Four Downs: Iowa's 2017 Defensive backs

Taking a look at the 2017 Hawkeyes. We're on the secondary today. It's time to find a new Desmond King, and that's not going to be easy.

Returning scholarship cornerbacks — Manny Rugamba (6-0, 185, so.), Joshua Jackson (6-1, 192, jr.), Michael Ojemudia (6-2, 200, so.), Cedric Boswell (5-11, 187, #fr.)

Returning scholarship safeties — Brandon Snyder (6-1, 214, jr.), Miles Taylor (5-10, 203, sr.), Jake Gervase (6-1, 210, jr.), Amani Hooker (6-0, 210, so.)

Incoming freshmen — Djimon Colbert (6-1, 215), Matt Hankins (6-1, 175), Camron Harrell (5-10, 180), Geno Stone (6-0, 195), Josh Turner (6-0, 180), Noah Clayberg (5-11, 209)

Returning walk-ons — Joe Argo (5-11, 195, #fr.), Wes Dvorak (6-0, 192, so.), John Milani (6-0, 195, so.)

Key losses — CB Desmond King, CB Greg Mabin

Quick Look Back

Desmond King is an Iowa all-timer. I don't care about the Kinnick wall of honor or any of that stuff that may or may not come down the road.

King was Iowa's best defender in 2015, picking off eight passes and winning the Thorpe Award (came with a $12,000 Rolex, by the way). He was Iowa's most noted and perhaps feared defender in 2016. Opposing quarterbacks just didn't try him as much in '16, so the interceptions and highlights weren't there.

Still, King is an all-timer Iowa defender. Pick an 11, he's one of the corners. Pick a top five any position and you'll argue, but I believe King is in that mix. (Off the top of my head: Larry Station, Bob Sanders, Abdul Hodge, Chad Greenway, Nile Kinnick, Desmond King, Mitch King, Matt Roth, Jared DeVries, Mike Wells — OK, OK, I'm pushing that bit and recency effect is in full flow.)

I don't care what round King was drafted in. His NFLness is something we'll find out about here pretty quickly. My point is he meant a ton to an Iowa defense that was top-25 caliber and a team that won 20 games in two seasons and crossed off a lot of Hawkeye bucket list items (Rose Bowl, Big Ten West title, 12 victories).

Iowa also says goodbye to Greg Mabin, whose story was fascinating. He was stuck in depth chart limbo at wide receiver, had a meeting with Kirk Ferentz, switched to corner and then started for three seasons. He took a lot of bullets, because teams figured out that throwing toward King in 2015 was a dead end. Mabin held up. I hated that his career ended with a broken ankle/foot. You like to see players go out taking their cuts.

The 2016 numbers for the secondary were a mixed bag.

Staff / The Gazette

Iowa allowed 201.4 yards per game, fifth in the Big Ten but second-most in the last four years. Iowa allowed 1,195 yards on first down, 12th in the league and 7.91 yards per attempt. That's a comfort zone for offenses.

Iowa's secondary was pretty good on third down — fourth in the B1G (just 5.0 yards per attempt) and fourth on third-and-7 to 9 yards (just nine first downs converted from that distance). Iowa saw just 36 attempts in the red zone, but allowed 10 TDs and had no interceptions.

The Hawkeyes were 16th in the country in average passer rating (115.3), sixth in the nation in completion percentage (50.4), but then 94th in the country in yards per completion (13.1).

4th Down — Critical Questions

New cornerbacks?

The ebb and flow of college football gives you an all-timer and a three-year starter one season and two brand-new dudes the next.

Manny Rugamba jumped in a starter's role as a true freshman last season. It was only the Michigan game, when, at the end, 10 million people tuned into ABC to watch Keith Duncan kick the winning field goal.

Michigan. No. 3 in the country. First start. That's all.

Here's how Rugamba did: First, he didn't get beat for a long TD or even a long completion. Pro Football Focus gave him a negative passing grade, but I don't see how. Michigan threw toward him 10 times and completed just three for 29 yards. He had an interception and broke up one other pass. He was tagged for a 17-yard completion to tight end Jake Butt. Rugamba was just a 175-ish pound true freshman going against a 6-5, 246-pound tight end with NFL potential. There's going to be some breakage on that matchup.

Rugamba, who finished the season with two picks, earned Big Ten freshman of the week. I think he also earned his starting role for 2017 that night. He's listed 6-0, 185 pounds this year. He's one of Iowa's most intriguing players.

