[Herky] Iowa football recruiting: Quarterback depth chart gets interesting

[Sue Bailey]

Let’s see if we can figure out what the optimum number of scholarship 
QBs Iowa can keep entertained.

Let’s rewind to 2013. That’s when sophomore Jake Rudock won the job over 
redshirt freshman C.J. Beathard and junior Cody Sokol, with true 
freshman Nic Shimonek in his first season.

That was too many.

Three (!!!!) of those four eventually transferred, with Shimonek (Texas 
Tech) seeing the light early and then Sokol wanting to play his senior 
season (won nine games including a bowl at Louisiana Tech) and finally, 
after two years as the starter, Rudock took off for Michigan.

That left Iowa with Beathard, a junior and a second-team all-Big Ten 
pick and best of the lot, and Tyler Wiegers in 2015. That was a 
fourth-year junior who kept saying to himself, basically, that it’s year 
four for him in the system and he better darned well know the offense 
and a redshirt freshman who hadn’t thrown a pass in his career.

Iowa also had true freshmen Ryan Boyle and Drew Cook, but they took 
their redshirt seasons. The highest either climbed was a handful of 
second-team reps for Boyle in October when Beathard was going through 
the worst of his what would eventually become sports hernia surgery.

We move to 2014. Rudock started, Beathard was the No. 2 and Wiegers was 
the redshirt. Beathard showed he was deserving of the job in 2015. Iowa 
hadn’t had an all-Big Ten QB since . . . Drew Tate in 2004 (he was named 
first- and second-team that season).

Everyone brushes it off now, but at the end of 2014, there’s no denying 
that hint of a QB coup showed up. You remember the Tennessean 
<http://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/college/vols/2014/12/22/tennessee-vols-iowa-hawkeyes-taxslayer-bowl-cj-beathard/20787273/> 
story in which Beathard and his dad, Casey, did everything they could to 
say he was thinking about transferring. Kind of. Maybe. Let’s see how 
the bowl (the TaxSlayer Bowl) goes.

The TaxSlayer was a disaster for Iowa, but it was clear that Beathard 
held an edge going into 2015. Beathard played 49 snaps and had 359 net 
yards, two turnovers and three touchdowns. Rudock had 19 snaps and 
produced 116 net yards, no turnovers and one touchdown.

A couple of days after the Jacksonville, Fla., game, Ferentz called 
Beathard and told him he was the starter for 2015. And sometime during 
spring practice, Rudock announced he would graduate-transfer to 
Michigan. It worked out for everyone.

Beathard fought the sports hernia for a good two-thirds if not more of 
the 2015 season. He was named second-team all-Big Ten. Wiegers picked up 
some investment reps as a No. 1 when the injury flared to the point 
Beathard couldn’t practice. Boyle got a taste, too.

And now Nathan Stanley is a Hawkeye. Iowa goes into 2016 with Beathard, 
Wiegers, Boyle, Cook and Stanley. That’s five scholarship QBs. The big 
question is will Iowa end spring practice with that many?


    Nathan Stanley

Stanley passed for 1,728 yards and 16 touchdowns with four interceptions 
during his senior season at 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.

Stanley was Iowa’s first commitment for the 2016 recruiting class, which 
signed on the dotted line when the national signing period began 
Wednesday. The 6-5, 215-pounder who leads Menomonie High School 
basketball in scoring and who has a 90 mph fastball said yes to Iowa all 
the way back on Nov. 10, 2014.

Stanley’s first camp stop was Pittsburgh, where Paul Chryst then was 
head coach. Chryst was the first to offer. Then, Stanley next went to 
camp in Iowa City. His mom, Donita, is from Iowa. Donita and Jay Stanley 
went to Wartburg. The family saw a fit and said yes to Iowa.

“We were fortunate that he camped here,” Iowa assistant coach Seth 
Wallace said. “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 obvious that we really, really wanted Nate Stanley.”

Since Stanley committed to Iowa, Chryst became head coach at Wisconsin. 
Stanley soon had an offer from the Badgers. Chryst kept the pressure on.

