A closer look: Iowa receivers, tight ends 2017

IOWA CITY — Last year, about this time, there wasn't a whole lot anyone knew for certain about Iowa's wide receivers and tight ends beyond Matt VandeBerg and George Kittle. Inexperience across the board was the consensus.

Oh what a difference a year doesn't make.

Whoever the quarterback will be, there's still plenty of unanswered questions about to whom either Nathan Stanley or Tyler Wiegers will throw. Will VandeBerg be back to his old self? Will Devonte Young step up after a full year in the program? Can Nick Easley look as good as he did in the spring? Will Matt Quarells contribute despite only joining the team weeks ago?

After coaches and players spoke at Media Day, Kids Day and with less than 10 days before the season opener, there's not much Kirk Ferentz and his crew are letting on if they have the answers.

'I wouldn't say emerge, but we're making progress as a group,' Ferentz said. 'It's fair to say we'll have young guys playing at that position. They are going through the ups and downs and that always happens with first-year guys and sometimes second-year guys as well.'

Progress is important. It's just not yet finite.

New offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz wasn't much more specific than that. He pointed out position battles other than quarterback are keeping his attention — 'Every day we're having personnel decisions and trying to put our best 11 on the field,' he said — and that at receiver, as with other positions, there's 'a lot,' left to do.

'Nobody's quite where we need them to be,' Brian Ferentz said. 'We're going to be counting on young guys at receiver, so every day is a bit of an adventure with those guys. What will be good is when we dial things back and focus on an opponent as opposed to installation, I think we can clear it up by letting guys focus on certain roles and making their lives a little easier as we go.'

Wide receivers coach Kelton Copeland — as you might expect from a first-year assistant — is plenty excited about the group he has. He found positivity in their youth from the fact that 'all these guys are literally like sponges.'

Again, that's important, but not yet finite.

Copeland talked at length about how 'the eye in the sky doesn't lie,' when looking at what the group is doing on film. Practices are never as bad or as good as you think they are, he said, until you look at it on film. He stopped short of saying exactly what they've seen on film, though.

What he did do was turn up the heat on his guys — whether he meant to or not.

'No pressure intended, but the time is now,' Copeland said. 'The opportunity is now. What makes a room better, what makes a group better is competition. I wanted those guys to understand that, hey, we're bringing in some freshmen; I'm pushing them to beat you out. Your job is to not get beat out. Your job is to earn your spot. That's what's going to make us better.'

THE DEPTH CHART

WR — 1. Matt VandeBerg, sr., 6-1, 195; 2. Nick Easley, jr., 5-11, 203; 3. Devonte Young, so., 6-0, 200; 4. Adrian Falconer, jr., 6-1, 192

TE — 1. Noah Fant, so., 6-5, 232; 2. T.J. Hockenson, fr., 6-5, 243; 3. Peter Pekar, sr., 6-4, 252; 4. Nate Wieting, so., 6-4, 250

ANY MEN IN

As for that competition Copeland mentioned:

Brian Ferentz said Young 'has really improved,' thanks to this being his second lap around the program. Maturity — both physically and otherwise — has helped Young, he said.

Quarells still is catching up, according to Kirk. The head coach wasn't making excuses, necessarily, but pointed out that mere weeks of learning an offense and culture isn't really enough to have definite results. The hope, Kirk said, is that Quarells being a college graduate and 'smarter than the average bear,' will yield results quicker.

Easley worked well in the spring and again at Kids Day, and was listed as the starting wide receiver opposite VandeBerg on the initial depth chart. That's not meaningless.

As far as VandeBerg, is he the guy we knew? That got another somewhat unclear answer, unless you try to read between the lines.

'Matt's working back,' Brian Ferentz said. 'I think you're never back to where you were until you get out and play a little bit. It's been quite a while since he's been on the field. He's excited to get out there; we're excited to see him, but I don't feel comfortable telling you, 'He's Matt VandeBerg' until he goes out and plays a little bit. All the things we've seen so far are good.'

Brian Ferentz laughed when asked if he had a top three wide receivers at this point, and responded with a lighthearted, 'not that I'm going to share with you,' before adding there's a rotation in the staff's mind at every spot at this point.

Ultimately the best bet is that Iowa will have to rely on Noah Fant, an unproven T.J. Hockenson and Peter Pekar at tight end, as well as Akrum Wadley and James Butler in the passing game until Easley, Young, Quarells and Adrian Falconer prove their worth on the field.

Tight end has a chance to be a strength for the offense, with Fant taking strides over the summer, comparing what Fant has brought to the tight end group to what Wadley brings to running backs when he spoke at Media Day. Fant's 'I've been here before' attitude has served him well so far this fall, Kirk said.

Pekar has experience. Hockenson listed as a starting end on the initial depth chart off a redshirt year is not insignificant, either.

All that's really known for certain is that there's not a lot that's really known.

'Our fullbacks, our tight ends, that's where we've got more experience,' Kirk Ferentz said. 'That's where everything has got to kind of generate from, and then we'll go from there.'

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com