Iowa Hawkeye Recruiting 2015: Croot Loops — The Links

Here are the links to the 'Croot Loops' series. I did them in position groups this year to save some time. Instead of 21 separate posts, it was boiled down to seven.

Last year, I wrote this 'I believe the Croot Loops title will be a one-time thing. I don't want it to distract from the information, which I'm afraid it has.'

¯\_(:~)_/¯

I would love to hear from you on these.

Who has the quickest track to playing time? Who is the sleeper? Who is the dude or guy? Who is the 'whoa, who's that guy?'

I'd like to thank Iowa recruiting coordinator/secondary assistant Seth Wallace for the interview he gave on signing day. His insight here is much appreciated.

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

_______________

Defensive backs — Michael Ojemudia was the only defensive back taken in this class (Iowa signed five last year, so yeah). He projects as a safety. Michigan toyed with the idea of an offer near the end of his recruiting. Iowa was happy when the NLI arrived at whatever we're calling the new football ops building.

Wallace: 'You go back and look at his tape and you're going to find someone with good size, who's aggressive. This kid will strike you.'

Defensive line — Iowa probably has two DTs and two DEs in this group. You could see where St. Louis commit Michael Slater could stick at DE (Iowa has gone the jumbo DE route), but you could also see him as a very productive 3-technique tackle at around 290 pounds. Here's the Loops link.

Wallace on DE prospect Anthony Nelson

: 'You watch him run on the basketball court, and we've had coaches who've gone to practice or to games, and you're talking about someone who runs very fluidly for being 6-6. You can see where in a short amount of time what this program can give him development-wise, he's going to put on the weight. You're talking about a 6-6 frame that is very athletic.'

Linebackers — Iowa needs to hit on linebackers. Except for a shining 2013 season that saw three LBs matriculate to the NFL, it's felt like Iowa has been a player short here. This also translates to unsteady special teams play. Iowa went through 2014 without major factory accidents on special teams and then Demornay Pierson-El happened all over Kinnick Stadium. Here's the link.

Wallace on LB Angelo Garbutt

: 'Angelo had a lot of stuff going on recruiting-wise. It went down to the wire with Angelo. We spent a lot of time as an entire staff with multiple home visits with Angelo and his mom. Good size, comes out of Dallas, and you'll see there's a little bit of a trend there with guys we've pulled out of that Dallas metro area.

Offensive line — In 2013, Iowa swapped out offensive line scholarships for wide receivers. Last year, it just so happened to work out that Iowa found five defensive backs with a few O-linemen mixed in. Iowa have 12 scholarship offensive linemen on the roster going into spring. That's not a crisis, but it does force one to hold one's breathe if injuries hit. So, the 2015 class is heavily invested in O-linemen with five commits. Here's the link.

Wallace on C James Daniels

: 'James is a national kid. Obviously, having his brother here was key to the recruiting there, but I also think he recognizes what we've done with the offensive line. In terms of a highly rated recruit, historically, there has to be a tie, either geographical or family, to get someone like James. We're hoping for big things out of him.'

Running back/tight end — If RB Eric Graham turns out to be a starter, credit goes to Wallace and, IMO, Iowa's new recruiting staff that, remember, has only been in place full-time since last summer. A few people questioned the results. You've got to give this time. It's brand-new, less than a year in place. Here's the link.

Wallace on Graham

: 'We took the proper steps in making sure that we knew him. I spent an entire day in Prattville and met with all the folks I felt like I needed to meet with. I did a home visit and spent a great deal of time with Eric. I left there with a positive feeling, knowing that we had already done a lot over the phone before going down there. Then, we had him up here and you guys [media] didn't notice. Eric is probably below the radar because there was a point in time where he probably wasn't where he needed to be academically. I met with all the people at the academy he attends and all signs point in the right direction.'

Wide receivers — With the midseason loss of Derrick Willies (who's now a Trinity Valley Community College in Texas), I think Iowa had to go wide receiver shopping. I believe they found three different receivers with three varying skillsets. The one you might see next year is Jerminic Smith.

Wallace on WR Emmanuel Ogwo

: 'He's definitely a wide receiver. We think he has huge upside. He didn't play his junior year. He played as a senior and was very productive his senior year. He's fast, he has national speed.'

Quarterbacks — Ryan Boyle and Drew Cook signed on to play QB for the Hawkeyes. QB, not LB and not TE. QB. QB for now, anyway. They also signed up knowing they would compete with each other from day 1. Is QB a position you can stagger recruits? Not really. You don't just throw a true freshman QB in there unless you really need to. Iowa shouldn't need to next season. You can stagger a position like WR. I believe that's why Matt VandeBerg played in 2013. Can't be done at QB, so Boyle and Cook will be tied at the hip. Here's the link.

