Under the Microscope: QB

With Spring Practice all wrapped up and the basketball news starting to FINALLY slow, I have really started to think about next season and what could be in store.  While it's still too early to really make any predictions, it's not too early to take a closer look at what could be in store at the various position groups.  Over the next few days, we will be walking through some of the key positions for the Hawkeyes and discussing the possibilities heading into next year. 

So let's kick things off with the spot that can really make or break your season (like last year):  the quarterback.  There's no doubt that Ricky Stanzi will be back as the Hawkeye's #1 (kind of like America).  The real questions surround who will be cemented as his back-up and how the Manzi will perform.  Last year, many a game hinged on his first quarter pick-six and his fourth quarter heroics.  I'd be pretty happy going 11-2 again this season, but I don't know if my heart can take the roller coaster ride Slick Rick put me through last year.

Assuming Ricky continues to develop and understands his reads, I think the picks come down this year.  Don't get me wrong, I am guessing we will still see a couple of those dreadful pick-sixes, but I think there are fewer (it'd be hard not to, it seemed like he threw one every game last season).  I think his timing with the receivers should be better as he has had more time working with them and should have a very stable core of guys to work with. 

I also have to believe the development of the receiving core will add to Stanzi's performance.  As the season drug on last year, we saw Marvin McNutt develop into a great WR in front of us.  With another offseason under his belt, I think he route running will be better, as will Chaney and Davis.  All of this points to fewer miscues between the receivers and Stanzi.  I think that results in fewer INTs for our signal-caller. 

Much like the picks, the TDs and yardage are highly correlated to the performance of our wide outs. I think the progress made last year by these guys will really lead to Ken O'Keefe (or KOK) opening up the playbook.  I see us using shorter to intermediate routes, crossing patterns and outs, to set up the run game (the opposite of our past philosophy).  I have to believe more of those type of plays results in more yardage for Stanzi, and I think more of those short plays break for big gains and TDs.  Last year, the Americanzi threw for more than 2,400 yards and 17 touchdowns.  Improving on those numbers would result in some pretty impressive ones (and would also bump him up the all-time lists at Iowa - he's currently 6th all-time in passing yards [4373] and TDs [31]).

So, all in all, I think Stanzi performs much better than last year.  I don't know that we see all of those clutch performances we saw last year, but I don't know that it would be a bad thing.  I think we will find ourselves throwing more often and throwing to the other jerseys less often.  I will caveat this by saying I think Stanzi will have 2-3 poor performances.  I could easily see an early season game with as many as four picks and I certainly see a couple games with sub-200 yard performances.  That being said, I think we will be very satisfied with our guy and think he will improve on his impressive (although "quiet") numbers from last year (completed over 56% of his passes and finished with a QB Rating of 131.62 - pretty damn good).  I only hope our OL can protect him and that he will become more willing to use his legs (the kid can move pretty well for a QB).

But, on to the back-up.  There were many a Hawk fan last season that thought James Vandenberg should have started the rest of the season (after Stanzi went down), but I questioned him early.  I think the lack of experience and playing time certainly hurt James last season, but I also believe that some of his high school hype is unwarranted. 

JV played in southeast Iowa, where I am from and I must say that the competition down there isn't stellar (if you would like to see some HS "high"lights, they are available upon request).  Throw in the fact that his school was the only one in his conference to run a spread and I think his numbers were very inflated.  Don't get me wrong, the kid performed at state and certainly showed up in Columbus last year, but I think people are quick to judge and should wait and see how thing play out over the next year.

And we can only hope that we have the entire year to wait it out.  We all know how things played out last year when a back-up was thrown to the wolves (or, in this case, the Wildcats) and it wasn't pretty.  If we make it through the season with Stanzi in the huddle, we will be having a very interesting discussion on this same topic next spring.  As it stands, Vandenberg is the clear favorite among the fans, but there has been a lot of talk about fellow sophomore QB, John Wienke, and his abilities coming from the coaches. 

The once-lauded Tuscola, Illinois recruit has disappeared from the radar of the casual Hawk fan, but may emerge from fall training camp in a heated competition for not only the back-up role, but the lead in next year's Who Wants to be Quarterback show.  Out of high school, Wienke was heralded as the clear successor for then quarterback Jake Christensen (man those were tough times).  Now, he and Vandenberg must dual each other in practice from day to day and do their best to learn from Stanzi until one of them gets the call next September. 

Whoever becomes Stanzi's back-up, look for them to have a rough go if they are thrown into action.  As we learned last year (hopefully it has changed since then), the back-ups don't get a ton or reps with the #1 unit.  If their stay in the starting role is extended, I think the Hawks will be just fine.  Either of these guys is perfectly capable of running KOK's offense - well, at least handing it off to one of our fabulous running backs (more to come later).