. This will be another position to watch the transfer portal on. If Lang or Nwangwu leave, then they absolutely have to find another RB, whether it is FR, JUCO or grad transfer.
WR: We have a nice group, but they definitely had trouble separating vs ND. I think for next year, they will move Milton back to M, which is a more natural position for him. Then you probably start Shaw and Hutchinson. Hopefully we see a nice step forward from Scates and Wilson. Porter will add some speed on the outside too. Jones and Pettway both had really good seasons and will be missed. But I don't think the group will take a huge step back if Hutchinson lives up to the hype.
TE: Nice to see Kolar coming back. This may be the best TE group in the country next year. At the very least top 5 and best in the conference. Soehner being out really hurt us yesterday. I actually think that outside of Purdy, he might be the most irreplaceable player on the team. We don't have anyone as versatile and we missed his lead blocking. The 3 TE set is super effective and not having that option hurt us.
OL: This has been the main limiting factor for ISU since Campbell got here. Moving Knipfel to LT yesterday wasn't the disaster I thought it would be...he battled his ass off. Still, putting a road grading Guard at LT doesn't inspire the most confidence in Ramos to me. The OL definitely took a step forward this year, but they went from awful to average. How they improve on that losing 4 starters is beyond me, but they are going to have to do it if they want to go to a bowl again next year. I guess it starts with Downing and Newell. Those guys are going to need to really improve if they are going to be more than average players. Then you look at Ramos and Hudson and probably a RSFR or grad transfer. I for one am not buying the whole JGJ injury thing...I think that he probably did flunk a drug test and the staff was protecting him. But that's a conspiracy theory and it really doesn't matter.
DL: I thought that they kind of had a disappointing year given the hype and production of the past few. Still, we are going to miss Lima and Johnson. For next year, there's definitely a hole inside. Does Enyi move to NG some? How good is Bankston? Why did we not see Isaiah Lee at all this season? Does the light come on for Josh Bailey? I guess there are a lot of bodies, but pretty much no one has proven they can be the rock inside that Lima and Johnson were. DE we should be really good with Jaquan Bailey coming back. Peterson saw way too many snaps this year, but he shouldn't need to next year. Enyi is back and McDonald will only get better. We've heard good things about Suttle from the staff, so I assume he'll be in the rotation.
LB: I think that one of the primary goals this offseason should be to find a way to get Rose back inside. They took a really good MIKE LB and turned him into an average SAM. When is the last time we saw Vance make a play? He's a backup and a good one, not a starter. I do think that Hummel can man the WILL spot. We will miss Spears' solid play, but Hummel is not a huge step back. But we absolutely need to find someone that can play SAM. Whether that guy is on the roster right now remains to be seen. We've seen pretty much nothing from Pulvermacher or Vaughn. But even if it is a TRFR or grad transfer, they should move Rose back to MIKE.
CB: They definitely need help here. These guys got lost way too often. Johnson had a decent year for his first real time as a starter. He'll get better. The other spot...woof. There needs to be some improvement for sure. I would have open competition all the way through spring and fall. Kyle, Young, Miller, King...maybe a grad transfer or JUCO.
S: Eisworth's injury killed us the second half of the season. I'd probably hold him out all spring, because he's an elite player when healthy. I'm not all that impressed with White and less impressed with Lewis. With Eisworth banged up, our Safeties were a huge liability this year both in tackling and coverage. Going to need Isheem Young to really step up here or someone else if he's not the guy. I would not say that White has a spot locked up either. In this defense, you need extremely solid tacklers and he's not that.
K/P: I'd say that Assalley has earned Narveson's scholarship. He was pretty much the only bright spot yesterday. I'd also consider giving Rivera a scholarship and sending Dunn to the transfer portal. But that's just me. It will be interesting to see if they can find a kickoff guy who can get it into the endzone. Our coverage was OK this year, but we were missing that weapon.
Moving forward, I'd expect to see the transfer portal be pretty busy over the next few weeks. Campbell needs to clear out some of the dead weight to get the best roster possible for next year. I think that they need to find grad transfers or JUCOs at OT, SAM, DB. Then potentially at QB and RB if transfers thin the depth chart. OL recruiting has mystified me...we've been playing the long game for 4 years now and it hasn't really paid off. They need to inject some talent with JUCOs and grad transfers. I mean, this year we started 3 Rhoads guys and the other 3 are Iowa kids that most coaches could have gotten to ISU. The lack of evaluation and development is disappointing for having 3 OL guys on staff including the HC and OC. Gotta get this fixed soon.
One other thing that doesn't quite fit with the rest of this post...like others here, I absolutely despise shotgun on short yardage. Start practicing under center this spring. Or if you don't want to do that, then put together a short yardage package. Whether that is Re-Al Mitchell or someone else. Maybe Dekkers is that guy. They had an almost unstoppable package with Lanning in there. When he left, there was no real attempt to replace that position and we all know how important it is. Seems like there are no limits to how many WRs and DBs we'll bring in with a shotgun approach, yet we don't appreciate how the guy who can pick up that 3rd and 1 can change a game.
Overall, we're not as far off as it looked yesterday. The coaches are getting a lot of their Plan A players in recruiting, and we know that they can evaluate well at most positions. I do think that they need to take a major look in the mirror as far as slow starts to the season, falling off late in the season, cleaning up bad penalties and mistakes. This was a season of screw ups and a highlight reel of gaffs would be long. The HC preaches winning in the margins, attention to detail. This team was the exact opposite of that and the staff needs to recognize that and figure out how to change it.
