[Herky] 5 factors shaped Iowa's '16 class

Wed Feb 3 05:10:46 PST 2016

5 factors shaped Iowa's '16 class

Hawkeyes looking to avoid getting Harbaugh'd

By Marc Morehouse,

The Gazette

Iowa is running out of tight ends. It's not an emergency and they don't 
have to open a new drilling site, but you know how Kirk Ferentz likes to 
roll with lots of two tight end formations. More specifically, Iowa is 
kind of running out of 'move' tight ends, the ones who can get vertical 
and punish defenseswho try to cover them with linebackers. That's George 
Kittle's role for 2016, but he's a senior.

Maybe sophomore Jameer Outsey can grow into that kind of a role.

And who knows about some of the young, unproven players down the depth 
chart, including red-shirt freshman Nate Vejvoda.

This is why Iowa will sign at least three tight ends with impressive 
resumes when the national signing period begins this morning.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy's Shaun Beyer, Noah Fant (Omaha, Neb.) and 
Chariton's T.J. Hockenson are all 6-5 with Beyer and Fant weighing in at 
210 and Hockenson at 230. Each has a 3-star rating from Rivals.com 
<http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/ipad/html5.check.1805/#> 
and has an impressive list of credentials.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy's Shaun Beyer, seen here leaping over a North Scott 
defender during a playoff game last fall at Kingston Stadium, is one of 
three tight ends joining the Hawkeyes as part of their 2016 recruiting 
class.

Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Need(1)was a factor for Iowa's 2016 class. It is in every class. Along 
with 'move' tight end, defensive end was arguably the biggest need for 
the Hawkeyes, who should sign 25 players today (barring some late 
drama). Five defensive ends will sign, including Detroit duo Chauncey 
Golston (65, 235) and Cedrick Lattimore (6-4, 251), both of whom played 
at East English Village (all-American cornerback Desmond King's alma mater).

Joining Golston and Lattimore at defensive end are Romeo McKnight (6-5, 
230), Austin Schulte (6-4, 250) and Brandon Simon (6-1, 236).

Defensive end isn't a pressing need with sophomores Parker Hesse (who 
started nine games as a red-shirt freshman) and Matt Nelson slotted as 
starters, but depth and competition are needed.

'We have three years with both those players and they have got all the 
right stuff,' head coach Kirk Ferentz said, comparing defensive end to 
where offensive tackle was last season with two new starters.

•The accelerated recruiting timeline(2)certainly kept the Hawkeyes from 
cashing in on a 12-0 regular season and their first Rose Bowl appearance 
in 25 years. Iowa went into the season with 20-some commitments and 
really had no room to grow with the cap set at 25.

The flip side is the 2017 class is well aware of 12-0 and Rose Bowl and 
that has started to pay off. Iowa already has five commitments for 2017, 
led by 4-star defensive lineman A.J. Epenesa.

'There are more eyes and there is more interest, whether it be traffic 
on social media, which is what's really driving recruiting these days, 
or wherever,' assistant coach Seth Wallace said during Rose Bowl week. 
'In the near future, we're going to be faced with amuch larger pool of 
candidates.'

•You started to see the new Hansen Football Performance Center(3)have an 
influence in recruiting last season. That has continued with the 2016 
class. The program moved into the new $55 million facility last summer. 
The building is now fully operational with everything from massive 
doit-all weightroom to eye-popping graphics to a heated room that dries 
gear and kills bacteria.

'When I first came here, they asked me to go out to lunch with a donor,' 
offensive coordinator Greg Davis said. 'He asked me a really good 
question. Those guys who make a lot of money, they're smart. And he 
said, 'You tell me why you need a new facility.' I said, 'Well, we can 
coach them in a barn once we get them, but we can't get them to a barn.' 
'They need to see commitment. They need to see bricks and mortar. That's 
part of recruiting now.'

•The search for speed(4)has become a factor in recent recruiting classes 
and has had varyingdegrees of success. The most noticeable year was 
2013, when Iowa signed 10 wide receivers, defensive backs and a few 
running backs whose obvious best trait was speed. Just three of those 
players will line up for Iowa next season - wide receivers Matt 
VandeBerg and Jonathan Parker and running backs Akrum Wadley and Derrick 
Mitchell Jr. In 2014-15, Iowa signed seven potential speed players, 
including cornerback Josh Jackson and wide receivers Jerminic Smith, 
Adrian Falconer and Emmanuel Ogwo.

This year, seven players fit this profile and any one of them could 
potentially make a splash next fall. The best candidate might be running 
back Toks Akinribade, a 6-0, 205-pounder who holds the Brownsburg (Ind.) 
High School 100-meter dash record at 10.97 seconds.

•Iowa could potentially feel last-minute heartbreak caused by Michigan 
Coach Jim Harbaugh(5). Detroit Renaissance offensive tackle Alaric 
Jackson (6-7, 285) was set to commit to Iowa on Monday, but Michigan 
came in with a late offer, according to Rivals. com. Jackson, a 3-star 
recruit, postponed his news conference.

Jackson will announce this morning. He could be No. 25 for Iowa's 2016 
class or another eye gouge from Harbaugh.

But when Harbaugh poached running back Karan Higdon last season, Ferentz 
barely flinched during his signing day news conference.

'You just deal with it. If you could draw the script, you'd rather find 
out (sooner rather than later),' he said. 'In a perfect world you'd 
rather find out. If it's going to be 'no,' you'd rather find out sooner 
than later, but the world is not perfect, and you deal with it.' Or 
maybe Jackson sticks with Iowa. Maybe. You never know.

•Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc. morehouse at thegazette.com 
<mailto:morehouse at thegazette.com>

Iowa football recruit A.J. Epenesa (left) - seen with his father Epenesa 
Epenesa, a former Iowa football player, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Jan. 
17 - is one of five players already committed for 2017.

Cliff Jette/The Gazette

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