“They never backed off and credit to them, they knew what they were 
doing with an in-state kid,” Wallace said. “They worked until the last 
second.”

*Rivals*: 3 stars

*Scout*: 4 stars

*247Sports*: 3 stars

*Composite*: 3.33

*Depth chart in 2016?*: Really don’t see it. No. Beathard is the king of 
Iowa City. Wiegers knows what he’s doing. Boyle and Cook are eager pups 
who’ve been in the system for a year. Even if Stanley comes in and has 
superior arm strength or some trait that absolutely pops, there’s the 
playbook. He might also be able to handle that, but there are four QBs 
ahead of him.

*Off-the-top-of-my-head Hawkeye comparison*: Ricky Stanzi

I mostly say that because of their size. Stanzi ended up being a jumbo 
6-4, 230-pound QB. I don’t know if Stanley bulks up that much, but he 
starts with 6-4 and a good frame. A 90 mph fastball also suggests a 
stronger arm.

*Iowa recruiting coordinator Seth Wallace:* “Nate went to two or three 
camps in high school and only went to the camps where he was on 
somebody’s campus. He was offered at Pittsburgh before he came here. He 
came to our camp and we offered him. 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.

*● **Interactive Map: *Iowa's 2016 football recruits, with insight from 
Seth Wallace 
<http://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/college/football/iowa-hawkeyes-2016-football-recruits-interactive-map-where-they-are-from-20160203>

“His dad is a high school coach. He’s got a brother who plays football 
at North Dakota. He’s a three-sport athlete. He plays baseball and 
throws the ball 90 mph. In basketball, he’s going to be the leading 
scorer in the history of his high school, which is a pretty good high 
school. That’s everything that’s outside of playing football, which he’s 
pretty good at, too.

“The reason he probably wasn’t up there with some of the higher ranking 
quarterbacks is because he didn’t go to any of the Rivals or the Nike 
camps. That’s not really his style. He played in a Wing T offense. He 
didn’t spend all of his time sitting back in the shotgun and throwing it 
all over the place.

“Very good leader. Soft-spoken, not someone who is flamboyant or 
anything like that. He goes to work. We had to recruit the heck out of him.”

*HawkeyeNation’s Rob Howe*: Stanley doesn’t conduct many interviews. He 
keeps his Hudl videos private. He seeks no attention. It’s why he’s 
flying under the national prospect radar. That’s good for Iowa, which 
held off Wisconsin for the strong-armed signal caller. He thrives 
throwing darts out of the pocket but can hurt opponents with his legs as 
well. Stanley has a presence about him that screams “leader.” He reminds 
me of a bigger C.J. Beathard in terms of skill set.

*ESPN scouting report*: There are times when he will really flash 
quality arm strength, but needs to get his lower body involved and 
transfer weight properly. Shows good RPMs and the ability to drive the 
ball. Ball has a wobble and he does not look like he has great ball 
control. Has a wild delivery. Can be long and loose. Ball does not pop 
off his hand — slight wind-up. Needs technical work, but does have 
quality arm strength.

*Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz:* “. . . He really impressed us in camp, 
to start with the things that he can do, throwing the football, his 
release, all those kinds of things, footwork and what have you.

“. . . He’s a good athlete. He’s got a real command, a real presence 
about him, and then in a quiet way I would say, kind of like C.J. 
Beathard or Brad Banks, not necessarily a boisterous guy, but a guy that 
players rally around and gravitate to. I think he’s got all the physical 
attributes that you would look for, and then on top of that, all the 
characteristics you kind of like to see a guy embody.

“I’ll throw in there, too, he might have the biggest hands of any player 
I’ve ever shook hands with. I thought he had a basketball glove on the 
last time I shook his hand. So, that’s a good thing in the midwest.”

*My take:* I think Stanley is a QB who’ll have staying power. Right now, 
I see the progression post-Beathard, Wiegers and then . . . ask me after 
spring. OK, I won’t let myself off that easily. I think Boyle and 
Stanley will have a Highlander competition (There can be only one, 
remember?). I’m not crossing off Cook, but off the top of my head, this 
is my opinion.

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

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