New Iowa football receivers complement the veterans

IOWA CITY — Iowa freshman wide receiver Keagan Johnson stood straight with his hands laced behind his back as a swarm of reporters crowded around him.

He’s a true freshman, but his quiet, confident demeanor mirrors that of an executive in a boardroom. No question fazes him, except the one about the bumble bee earring on his right ear. That one actually made him smile. He can’t explain why he has it, other than the fact it’s black and yellow and simply matches the uniform.

Johnson enrolled early at Iowa, and his name has curiously reverberated several times in the offseason. While Iowa has a number of wide receivers eager to take the spots of Ihmir Smith-Marsette and Brandon Smith, including veterans like juniors Tyrone Tracy Jr., Nico Ragaini and senior Max Cooper, that hasn’t stopped Johnson from competing as a potential immediate target on the field this fall. He wants that opportunity.

Getting there is like executing a business plan.

“His attitude is really serious, it's hard to make him smile sometimes,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said in April. “He's really serious and really focused in kind of an unusual way for a younger guy. And, you know, so he's given himself a chance to get some work.”

The biggest transition coming to campus early, Johnson said, was time management and adjusting to the speed of the college game. But now that he’s in fall camp, he can narrow his focus to the field.

Fall camp is the most competitive time for players to try to make the roster. It’s designed to push players to their breaking point, but Johnson and fellow true freshman early enrollee wide receiver Arland Bruce IV are embracing the challenge.

“Everybody has a different way of reacting to the loads of taking ... 14 to 15 hours (of class) to the workouts, the practice, all those things that you do in the spring and then the summer,” Ferentz said. “Both of them have taken it in stride. That part’s been pretty impressive.”

And he’s already changed, according to Rivals. Johnson was 188 pounds when he arrived on campus, but just a few months into the strength program, the 6-foot-1 receiver is 197 pounds.

“When they say football becomes your life, it's literally your life right now,” Johnson said. "We go home and for two hours, that's really your only time to yourself right now. You do love the game, but you have to really soak this in, not just try to get through the day, but try to take something out of the day.“

Tracy seems locked in at the No. 1 wide receiver position, but the second position isn’t solely Ragaini’s yet.

“We consider Nico to be a starter,” Ferentz said. “(Senior) Charlie Jones was a really good returner last year and he’s made strides as a receiver. Couple young guys on the position, (sophomore) Desmond Hutson, (sophomore) Jackson Ritter and (redshirt freshman) Jack Johnson, a walk-on from Des Moines, has done a really nice job.”

Ragaini led the team with 46 receptions in 2019, was No. 3 in receiving yards (439) and was a first-team all-Big Ten punt return specialist. Last year, he had 18 receptions for 191 yards. He missed all of spring practice with a back injury.

“Being injured kind of sucked, I couldn't really run around too much or anything,” Ragaini said. “I was just letting my body heal, catching like 100 balls every single day to make sure my hands were still there and doing what I could do without hurting myself.”

Bruce played with the second-team offense during Kids Day on Aug. 14, grabbing a touchdown pass that was called back, while redshirt freshman Diante Vines made his name known with a 68-yard touchdown reception from sophomore quarterback Alex Padilla while also aiding in redshirt freshman quarterback Deuce Hogan’s final offensive drive.

Cooper also looked comfortable as a receiver on Kids Day with the first- and second-team offenses, recording a notable 16-yard reception from Padilla.

There’s something tantalizing about the position of wide receiver at Iowa, where 15 players are competing for an offense that essentially runs most of its plays with two receivers or less. Those receivers are splitting an already limited number of reps with trusted veteran running backs and the prestige of tight end history which reloads with athletes primed for NFL-caliber greatness.

As uncertain as the position is without Smith and Smith-Marsette, there’s comfort in its youthful depth.

“I also think that we have a lot of playmakers on the team on offense that I might not get the ball every play, which I'm OK with,” Tracy said. “I don’t need the ball every play, as long as our offense is taking strides in the right direction.”

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