Wallace on Cook

: 'That is our intention [that Cook plays quarterback.] He has great size. He's another kid you would classify as a winner. A coach's kid. He's got everything you're looking for in terms of profile that you would ideally like someone to fit.'

Here is a list of known walk-ons from the 2015 class (two of these guys end up on schollie?):

Lane Akre FB 6-0 220 Geneseo, Ill. (Geneseo)

Jacob Giese DL 6-3 270 West Branch, Iowa (West Branch)

Isaiah Kramme DB 6-3 205 Ankeny, Iowa (Centennial)

Colten Rastetter P 6-2 205 Guttenberg, Iowa (Clayton Ridge)

Brady Ross LB 6-1 220 Dakota City, Iowa (Humboldt)

Blake Simons TE 6-6 220 Sanborn, Iowa (Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn)

Jackson Subbert LS 6-3 205 Williamsburg, Iowa (Williamsburg)

__________________

Let's look back at some other 'Croot Loop' links. (It used to go back about six years, but we switched content delivery systems. Should be a few year's worth around.)

Here's the link to last year's Croot Loops. — Right off the bat, you'll notice RB Markel Smith never did show up. He never did hit a needed ACT score and signed with Central Missouri. Also, DB Jalen Embry didn't arrive at Iowa. Not sure what the exact issue was. He was in summer camp, but didn't make it to the fall. I believe he could return. Will ask for clarity next news conference. Only four true freshmen played last year, including kicker Mick Ellis and punter Dillon Kidd. The year of being in it has seemingly paid off for the other two true frosh who played. Outside linebacker Ben Neimann and strong safety Miles Taylor are listed as starters.

Walk-on of note is safety Brandon Snyder, who's a No. 2 at strong safety this spring.

The 2013 'Hello, my name is ...' link — This class of 21 has five departures, which is about average maybe slightly above. The most notable is Willies. I think he could be the departure that leaves some regret. He has work to do, but if he shines at Trinity Valley, he'll find a spot in the Big 12. A little catch up here: Willies departed the team in late October and cited his sick father as a reason. Then, he indicated to Iowa that he wanted to return in late November. Kirk Ferentz didn't address it — correctly, in my opinion — until the season was over. He presented Willies with a conditional return. Willies declined and Ferentz announced in December that he wouldn't be returning to Iowa. I'll give this class the potential to put 6.0 starters on the field next fall. Marc, how can a half-guy play? Here's my list: OT Ike Boettger, RBs LeShun Daniels, Jonathan Parker and Akrum Wadley (they counted as a halves), LB Josey Jewell, FB John Kenny (he also counts half with the return of Adam Cox), CB Desmond King and OL Sean Welsh. I think TE Jon Wisnieski plays, too (I think they'll need him). And probably DBs Solomon Warfield and Malik Rucker.

What about walk-ons? Sophomore OT Boone Myers (Webster City) started with this class as a walk-on. He earned a scholarship last August and is listed as No. 1 left tackle this spring. WR Andrew Stone is solidly on the depth chart. Sophomore Tyler Kluver

held the longsnapper job last fall.

Here's the link to the 2012 'Hello, my name is ...' — Six potential starters, leading with QB C.J. Beathard, WR Tevaun Smith and DE Drew Ott. Seven departures from this class, including ... get this ... all of the running backs. Huh.

Here are some 2012 walk-ons who are still around: OT Cole Croston, OL Jalen Chambers, OL Steve Ferentz, WR Riley McCarron.

This series used to be called 'Ferentz on ...' and then I just felt stupid being the guy to get Ferentz to say something about every recruit when there were other issues that needed addressing. Anyway, here's 2011 — This is the current fifth-year seniors and could possibly include 6.5 starters — QB Jake Rudock (counts as half, with that whole murky QB thing going on and, oh yeah, the rumor that he's transferring to Michigan), C Austin Blythe, RB Jordan Canzeri, TE Jake Duzey, WR Jacob Hillyer, TE Henry Krieger-Coble, FS Jordan Lomax and G Jordan Walsh. (Actually, this was a very productive class, producing 13 starters/solid contributors with eight lost to attrition, remember Rodney Coe and John Raymon?)

I didn't have a list of 2011 walk-ons for whatever reason, but K Marshall Koehn

is one who's still around and definitely making an impact.

There are your five classes that will comprise the 2015 Iowa roster.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com