Game time for Iowa wide receiver

IOWA CITY - Iowa wide receiver is kind of this big playground at recess.

There's the natural kid who runs a mile ahead of everyone in whatever game is going on. That would be senior wide receiver Tevaun Smith. Then, you have the kid who's gained a few steps on the natural kid, who looks as if he might be able to take the mantle someday. That's junior wide receiver Matt VandeBerg. You also have the big kid, the one who holds the ball high and has the rest of the class jumping at his feet. That's senior Jacob Hillyer and his 6-4, 212-pound frame.

And then there's the pack. They all want to play. They all love running around and picture themselves someday in the role of the natural or that next kid or the big kid.

Iowa wide receiver is Tevaun Smith, Matt VandeBerg and Jacob Hillyer and a pack of hungry kids.

'Young, hungry, fast,” Smith said of Iowa's young receivers. 'All those guys, all of them can play this year. It's going to be tough to see who will play this year and who will redshirt. Those guys are all ready and willing to learn. They're pushing themselves.”

Newly installed quarterback C.J. Beathard will have Smith, Iowa's leading receiver with 43 receptions last season. VandeBerg is coming off his best season (14 receptions for 18.29 yards a catch). Hillyer (23 career receptions) is a fifth-year senior and gives the group a senior voice.

After that trio, newly installed Beathard won't have senior tight end Jake Duzey (58 career receptions), at least for September while he recovers from a torn patellar tendon suffered this spring. Filling that fast TE void will be junior George Kittle.

Beyond Smith, VandeBerg and Hillyer, newly installed Beathard will have seven other scholarship wide receivers and two walk-ons competing for targets and playing time. Three of those seven scholarship receivers will be true freshmen.

The point here is Beathard is newly installed and will need help. He will be forced to lean on some untested bodies and everyone sees this.

'It's wide open right now,” head coach Kirk Ferentz said. 'We've got Jay Scheel on the depth chart, but it could be anybody that's there, including maybe some freshmen. We'll see how that goes over the course of time.

'We've definitely got an open mind there, and it's twofold: Who can we get ready to play this year? Also, it's like when you know you've got guys. We've got two senior defensive ends, so who's coming in behind those guys, who's going to get that work and be ready to step in there, just like when we took the redshirt off Tevaun a couple years back knowing that he would have to step into a starting role the year after.

'There are a lot of wheels in motion right there, but it's a wide-open scramble right now. We're all anxious to see how it pans out.”

Hello, my name is . . . Jay Scheel

- Scheel is a redshirt freshman from Mount Auburn and Union High School. He made his bones as a read option QB and led Union to the 2011 Class 3A state title. He sat out his redshirt season with a knee injury. He's back and looks the part at 6-1, 195 pounds.

'Every rep you get is important, you can't take it lightly,” Scheel said. 'You have to get everything out of every rep. That's your chance to shine. You have to take every rep like it's a game.”

Hello, my name is . . . Andrew Stone

- Stone is a senior walk-on who took his first steps as a Hawkeye with three catches for 48 yards and a TD last season.

Stone was a stud at Iowa Western Community College. He is the school's career receptions leader (109) and had 61 receptions for 685 yards and nine TDs as a sophomore, when Iowa Western claimed the junior college national title.

'It helps to have been through that,” said Stone, who was hampered by MCL and hamstring injuries in the last year. 'I was a leader. I led the team in receptions. I played the leader role. If I play now, I've had the experience of being the go-to guy, which is something you need experience doing.”

Hello, my name is . . . Riley McCarron

- The 5-9, 186-pounder was awarded a scholarship during camp, so he must be doing some things correctly. A bout of mononucleosis cut into his 2014 season. He has three career receptions.

Hello, my name is . . . Jonathan Parker

- You last remember Parker's disastrous kick return in the TaxSlayer Bowl. About halfway through the Big Ten season, he did lead the league in kick returns. He made the move from running back in the spring. It probably won't be a seamless transition, but Parker (three receptions, 42 yards last year) is fast and elusive and Iowa needs exactly that.

Hello, my name is . . . Andre Harris

- The sophomore hasn't seen much playing time. He has no career receptions. He did see some reps with the first group during camp. The 6-0, 185-pounder has speed, but hasn't been consistent, wide receivers coach Bobby Kennedy said.

'It's time for him to flash on a consistent basis and not just in bursts,” Kennedy said.

Hello, my name is . . . Ronald Nash

- The 6-2, 210-pound sophomore walk-on caught 32 passes for 373 yards and three TDs last season at Iowa Western.

Hello, my name is . . . The freshmen

- Depending on who you ask, Adrian Falconer, Emmanuel Ogwo and Jerminic Smith have had great summers and one/all of them are headed toward playing time this fall. Ferentz mentioned Falconer. Free safety Jordan Lomax said Ogwo ran away from defensive backs in 7-on-7. Kennedy said Smith has been the total package.

Still, you know, freshmen.

'It's kind of like Etch-a-Sketch,” Kennedy said. 'You're in camp and sometimes you put in so much information that their mind locks up their athletic ability. . . . Is the stage too big? Does their mind lock up their athleticism? Or can they break through that wall?”

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