A closer look: Iowa WRs and TEs

THE DEPTH CHART

SE - 1. Tevaun Smith, senior, 6-2, 205; 2. Jacob Hillyer, senior, 6-4, 212; 3. Jerminic Smith, freshman, 6-1, 180; 4. Andre Harris, soph, 6-0, 180

WR - 1. Matt VandeBerg, junior, 6-1, 185; 2. Riley McCarron, junior, 5-9, 186; 3. Adrian Falconer, freshman, 6-1, 180; 4. Jay Scheel, redshirt freshman, 6-1, 195

TE - 1a. George Kittle, junior, 6-4, 235; 1b. Henry Krieger Coble, senior, 6-4, 250; 1c. Jake Duzey, senior, 6-4, 248; 2. Jon Wisnieski, soph, 6-5, 247; 3. Peter Pekar, soph, 6-4, 245; 4. Jameer Outsey, redshirt freshman, 6-3, 235; 5. Nate Vejvoda, freshman, 6-5, 215

DUZEY WILL RETURN

Teams are allowed 15 practices during spring. On practice No. 14, senior tight end Jake Duzey suffered a torn patellar tendon. This fall, the 6-4, 248-pounder has been inching his way back.

Right now, the target date is the end of September or sooner. This is good news for an offense that could use any playmaker it can get its hands on. With 58 career receptions, Duzey is Iowa's second-leading returning receiver, behind senior WR Tevaun Smith (70).

'My injury is getting better every day,” Duzey said. 'I just have to keep on it, keep going to treatments and do what the trainers tell me.”

On the penultimate practice of spring, Duzey went up on a fade route in the end zone, came down wrong and heard a snap.

'Right at first, I was like, ‘Uh oh, this is not good,'” he said. 'They (medical staff) said, you'll come back through this.”

Even with the injury, Duzey remains a highly regarded tight end. This week, Athlon Sports polled a group of Big Ten beat writers for their top 15 players in the league this season. Despite the injury, Duzey received votes, finishing tied for 45th with three points. The only other TE to make the list was Michigan's Jake Butt at No. 32.

'It's been a great experience for me looking at the outside, and kind of getting all of those mental reps has been a pretty good thing for me. I've been just helping those guys out with whatever they need.”

DEPTH CHART SURPRISE

Redshirt freshman wide receiver Jay Scheel didn't know he would make the depth chart heading into fall camp. He was a surprised as anyone.

'I was surprised a little bit, because I didn't know before anyone else did,” said Scheel, who lead Union High School to a Class 3A state title in 2011. 'I wasn't really expecting that.”

The other side of that coin is the timing of said depth chart. And Scheel is well aware of this.

'It's the preseason depth chart, it doesn't really mean anything right now. It's like preseason rankings,” he said. 'I still have a lot of work to do and a lot of work ahead. I have to go out and prove myself just like everyone else.”

Compared to where he was last August, you totally understand Scheel's level-headed approach. He had surgery on a knee injury that happened at some point during his high school career. He wasn't able to practice until November. He was somewhat limited this spring, but around the time Duzey was hurt, Scheel started to put things together.

'Last spring was actually the first time we saw him close to full speed,” head coach Kirk Ferentz said. 'He was back working in December. I think we're going to see a different guy in August. I think we're finally going to get to see him full throttle here in August. Coincidentally, he's at a position where we need some help and development. It'll be wide open for anybody, but I think Jay's in a good position right now.”

THE SWITCHEROO

In the spring, there was talk about moving around senior Tevaun Smith in an attempt to create mismatches with the defense. Last season, somewhere near 90 percent of the time, he attacked the defense from the split end spot.

This year, the plan is to move him around. To do that, however, everyone is going to need to know the other positions. This might seem elementary or subtle, but it is something that ultimately might lead to assignment confusion without the Hawkeyes having to completely change their stripes.

'We've lined up in primarily the same spots,” said junior Matt VandeBerg, who'll start out in the slot position this season. 'We're trying to be more unpredictable. To be unpredictable, you can move guys around. Tevaun got a lot of double coverage when he was on the outside. Now when he moves into the slot, it's harder to do that and when they do, he's got guys on the outside who can make plays as well.”

So, VandeBerg (6-1, 185) is headed to the slot position, at least until Smith shifts from split end. VandeBerg plans to be full-service slot WR and he's not going to try to duplicate Kevonte Martin-Manley, who roamed the slot for four years and graduated after last season as Iowa's career receptions leader (174).

'I'm not going to try to be Kevonte Martin-Manley,” said VandeBerg, who's probably a step faster but also is at least 15 pounds lighter than Martin-Manley. 'Although, he did leave as the school's career receptions leader and that's a pretty good thing. I've just got to go out and do this my best way, and as long as it gets the job done, then that's great.”

AND JONATHAN PARKER

You know wide receiver Jonathan Parker doesn't run this lowlight back through his mind. The kick return, the TaxSlayer Bowl, the mishandle, the tiptoe on the sideline, the embarrassing illegal forward lateral and first down Hawkeyes at the 2 while down 28-0 to Tennessee early in the second quarter.

It was the kind of play that you just want to back away from and cover in Kitty Litter. Well, Ferentz has done just that.

'He's got to get over what happened in the last ballgame,” Ferentz said. 'We all have. We've moved on, and he's a year older just like everybody who's in the program that was here last year. They're a year older. He should be a better football player.”

In the spring, Iowa made official Parker's move from running back to wide receiver. Because it's a position the head coach termed 'a wide-open scramble,” Parker might have a chance to make an impact and write a very different story than the TaxSlayer.

'That was our motivation for talking to him about moving, and we're hoping that we can use him in a real effective way,” Ferentz said. 'He's trained hard, but there's some newness there for sure. We think he's got some ability and potential to help us. We'll try to use him in a smart way out there.”

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