What’s it like being a completely ordinary working man? What do normal college kids think about? We know you’ve been pondering questions like these for some time now, and thought we’d give you the inside scoop. So this is it, Your Daily J – your daily dose of what’s going on in the minds of two completely normal guys. Not always news related, not necessarily sports related, just a daily thought we’d like to share with you. As usual, we’d love to hear your thoughts as well. So here we go. Up today, a little what if analysis: What if Iowa was able to sign just one 5-star recruit every football season?
How much of a difference would it make for Iowa Football if every year, they knew they were going to lock up just one 5-star recruit? Many around Hawkeye Nation are buzzing about what could be next season with the success obtained this year and what most would consider to be a good recruiting class (for Iowa) coming in. A look at the depth chart shows Iowa losing only two players on defense (LBs Angerer and Edds) and four on offense (WR Trey Stross, TE Moeaki, and OL Eubanks and Calloway – the injured Dace Richardson may also graduate, or may return for a 6th year) to graduation. There is talk of several others (namely DE Adrian Clayborn, CB Amari Sieviey and OL Bryan Bulaga) heading to the NFL, but overall, the foundation stays fairly intact. The buzz surrounding the recruiting class is based on 19 verbal commitments to date, highlighted by two 4-star recruits (Iowa City City High’s QB A.J. Derby and Anthony Wayne High School's (Ohio) OL Andrew Donnal). The class ranks 26th in the nation according to rivals.com. But what if Iowa was able to pull in just a single 5-star recruit? What if we had the same guys graduating year after year and had the same type of recruiting class, but we turned that one 2-star recruit in the 2010 class into a 5-star (say OL Seantrel Henderson from Saint Paul, Minnesota’s Cretin-Derham Hall – the #1 recruit in the country who visited Iowa for the Minnesota game last week)? How much of a difference would that make in our team’s performance, as well as in drawing other top recruits in the future?
In the past five years, Iowa has only managed to land one 5-star recruit. Any guesses as to who that was? That’s right, our second-string right guard from Barrington, Illinois, Dan Doering, who we will also lose to graduation this year. Doering, however, was a part of the best recruiting class (as far as rankings are concerned) Iowa has seen. In 2005, Iowa had the #11 recruiting class in the nation according to rivals.com. The class included Doering as the lone 5-star, but also included three other Army All-Americans from the Chicago area (TE Tony Moeaki, OL Dace Richardson and DL Ryan Bain). At the time, Iowa had just finished its third consecutive 10-win season, finishing in the top ten for the third consecutive year as well. Things were looking up and you could see the snowball begin to take shape. Four years later, however, the injury bug has plagued Iowa's top recruits. Dace Richardson and Tony Moeaki were both on pace for their first full season as meaningul starters this year, but both suffered injuries yet again. Tony was able to overcome his ankle sprain and complete a great senior season, while Dace suffered a season-ending broken leg. Doering has been passed on the depth chart by less touted recruits for the last three seasons and DL Ryan Bain transferred to the University of Akron following the 2006 season after becoming disgruntled over playing time. However, Hawk fans will be happy to know that Ryan has since gone on to a prosperous career - despite being named to the preseason All-MAC team in 2008, Bain has yet to record a single stat in a Zips uniform (guess his dad was right, you don't get to the NFL as a backup - he's currently ranked as the #66 DT eligible for the 2010 draft). The Hawkeyes, meanwhile, have been able to prosper with lesser recruits running the show.
Guys like Robert Gallery, Dallas Clark, Shonn Greene and Pat Angerer came out of high school as 3-star recruits and were overlooked by most of the top-tier programs. Now, Iowa is back to another 10-win season and is looking for another top-10 finish. So the question remains, how would a 5-star recruit each year work out for the Hawkeyes? Would they help draw other top recruits and keep Iowa on it's winning track, only with more talented athletes? Would they help us get more national recognition and give us an edge against the top programs? Or is there just something about this program that values guys like Pat Angerer. Guys who are overlooked and have taken it personally. Guys who don't come with a sense of entitlement and are willing to work day in and day out to take this program to new heights. I don't know the answer to these questions. I have no idea how different our program would be with better recruits coming in. All I do know is Kirk has built something pretty good without them and it does leave the Hawkeye fan wondering what could be if top recruits start looking our way (Note: update on the status of Henderson and top TE recruit C.J. Fiedorowicz, who also visited Iowa for the Minnesota game, to come next week). Your thoughts?
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