McCarron, Fleming: 2 seniors, 2 new points of view

Sure, it's easy to dismiss spring football. You might see tackling, you might not. You might see your starting quarterback attempt to outwit your starting middle linebacker.

You might see the No. 3 running back rush 27 times for 4 yards. You might see that, and that may or may not move you to check out the Hawkeyes in West Des Moines on Friday evening for an open practice at Valley Stadium. The idea of a little-known underclassman named Michael Ojemudia playing three times more snaps at cornerback than all-American Desmond King isn't a great selling point for spring football.

Well, spring football is only kind of sort of for you and it does come with some ground rules.

First, the roster is left without departed seniors and freshmen don't report until fall. So, the roster isn't full. Also, there are rules for how much contact is allowed throughout the 15 spring practices: There can only be five practices that are 50 percent contact. There can only be three practices that include live action (tackling) from the line of scrimmage.

The roster limitations gives spring an air of mystery. It's the time for some of the names you kind of sort of know to show what they can do.

Senior wide receiver Riley McCarron has toiled in relative anonymity for the majority of his career. The 5-9, 186-pounder had a great month or month and a half late last summer. In August, McCarron was awarded a scholarship. On Sept. 12 at Iowa State, McCarron made an over-the-shoulder catch for a 25-yard TD with 2:14 left in the fourth quarter that held up as the winning points in a 31-17 Iowa victory.

Iowa's C.J. Beathard connects with Riley McCarron for the go-ahead Touchdown! September 13, 2015

Iowa's C.J. Beathard connects with Riley McCarron for the go-ahead Touchdown! @DrPepper #OneOfAKindPlay #Rivalry http://t.co/nl4Z2IHfKd

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX)

It was McCarron's first catch in nearly a calendar year (he had three catches for 11 yards as a sophomore). It didn't open the gates to a huge amount of targets for McCarron, who caught just four more passes the rest of the season, but here he is this spring, listed No. 1 in the 'B' receiver role.

Last year, it was scholarship and first TD reception. This year, McCarron has put himself in position to be a starter.

With sophomore Adrian Falconer right behind McCarron on the depth chart, spring matters for McCarron and for the entire wide receiver corps, which has been marked as a hot spot for the Hawkeyes in 2016.

Four Downs: Iowa's 2016 wide receivers/tight ends

'I'm not putting anymore pressure on myself than in any other spring,' McCarron said. 'At the same time, it's important for myself to grow along with the wide receiver unit as a whole. I'm trying to grow and be a student of the game while trying to help teach it to the young guys because we're going to need some of them this year.'

McCarron had the less publicized sports hernia operation in this offseason (most went to quarterback C.J. Beathard), but on the last Wednesday of March, at 7:40 a.m., McCarron was running punt team drills with abandon.

Even after earning a scholarship and a top spot on the depth chart, McCarron has the 'walk-on' mentality.

'I want to grow anyway I can just to get on the field,' he said. 'Special teams or offense, it doesn't really matter.'

Does a former walk-on always have that mentality, even after he's earned a scholarship?

'I know I haven't,' McCarron said. 'When you're in Kinnick and there's 70,000, that gets me going, starting spot or not. You just want to continually make yourself a better player. That's all I think about at the end of the day.'

It always makes news when a player leaves a program. Sometimes it's a big deal and sometimes it just sort of happens. The 2016 Iowa roster will have nine fifth-year seniors from the 2012 class. Some of the names you absolutely know — Beathard, defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson, tight end George Kittle and cornerback Greg Mabin.

You might recognize Maurice Fleming's name. He came to the Hawkeyes as a playmaking, all-purpose QB from Curie High School in Chicago. He began as a corner and then shifted to wide receiver to help fatten depth as a redshirt freshman.

That was 2013, when corner was sort of an open position for the Hawkeyes. Then, in the opener, King jumped in for an injured starter and has remained on the field ever since, tying Iowa's season interception record with eight and winning every defensive back honor in the land last fall.

After moving over from wide receiver, Mabin settled in at the other corner spot. Between the two, they have 64 career starts.

Fleming (6-0, 205) probably could be starting somewhere, but he stayed with the Hawkeyes. With Mabin out this spring because of a shoulder injury and sophomore Joshua Jackson being held out after offseason surgery, Fleming finds himself at the top of the depth chart with a chance to expand what defensive coordinator/secondary coach Phil Parker knows about his skills.

Fleming did carve himself out a nice chunk of playing time in personnel packages on third downs last season. Of course, you always want more, but Fleming said he enjoyed his role during Iowa's historic 12-2 2015 season.

'I'm going to go out (this spring) and compete and hustle every day,' said Fleming, who broke up five passes last season. 'I want to show that I am one of those top four guys so I can stay on the field instead of just being out there on third down. I want to show I can help more on special teams. And just make more plays, just for the sake of the team. We want to win games, that's the main thing. Those two losses hurt, hurt us bad.'

Here are two fifth-year seniors with new opportunities this spring. That's the dynamism of college football. There's change when you might not even see it. You have to keep up.

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