Four downs with the QBs

QUICK LOOK BACK: The Jake Christensen-Ricky Stanzi battle for the position made for interesting theater. Stanzi went from clipboard holder ('07) to nosing his way into real playing time (Maine) to starter (Florida International) to pulled starter (Iowa State) to the final answer. Christensen's last play that mattered came against ISU. He has announced he is transferring but is still attending classes for a May graduation from the UI. It'll be up to the NCAA if he's eligible to transfer to another FBS school.

FOURTH DOWN -- CONCERNS: Well, depth.

Stanzi is a somewhat proven commodity. He made his mistakes, but he always had a sturdy running game and a great defense to hold him up. But the point here is he know has 11 starts and seven wins on his resume.

No. 2? This is where Christensen's departure stings. The Hawkeyes go from a former starter to a pair of unproven redshirt freshmen who've never played a snap.

James Vandenberg, 6-3 and 195, has an Internet following built on nuggets leaked out of practice. I've heard good things, but I haven't seen anything with my eyes, so I don't know. John Wienke, 6-5 and 225, supposedly has the bigger arm. Again, I don't know. They came from smaller high school programs (Keokuk and Tuscola, Ill.) but they also won state titles.

THIRD DOWN -- ADDITIONS/SUBTRACTIONS: Would Kirk Ferentz take Jake Christensen back? I'm just spitballing here, probably shouldn't have even brought it up. It would bridge the experience gap, but maybe that's not even an issue. Look where Stanzi was when he earned the keys to the car -- he was a redshirt sophomore with more passes to other teams (one) than to his own (zero).

The 2009 recruiting class didn't include a QB, but Iowa does have at least three offers out already for 2010, including Iowa City High standout A.J. Derby. David Blackwell, the '08 signee who ended up at Iowa Western, is probably a wideout when/if he ends up at Iowa in 2010.

So, for '09, it's Stanzi, Vandenberg and Wienke.

SECOND DOWN -- STRENGTHS: Stanzi is a strength. Let's face it, last season was a personal rollercoaster for the guy. He won the job, whupped Florida International, fell into a turnover miasma and then emerged during a strong finish, including the final drive that lifted Iowa over then-No. 3 Penn State, arguably the biggest win for Iowa in three seasons.

To paraphrase the T-shirt from Black Heart Gold Pants (http://www.blackheartgoldpants.com/), Stanzi is the manzi.

FIRST DOWN -- THE PLAY: Stanzi is established, but he's hardly a finished product. He knows that and this quote from after the Outback Bowl tells you a lot about the junior's personality: “As far as it being my team, I still have a lot of work to do and a lot of respect to earn,” Stanzi said. “That's where I'm at right now. We had a good season. I'm just going to keep trying to improve. That's all I can do right now.” I'm interested in seeing what Stanzi does in the post-Shonn Greene, post-Mitch King and Matt Kroul and post-Rob Bruggeman and Seth Olsen. Iowa is losing a lot of what made it 9-4 last season, the heart of the running and stopping the run.

The Starter: Stanzi

Next: Vandenberg/Wienke

Incoming: No one, not this year

Surprise: Stanzi earns all-Big Ten or Vandenberg/Wienke see significant playing time.