You know a little more about the other new corner, junior Joshua Jackson (6-1, 192). He started his career at wide receiver and made the switch to corner before the 2015 season. When Rugamba took over for Greg Mabin, Jackson got a bump up to nickel and he did record four breakups last season.

Jackson lost the nickel spot to Rugamba in fall camp. Jackson didn't go fetal position. He hung in and gave himself a chance to be the starter this fall. (He'll probably be the starter this fall.)

Brandon Snyder knee?

Of course you know, Snyder suffered a torn ACL during spring practice. Let's do the ACL math: He suffered the injury in early April. If Snyder attempts to come back, it'll be around six months in September since he's had the injury and around five months of rehab.

Can he do that? Probably not, but I also wouldn't rule it out. It depends on strength and neuromuscular control. Nine to 12 months is optimum. This is Snyder's junior season. He's already used his redshirt. He's going to want to try. Stats go against an early return, but everyone heals at a different pace.

3rd Down — Additions/Subtractions

We've covered King and Mabin, who had 86 career starts between them. (King now owns the Iowa record with 51 starts.)

Let's focus on newcomers and start with Noah Clayberg.

Clayberg is a real-live grayshirt (Iowa now has had two of these). The Pella native committed to Iowa in 2016, attended school last fall on his own dime and went on scholarship in January. He counts for the 2017 class (I think that's how that works).

Clayberg played running back for the first part of spring. At 5-11, 209, he looked very running back. After Snyder's ACL tear, Clayberg shifted to safety. Opportunity knocked. Clayberg probably was running up hill on the 2017 RB depth chart, and that was before James Butler grad-transferred in from Nevada in July. Now at safety, he's that much closer to the field.

How much closer? Clayberg was listed as the No. 2 free safety on the depth chart going into the season. He played QB in high school and rushed for 30 TDs as a senior. I'm going to mark him down as a potential punt/kick returner.

The Iowa staff knew it needed defensive backs and so it went and found six in the 2017 recruiting class — Trey Creamer, Djimon Colbert, Matt Hankins, Camron Harrell, Geno Stone and Josh Turner.

Let's play some quick word association with the newbies:

Big — Colbert is listed at 6-1, 215.

Fast — Harrell was timed at 4.49 and a 4.51 seconds in his 40-yard dash when he participated in Iowa's prospect camps last summer.

Multi — The question has finally been answered. In Chicago for Big Ten media days, head coach Kirk Ferentz definitively said Creamer is coming in as a defensive back. Iowa needs wide receivers and Creamer was initially brought in as an athlete, but Iowa also needs secondary depth.

Physical — You can't play defensive back for Phil Parker at Iowa if you don't like contact. Stone is good at the contact thing. Check his Hudl.

Long arms — Hankins has the body type and speed to flip from zone to man coverage.

Desire — Turner took an unofficial visit to Iowa. Why is that a big deal? He's from Delray Beach, Fla. Prospects make unofficial visits on their dime. Turner wants to be here.

The pattern I see emerging for non-linemen recruits at Iowa is you play in year 1. Secondary and wide receiver are two obvious need positions for 2017. All seven of these guys could see the field in some capacity.

2nd Down — Battles Brewing

Can something happen at strong safety?

Taylor went through concussion protocol early in the first quarter against Michigan. Senior Anthony Gair replaced him and held up OK. He was targeted four times and was tagged with a 29-yard completion to WR Jehu Chesson. Coverage was OK. Michigan missed a few long ones after a receiver separated from Gair. Gair turned out to be an upgrade against the run, piling up seven tackles and securing the edge against the Wolverines' speed.

This earned Gair the three starts of the season even after Taylor was medically cleared (Taylor ended up playing in the Outback Bowl).

Gair graduated and Taylor returned to the top of the depth chart. Parker, defensive coordinator/secondary coach, seems comfortable with Taylor. If Amani Hooker or Clayberg have a chance to unseat, they need to make their move now. One thing that Ferentz said about midseason lineup changes is that sort of player evaluation is pretty much finished when the season starts. It's hard for a No. 2 to make a move if the No. 1 is getting 98 percent of the reps. In other words, the audition is over, time is up.

The fact that Taylor wasn't placed back into the starting lineup says coaches thought they could get more out of Gair. We start 2017 out under the premise that Taylor, whose Pro Football Focus rating was second-lowest on the defense, has doused the doubts.

