Improving Hawkeye receiver getting more attention

IOWA CITY - Yes, Marvin McNutt has heard some NFL talk from friends, family and media.

Not only has he picked up where he left off during a breakout sophomore season in 2009, he's refined his game to a sharp point.

McNutt is a fourth-year junior. He has 28 catches for 462 yards (16.5 yards per catch) and four TDs this season - on pace to surpass his 34 receptions for 674 yards (a 19.82 per catch) and eight TDs last year.

Here are some more numbers in McNutt's favor - 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, 42-inch vertical leap, 4.5-second 40-yard dash.

So, ahem, Marvin, do you think you might have an interesting choice to make at the end of the season?

“I'm pretty sure I'm going to be here next year,” McNutt said with a smile. “Pretty sure. Right now, my decision is to be in school.”

He said he's starting to hear NFL talk from folks around him.

“It's like the (Wisconsin) loss,” he said. “You try to tell people, let's move on because it's something that's not in front of me.”

Against Michigan State, McNutt had just two catches for 39 yards and a TD, but those two catches showed the refinement in his game. Remember, McNutt arrived at Iowa to play quarterback, a position he played at Hazelwood Central (Mo.) High School.

McNutt, who didn't make the full switch to wide receiver until midway through 2008, is still learning the position and everything that goes with it.

“Basically, all he was doing was running routes,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. “Didn't know how to play receiver, didn't have any on-the-job training. He's had the benefit in the spring of a couple summer camps. Yeah, he's getting better.”

McNutt's first catch in a victory over Michigan State was an over-the-shoulder, one-handed grab on a pop-fly pass from quarterback Ricky Stanzi along the Iowa sideline. McNutt had to time it to stay in bounds. He plucked it out of the air with one hand.

“Really, it was the position that Rick put the ball in,” McNutt said. “On that first one, he put it in a place where only I could get it.”

McNutt's second play was a 22-yard TD pass from Stanzi. It was a completion in a tight space over the middle that McNutt turned into a long gainer with a spin to the outside and a burst to the end zone, helped by a block from fullback Brett Morse.

“That hook route, that touchdown, I don't remember us scoring on that play like that in a while,” Stanzi said. “Where a guy just made a move and just flat out beat guys from his position. ... That was a simple play call.

“He made a sweet play and got in the end zone. That's not a play you expect to score on.”

McNutt again credited Stanzi's placement of the pass.

“He led me inside and that gave me nice momentum to burst back outside,” McNutt said.

When McNutt made the switch, he basically had to transform his body. Quarterback is not an explosive position. Wide receivers need to be fast and need to bounce back after a 25-yard route one play and throwing a block on the next.

“My 40 time went down. My vertical went up,” McNutt said. “It took a lot more out of me.”

McNutt's 40-yard dash went from the 4.7-second range to 4.5. His vertical went from 38 inches to 42. He said he already had abs, so we'll take his word on that. He made himself a more explosive athlete.

“It just took a lot of mental will, telling yourself you can do it,” he said.

In 20 games as a receiver, McNutt has 62 catches for 1,136 yards and 12 TDs. His numbers compare favorably with Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, Iowa's leading receiver with 75 catches for 1,247 yards and 10 TDs in that span.

“As a receiver in your second year, you have more confidence,” McNutt said. “You kind of know what to do with the ball after the catch.”