Four Downs (post-spring): Quarterbacks

IOWA CITY — Just when C.J. Beathard thought he was out ... they pulled him back in.

Iowa's quarterback first showed signs of a limp in late September. It was the hit on a TD run against Pitt. Beathard went to the sideline and was put through a ton of stretching exercises. He made it through North Texas. Beathard coaxed out some offense in a defensive showcase game at Wisconsin.

Iowa's offense needed running back Jordan Canzeri to run a school-record 43 times the next week against Illinois. Beathard barely practiced the week before Northwestern and then gutted it out in a game where Iowa's O-line and running back Akrum Wadley split the game ball.

Beathard kind of surfed a wave of blinking health the rest of the season with what eventually turned out to be a sports hernia. He had surgery in January. During spring practice, he reported improving health. Then, during the 13th of the 15 spring practices, Beathard was accidentally bumped into by defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson and suffered a bruised right shoulder.

It was serious enough for an MRI, but Beathard said after the spring game on April 23 that he was fine and he threw with teammates before summer break (the Hawkeyes begin summer conditioning on June 6).

You know all of this stuff. What you don't know and what head coach Kirk Ferentz, offensive coordinator Greg Davis and Beathard want to see is a totally healthy Beathard.

It's been awhile. What might that look like?

Maybe a little like Beathard's performance at Iowa State. Beathard probably doesn't break free for 105 rushing yards (he ended with 77, including runs of 44 and 57) on a regular basis, but he has a feel for pulling the ball down and taking off. Beathard was credited with 100 rushes (a high in Ferentz's 17 seasons as Iowa's coach) and six rush TDs (also a Ferentz-era high).

I can't match Pro Football Focus when it comes to high-level stats. In a post today, PFF stated Beathard averaged 8.7 yards per scramble, averaged 4 yards after contact and made opponents miss 13 tackles on 40 scrambles.

The long rushes against the Cyclones were sort of the headline for Beathard's performance. He also had a squeaky clean passing day, completing 15 of 25 for 215 yards, three TDs and no interceptions. The 14-yard TD pass to Tevaun Smith was a back-shoulder throw along the sideline and into the left corner of the end zone. The Iowa State defender was right there. His right hand probably felt the breeze from the pass.

Iowa did allow 32 sacks last season. It didn't seem to curb the play calls, but late in the season, when Iowa's offense became its best punch and the defense was hanging on, avoiding negative plays became a principle. Again from PFF, only 13.4 percent of Beathard's pass attempts went 20-plus yards downfield in the air, ranking 94th out of 128 qualifying QBs.

Maybe healthy Beathard can shift that. Of course, it all will depend what Iowa needs out of Beathard in a given situation.

More PFF gold on Beathard: He is the highest-graded returning starting QB in the Big Ten and 23rd overall in FBS. When given more than 2.6 seconds to throw in 2015, he ranked fifth among returning QBs with an NFL passer rating of 103.1.

Throw those in with these:

— Beathard led the Big Ten on throws of third-and-10 yards or more with a 63 percent completion rate (17 of 27).

— In his first season as starter, Beathard was second in the Big Ten in fourth quarter completion percentage, 69.8 percent (44 of 63).

— In situations where Iowa held leads of seven points or less. Beathard was third in the league with 62.7 percent (69 of 110).

Beathard's return is why Iowa is one of the favorites in the Big Ten West. Healthy Beathard does remain a concept that we just haven't seen in a long time, but it's also a concept that should keep your attention 100 days out from kickoff.

4th Down

 

With Beathard out for the spring game, we did get a qualified glimpse of the future at Iowa QB, which is coming 2017 ready or not.

Sophomore Tyler Wiegers was shaky, but remember the 'qualified' part. He completed 14 of 28 for 100 yards, no TDs and two interceptions, including a pick six. Here's my qualifier: Wiegers performed under constant pressure and behind an O-line that had the No. 3 (I think) center in sophomore Lucas LeGrand and sophomore Dalton Ferguson at right guard (Ferguson is usually a backup tackle). Sean Welsh and James Daniels didn't play.

• Four Downs: Offensive line

We don't know what Wiegers is capable of after one spring game. We don't have to know until 2017. Well, in theory.

3rd Down

Qualified glimpse of the future No. 2: It probably won't include Ryan Boyle at QB. I throw 'probably' in there because Ferentz left the door open ever so slightly. From everything I've seen and heard, Boyle has made this move and now sees himself as a wide receiver. The only way, I believe, Boyle returns to QB is if there's an avalanche of injuries.

At QB, Boyle wasn't playing this year. In 2017, Wiegers is the frontrunner and probably is pretty far ahead of the field. Beyond, let's see how Drew Cook and Nathan Stanley develop. So, Boyle was looking at three years before he had a clear shot at competing for a shot to play a position where only one player gets to play.

Iowa sometimes plays as many as three wide receivers. With this move, Boyle increased his chances of seeing the field this year by ... let's run the numbers ... 1,000 percent.

Boyle was the closest QB Iowa had to a dual-threat QB. I still wonder how a QB whose strength is the read option could find reps at an Iowa practice much less opportunity. And so, right now, here in late May, you have to call this a smart, calculated move by Boyle. 1,000 percent better chance to see the field now.

2nd Down

I remain enamored with Stanley, a 6-5, 212-pounder from Menomonie (Wis.) High School. He holds school records for passing yards (3,674) and career touchdown passes (36). Stanley was a four-year letterman as quarterback, defensive back and punter. He has a 90 mph fastball as a baseball player and ended his hoops career as the school's all-time leading scorer.

Iowa won a recruiting battle with Wisconsin for Stanley. It probably helped his parents went to Wartburg.

'He came to our camp and we offered him,' Iowa assistant Seth Wallace said on signing day (he also recruited Stanley). 'We were fortunate he came here, we really were. It was obvious when he got here that this kid was a big-time quarterback. Once we started learning more about him, it became really obvious that we really, really wanted Nate Stanley.'

So, yeah, enamored.

1st Down

Beathard was second-team all-Big Ten last season and let's not dismiss that. An Iowa QB hadn't made first- or second-team all-B1G since Drew Tate in 2004.

One theme that came from players during spring practice was anti-complacency. From Beathard to Desmond King to Josey Jewell, they all echoed that if they plateau from last year, it wasn't going to be good for anyone.

In Beathard's case, what does this mean? Davis wants better accuracy on deep passes.

'Every day, he works on accuracy, and this summer, a big part is going to be deep ball accuracy,' Davis said during a spring news conference alongside defensive coordinator Phil Parker. 'All of the intermediate things, he's doing a pretty good job of, but if you get a chance for the home run, you don't want to miss it. I mean, you don't just want a long foul ball, as Phil would say. You'd like for it to be a home run.'

• Four Downs: Wide receivers/tight ends

For Iowa to keep momentum in 2016, it will have to take advantage of those opportunities. Davis thought some money was left on the table in this regard last season.

'There were too many opportunities where we had at least one-on-one where a better ball would have given us a chance,' Davis said.

Coaches want things to be done. Their job is to be demanding. It's probably good for a second-team all-conference QB to have something to chase during the sweaty 7-on-7s of June/July.

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