No. 24 — TE Henry Krieger Coble

No. 24 . . .

Senior tight end Henry Krieger Coble (6-4, 250) had his 2014 season cut short after he suffered a shoulder injury Nov. 15 at Illinois. He sat out the final three games of the season and didn't go through contact drills this spring. He's OK now, the spring thing was more precautionary.

Krieger Coble caught three passes for 28 yards and two TDs (at Pittsburgh and at Maryland). It was a tough season to find a lot of targets for Krieger Coble. He basically is a Ray Hamilton clone. Hamilton was 6-4, 250 and could move well enough to get open and contribute in the passing game and certainly strong enough to throw his weight around as a blocker. That's pretty much Krieger Coble. Hamilton was the senior last season, so he saw the playing time. Iowa did play plenty of two TE sets with two 'inline' TEs, and so HKC had a role.

This year, he's probably Iowa's No. 1 inline tight end. He's probably the blocker, but he also had good enough hands to matter in the passing game. With seven career receptions, it's hard to project a big number of targets going his way. If Hamilton is the compare (and I think he is), he had 18 receptions for 175 yards and three TDs last season.

Does senior Jake Duzey's injury change HKC's profile? Probably not a lot. Duzey is Iowa's top 'move' TE. That means he's more likely to catch more passes. Last season it was 36 receptions for 392 yards and three TDs. But of course you know that Duzey has a knee injury and is likely out until the end of September.

Probably blocking, inline duties for Krieger Coble, but he also could factor in short yardage pass situations.

New TE coach . . .

Yes, LeVar Woods, a lifelong linebacker as a player and coach, has moved over to coach tight ends this season. And, yes, it's been a bit of an eye opener for the TEs. Their coach spent four years at Iowa and seven in the NFL as an outside linebacker. The defensive perspective has been a fresh take for them.

'The best thing I'd say is him having the point of view of a defensive guy and what they're thinking on different plays and how we should attack them,' HKC said.

Woods on these seniors: 'The two seniors have helped me out a ton, and I start off every meeting, like if I'm screwed up, you have to stand up and tell me, 'Coach that's not right.' They have done that, but mainly they have been a good sounding board and good resource to help install some of these plays and what the tight end actually is responsible for.'

Deployment . . .

Of course, no one would go into specifics. Why would they? But it does sound as though the TEs could have a new look or motion or something to deploy them against defenses this fall.

Woods talked about it.

'We'll find different ways within formations to get certain people the ball and without explaining too much, but that's the goal, that's what we're trying to do right now.' Probably talking more about the 'move' TEs there (Duzey and George Kittle, who happens to be Krieger Coble's cousin), but interesting nonetheless. (I don't want to get into this thing where we hear something in the spring and expect to see them in the fall. Things do end up on the cutting room floor, and Duzey's injury might put a kink in this idea.)

Outlook . . .

Is there a 40-reception season out there for Krieger Coble? Probably not, and not because he's not capable. I expect Duzey and Kittle to soak up a ton of the TE targets. Also, I could see Krieger Coble and the slot receiver sharing targets on short-yardage situations.

Krieger Coble could make a run at 40 receptions as a possession-type receiver. As a blocker, however, he's more of a known quantity. He won playing time as a second TE last season, expect more in that role, which is something that Woods wants to see out of his group.

'I think we need to be more aggressive in the run game and blocking, because we have the physical tools to do that,' Woods said. 'I wouldn't say it if I didn't think they could do it.

'One thing on the defensive side I always hated but respected from the tight end is a guy that's just physical and will knock your head off coming off the line of scrimmage. That's what I want the Iowa tight ends to be.'