What is going to happen at free safety?

For now, junior Jake Gervase is the man. And hey, why the heck not? Brandon Snyder's replacement — and his career doppleganger (started as a walk-on, earned a scholarship) — picked off three passes in the spring game. Yes, part of this story is that Iowa is searching for quarterbacks, but three picks isn't an accident.

Gervase appears to have the inside track to free safety. Parker was asked this spring, 'Gervase or Hooker?'

'I've seen them grow,' Parker said. 'I think Jake has done a good job at free safety. I think Amani Hooker still is young and still learning in the process of it and Jake has a couple years experience on him. He is an athletic guy, has the ability to go out and make plays. You have to mentally get him focused. He's the commander. He's the director. He has to control everything, and there are no excuses.

'So, as soon as we get his mentality up to where we need it, he'll have a better chance of playing a little bit more.'

So, your 2017 secondary will be:

RC — Rugamba, redshirt freshman Cedric Boswell and probably a freshman who might end up seriously competing for a nickel spot

LC — Jackson, soph Michael Ojemudia (who should at least be the nickel, or one of the nickel DBs, if he's progressing)

FS — Gervase, Hooker and Snyder (I know that's a long shot)

SS — Taylor, Clayberg and maybe Hooker if he can show he's the second-best safety

1st Down — In Summary

Five finishing thoughts on what needs to happen for the best-case scenario.

1. This is not about replacing Desmond King. Let me explain.

I think Rugamba and Jackson are good corner material. Good height, strong and sticky with long arms. I think they'll hold up in coverage. Where Iowa kind of does need them to replace King is in run support. King was a tenacious tackler and loved his role in run support (and run force, where Iowa corners sometimes find themselves).

Plays will spill to the edges. Rugamba's first winter in a college football weight room should have him prepared physically for the task. Rule No. 1 of Fight Club is Parker's defensive backs are combat trained. Ask any one of them over Parker's going on 19 seasons at Iowa. If you're going to play for Parker, you have to tackle.

2. Seven freshman defensive backs? Someone is going to jump off the page.

I have no idea who. Ask me Aug. 12, after the one time we get to see the team before the season starts. Even then, I'll only have a facile impression and not enough evidence.

Still, that doesn't matter. Seven players is a lot to throw at the wall. Someone is going to stick, and that's a good thing for a defensive back.

3. Eyes on the Raider/nickel or whatever sub package thingie Iowa uses this year.

There probably will be one. And maybe Iowa gets creative with a surplus of defensive ends. When it comes to the secondary, keep an eye on who is used here.

Last season, it was a competition between Rugamba and Jackson, with Rugamba edging ahead. It's a good place to see who's 'next' at corner.

'I think if you want to use our sub-package, you can take a young corner and get him in there early, just like we did with Manny, and have an opportunity to play a couple different techniques, understand the sub-packages and start understanding the base defense is where I think that could move forward for us,' Parker said.

4. Is it going to get weird at safety? It might get weird there.

With Snyder likely out for the year, you're just getting to know Gervase, you're anxiously waiting for the next chapter from Taylor and, hey, you're probably pretty intrigued by the young players (Clayberg has a ton of support from his community, my Twitter can testify).

Four Downs

Four Downs: Iowa's 2017 Linebackers

 

Four Downs: Iowa's 2017 Defensive line

This might be the place on the depth chart that's written a dryboard.

Here's Parker on his approach during the spring (I thought this was interesting):

'The thing I started out with this spring, and I thought I was just going to do it to see where everybody was at, I played right and left safeties,' Parker said. 'So they both had to learn both sides, both positions. Because in today's football, you could end up in a position that technically, even though you're the free safety, you're in the strong safety position role. So that changes your reads, your T's, your responsibilities and all that.

'So I started the first couple days playing right and left. Then we flipped back and went back to a free and strong. And I think Noah would probably be a better strong. But I do think he has some qualities that I look for to being smart, intelligent, instinctive, that he can also play the free. So right now I'll probably, you know, I'll juggle him a little bit here and there.'

There's that name again.

5. Can this group produce a return specialist?

Yeah, why not?

Sophomore wide receiver Devonte Young is listed as the guy for both spots on the current depth chart. I could see Rugamba, Jackson, Hooker, Clayberg, Creamer and Harrell possibly factoring here (yes, if it's a true freshman, he's going to have to blow away the competition early in camp).

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