Quickest Slants: Time to go

IOWA CITY - Tuesdays are new this fall with Iowa football. Players speak at 11 and we get head coach Kirk Ferentz at 1:15.

There is some feeling out here. We didn't get a ton of players today. This disappoints me, but I can't control it. Isn't that what most of western literature is? (And hey, I'm not suggesting this is literature. This is sub-internet word clanking.)

Some obs from the players sesh:

- Two sort of different winters with Iowa's running backs. I talked with LeShun Daniels about the idea of cutting weight during the winter conditioning, which is a time of gain normally for these guys. After suffering a stress fracture that cost him a handful of games last fall, Daniels and strength coach Chris Doyle planned early in winter to cut his weight from the 235 range to 225.

So far, so good. (Daniels said he had abs before the weight loss, so . . . some things in life just aren't fair, y'all.)

On the other side with senior Jordan Canzeri, he had a quick little ankle clean-up kind of a surgery this winter. That quickly cleared and then Canzeri went into a maintenance mode, trying to keep his body in the plus-190 range. He's fought that since he walked in as a 170-pound freshman. Remember the running backs story about 'trust back”? Hitting weights is a very big deal for the Iowa coaches. It allows them to throw trust behind a player. I'm not sure if it's the same everywhere, but it seems to be here.

Instead of a winter of bulking, Canzeri maintained and said he hit all of his weights. Two stories for Iowa's two backs.

- Later in the week, I'll run a story on what exactly happened in Iowa's weightroom this winter. I don't want to give too much away. Don't let your mind wander far here, it was just something I noticed, definitely a positive. Look for that.

- I asked QB CJ Beathard if it's felt like 20 years since he was named Iowa's starter. He didn't blink. He's ready to get on with the playing of the games.

Here's the post I wrote this spring about CJB and his uncle Kurt, who happens to be the offensive coordinator for Illinois State.

- WR Tevaun Smith talked about a focus that was more of a hunger that actually could be classified as borderline anger. Interesting stuff. And, yes, it did spill out a few times against Iowa's corners, Greg Mabin and Desmond King, during camp.

It'll be interesting to see how that manifests.

- Senior kicker Marshall Koehn really did want to be the punter, but lost a close competition with senior Dillon Kidd. He really did want it and competed. He said Kidd was just a little more consistent.

Iowa punting, it has to be better.

- I asked Koehn that, if he had won the punters job, if leg fatigue wouldn've been a worry. I told Twitter folk all winter, c'mon, he's 22 or 23, it can't be a thing, can it?

Well, I was wrong. He would've done punt, kick and kickoff, but fatigue might've come into play. He said they were conscious of it during camp and gave him days off.

OK, I was wrong.

- A couple of stories I was dying to tell but the guys weren't able to show up.

Senior LB Cole Fisher has won a starting spot for the first time in his five seasons. He has nine career tackles and now he's Iowa's starting weakside LB going into Saturday.

Weird how life works. Here's a civil engineering major from Omaha has earned his big shot at the lineup because . . . at least partially . . . Reggie Spearman transferred to Illinois State. Spearman, a junior, left Iowa in January. He won't start for the Redbirds, but he will be in the same kind of role he played, coincidentally, as a true freshman at Iowa. He'll rush the passer some at DE. He'll be used in pass rush packages, ISU coach Brock Spack said Tuesday.

So, that'll be interesting. When did we start asking Phil Parker about Spearman moving to DE? At least a year ago.

Be sure to check Scott Dochterman's post on this later in the week. He spoke to Spack on Tuesday. Scott will also talk to QB Tre Roberson this week.

- I was also looking forward to telling junior walk-on . . . scratch that . . . junior scholarship guy and offensive tackle Cole Croston's story. He's really built the body from a 225 or 235 walk-on to a 295 to 300-pound offensive tackle. Ferentz said last week Iowa likely will use three tackles.

- Guesses on true freshman playing?

On the top of my list is James Daniels. The true frosh OL set a weightroom speed record this winter. According to Ferentz, he made the Dean's List. And he's looked good in our limited views of him this spring and summer. I think he's in. How far in? I think he'll have a chance to Bulaga this (meaning work his way into the starting lineup, probably not as a tackle).

WR Jerminic Smith is probably in. WR Adrian Falconer, not counting him out. Will either frosh linebacker Angelo Garbutt or Jack Hockaday see special teams? I think that's a possibility.

- Let me ask you a question.

Where would you set Iowa's over/under for sacks this season?

My number is 27 (Iowa had 26 last season).

Ferentz is up next. Stay tuned.

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