Four Downs (post-spring): Linebackers

IOWA CITY — It was the end of April and Aaron Mends still hadn't won the job at weakside linebacker, but still, Kirk Ferentz said some pretty good things, the kind of things you might want to file away and recall in about 115 or so days.

It's not a coronation, but it had to have been a positive for the third-year sophomore to hold the No. 1 weakside spot throughout spring practice, from the first depth chart in March to the spring game start on April 23.

And then Ferentz sprinkled a little bit of sunshine on a player who could be one of the most physically gifted on Iowa's defense.

'Talk about guys making progress from August, if you go back to last spring, night and day, just night and day, and same thing academically,' Ferentz said when discussing Mends. 'He's really getting into a groove academically right now. It's not an effort for him. He's got a routine down that's beneficial. We're seeing the same thing in football.'

Those are good things. Here's what Mends is physically: He's 6-0 and is now 220. He owns Iowa's squat record for inside linebackers (595 pounds). And from former Iowa weakside linebacker Cole Fisher, Mends has 'the physical tools to be just crazy good, the amount of power and speed that he brings is nothing that I've seen since I've been here.'

Recognizing what offenses are trying to do is the hill in front of Mends. Physical gifts won't do anyone any good if Mends is chasing ghosts.

He knows this and he's on it.

'There's always room for everyone to grow football IQ-wise. Football is a game where you never stop learning,' Mends said. 'When I first got here, I didn't have as big of IQ as other people, but I feel like I've caught up and I'm right there with everyone else. In the meeting room, (linebackers coach Seth) coach Wallace talks with us, but we're also coaching ourselves. In the linebacker room, it's not just about the coaches, it's about the players as well.'

Ferentz didn't say it was exactly this, but he did have a quick example for Mends' growth.

'He's not there by any stretch, but you look at the way Anthony (Hitchens) played in 2012 and he made the jump in 2013,' Ferentz said. 'We're hoping it doesn't take until Aaron's senior year, but seeing some really good things there.'

Anthony Hitchens was OK in 2012. His 124 tackles were the most for an Iowa player until Josey Jewell had 126 last year. Hitchens also didn't see the game as well as he did as a senior in 2013, when he had 13.5 tackles for loss and forced two fumbles and pretty much won the Michigan game with a strip and fumble recovery.

If Mends is stuck somewhere between 2012 Hitchens and 2013 Hitchens, that's a pretty big difference and that's also probably why the weakside position remains up for grabs between Mends, junior Bo Bower and sophomore Jack Hockaday.

'He's very athletic. He moves extremely well. He's very explosive. He's very powerful,' Wallace said. 'What Aaron needs to do right now is he just needs to hone in on a position that's not easy to play. You just can't be slotted in there because you're athletic. There's a lot that goes into it based on what we do defensively from a mental standpoint.

'The reps he's getting right now — which are very significant — they're going to help him gain that experience. But for him right now, it's really getting his feet wet. He does have some competition behind him, I can assure you the two guys behind him are pushing him, which is nice. But what he needs to do right now is he needs to concentrate on that because we have seen what he can do special teams-wise.'

4th Down

Iowa went this spring without outside linebacker Ben Niemann, who had offseason surgery on probably an ankle (he missed most of the Rose Bowl with an ankle injury).

Niemann is the latest example of a special teamer showing you can get there from here. He played all of 2014 on special teams as a true freshman. He replaced Bower in the second half of the TaxSlayer Bowl and never left the spot in 2015. As per usual with Iowa outside linebackers, Niemann's numbers were OK (45 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, two pass breakups), but it's what Niemann did to shore up Iowa's perimeter defense on the strong side that was worth his weight in gold.

Toward the end of 2014, that was a question that came up a lot. Last year, you didn't hear that. That was Niemann's strength.

3rd Down

Iowa went into 2013 without a premium pass rusher, but it did have three pretty great linebackers (Hitchens, Christian Kirksey and James Morris) who found their way to the NFL. And so defensive coordinator Phil Parker turned them loose. Iowa's trio of linebackers combined for 35.5 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks, six of Iowa's 14 forced fumbles and 13 of Iowa's 27 QB hurries.

Perhaps it's too early for a thought like this, but could 2016 be sort of similar with returning starters Josey Jewell and Niemann along with Mends or Bower, who have experience in third-down rush packages? Couple that with a secondary that should be one of the B1G's best and maybe there's some logic to that thinking.

Video: Josey Jewell post-spring game

2nd Down

Another holdover thought from 2013: Remember one of the emerging themes for the defense that year was the knowledge gained and the camaraderie built during summer video sessions. The unit learned together and bonded over watching the mistakes and the personal victories from the previous season during the summer months.

This still is a thing.

• Four Downs (post-spring): Iowa defensive line

'That's going to continue,' Jewell said. 'We're going to keep everyone in the film room and watching so you don't forget. If you're not in there for a week or two, you start forgetting things, small detail things that really build up over time and it can help you or hurt you. So, if we keep staying together and watching film together over the summer, I think we'll be a lot better and I hope that happens this year.'

1st Down

Above there was a mention of how Niemann parlayed a season of special teams as a true freshman into a starting sophomore season. Kirksey made a similar move in from 2011 to 2012, seeing action on special teams and then working into a starting outside linebacker spot.

Iowa has five incoming linebackers — Amani Jones, Nick Niemann, Kyle Taylor, Barrington Wade and Kristian Welch. It also feels as if Shaun Beyer will begin his career as an outside linebacker.

Let's rank who could be the freshman special teamer to starter (in case Iowa does need a new LB in 2017, Jewell and Ben Niemann are juniors and Mends is a sophomore): 1) Wade (has the wheels), 2) Jones (might be physically ready), 3) Welch (good speed), 4) Niemann (I think he ends up a DE), 5) Taylor (might have the speed, instinct) and 6) Beyer (needs weightroom time).

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