No. 15 — WR Matt VandeBerg

No. 15 . . .

Matt VandeBerg is exactly the player you want to see do things.

— The 6-1, 185-pound junior is from a place called Brandon, S.D. Relatively, Brandon is not the middle of nowhere. It is the seat of Minnehaha County and is located five miles east of Sioux Falls. As far as major college football goes, it's still pretty far away.

— VandeBerg came to Iowa with a grayshirt offer, which is a promise for a full scholarship in the second semester of the prospect's freshman year. (I assume no schools ever renege on these, because we sure would hear about that.) A player left and VandeBerg came in on full scholarship. Still, the fact that he said yes to a grayshirt tells you he really wanted to be here (Iowa also happened to be his only scholarship offer, so there was high incentive).

— Remember when VandeBerg signed? It was the 2013 class. This was the year after Iowa finished 4-8 in Greg Davis' first year as offensive coordinator. Davis came from Texas. He was asked about Iowa's team speed and he said it needed to be better, so Iowa signed six wide receivers in the 2013 recruiting class. Derrick Willies caught your attention (6-4, 210 and could run). Damond Powell came with the promise of supersonic speed. Andre Harris and Derrick Mitchell were promising playmakers from St. Louis. VandeBerg came from South Dakota.

With six wide receivers in one class, including five freshmen, someone was going to have to bite the bullet and play as a true frosh. That was VandeBerg and, yes, he did look . . . hmm, right word here . . . slight.

'It's amazing how little I was when I first showed up,' VandeBerg said this spring, noting that he's gained 20 to 25 pounds (which — math strong here — put him in the 160 range as a true frosh. 'I'm still in that process (of bulking up), don't get me wrong, but as far as what I've been able to do, I've gotten a lot stronger.'

You'll probably cringe because if you've been following along, you've heard head coach Kirk Ferentz say Iowa needs 'good stories.' You cringe, but that doesn't make it any less true.

Iowa needs good stories and it needs VandeBerg to come through in a big way. He might be ready to do just that.

Into the slot . . .

Wide receiver coach Bobby Kennedy said this spring VandeBerg is looking at a role similar to former Hawkeye Kevonte Martin-Manley. So, slot, maybe?

Maybe, maybe not. Remember, one of the words the Iowa staff used this spring in regards to receivers was 'matchups.' Possibly, this means moving receivers around, finding the weak spot in coverage and exploiting. Why didn't they try that last year? Maybe they did. WRs seemed pretty fixed in their spots, but we can't say for sure if Tevaun Smith, everyone's No. 1 this year, attacked the defense from the same spot every play.

Iowa coaches have three wide receivers they trust. Davis said this spring that there was 'quite a bit' of separation between Smith, VandeBerg and senior Jacob Hillyer and the field.

'Those three guys are guys that we feel really comfortable (with) on the field,' Davis said. 'And whatever the call is, we don't worry about it.'

Maybe that leaves license to move these guys around. Kennedy certainly talked about teaching his players a wider scope.

'I think it's time for the wide receivers, being the third year of being under my tutelage, to challenge them a little more in terms of understanding the whole scheme, where they fit, playing multiple positions, moving guys around, and taking advantage of matchups,' Kennedy said. OK, that says it pretty clearly.

Outlook . . .

Now that I've fully endorsed VandeBerg as a 'Rocky,' 'kid out of nowhere' kind of a story, we do need to remember some caveats.

— He has 22 career receptions. He's never been the 'go-to.' Hey, it's third-and-7, let's find VandeBerg. He hasn't been that guy, not yet.

— Kennedy said this: 'He's a guy who needs to show that he can do it on a consistent basis. So, that's where my excitement is. I do see we have some experience and we also have some youth, but it's time for the wide receivers to step up on a more consistent basis.'

On the flip side, Kennedy also said this (which speaks to what VandeBerg might have under the hood): 'We talk about it in the staff room all the time. I'm not so sure Matt doesn't run as well as anybody we have in the wide receiver room. Then, the other thing that goes along with that, and the reason why he played as a freshman and then had a significant role last year, was because in practice and the times that we've seen him, which is pretty much every day, because I go to all the practices, he has the ability to make the wild catch. He has developed into that role also.'

Oh, and maybe most importantly, Kennedy said this (this perhaps speaks to some of the frustration and borderline desperation to inject some life into the WR corps) (and this answer came when Kennedy was asked about incoming freshmen Adrian Falconer, Emmanuel Ogwo and Jerminic Smith and their opportunities): 'We're extremely excited about those guys because there are going to be opportunities and there are going to be opportunities, like I said, for guys like Jay Scheel and Andre Harris. It's time to see what Andre can do, and Andrew Stone. He played, got his feet wet last year. Played a little bit more in the bowl game, but it's time for him and Andre to either step up and accept the challenge or there are young guys coming.'

That's a challenge.

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