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Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
A look at which seniors will leave the biggest shoes to fill at season’s end
There is still one game left in Iowa football‘s 2016 season. At 8-4 with a dominating win over Nebraska on senior day, the Iowa Hawkeyes will take on the Florida Gators in the Outback Bowl for the seniors’ final game as an Iowa Hawkeye.
Iowa benefited from stellar play from younger players such as Akrum Wadley, Manny Rugamba and Brandon Snyder this year, but there’s no doubt that their seniors had the biggest impact on the team. Not just on the field but also as leaders on the field and in the locker room.
It happens every year to every team — seniors need to be replaced. It’s one of the worst and best things about college sports, as it adds an interesting dynamic to the game since players can’t be built around like in the pros.
The Hawkeyes will have a deep and very well-rounded senior class to replace. LeShun Daniels Jr, Riley McCarron and Greg Mabin are just some of the seniors Iowa needs to replace. Luckily for the Hawkeyes, though, senior wide receiver Matt VandeBerg, who missed the last eight games with a broken foot, should be given a medical redshirt year so he can return to Iowa in 2017.
When taking into account who will replace seniors and their impact in 2016, here are the four seniors Iowa will miss the most in 2017.
Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports
Desmond King
Desmond King is a no-brainer. King could have left after his record-setting junior season in 2015 and been a high first round draft pick. Instead, he stayed to get his diploma. A statistically poor 2016 season made him drop in draft projections, as well as not be in the running for a second straight Jim Thorpe Award.
Even if King’s two interceptions and 53 tackles lack in comparison to his eight interceptions and 72 tackles in 2015, he’s still arguably the best defensive back in Iowa history.
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Freshman Manny Rugamba, who played well as a freshman before injuring himself against Nebraska in the regular season finale, will have to step in as the team’s top cornerback. The loss of King doesn’t hurt just because of Rugamba’s youth, but also because Greg Mabin will also graduate after this year.
Iowa will go from having a former Jim Thorpe Award Winner and another senior cornerback on the other side, to a sophomore as their top option. It’s a drastic change that could result in Iowa’s secondary struggling early in the 2017 season.
Plus, King’s been one of the best punt returners in the Big Ten over the past two seasons. Iowa will have to replace his career 25.7 yards per kickoff return and 11 yards per punt return averages. Not to mention Riley McCarron, who returned a punt for a touchdown against Illinois, is also a senior.
King didn’t live up to the hype surrounding him before the season, but replacing the best defensive back in school history is not an easy task.
Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports
C.J. Beathard
Replacing a quarterback is never easy, but replacing one who went 28-4 in the regular season is even harder. C.J. Beathard has thrown for almost 1,000 fewer yards this season, but his 17 touchdowns to seven interceptions is still one of the more impressive marks in the nation.
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Despite failing to throw for 100 yards in two games at the end of the season, Beathard developed into even more of a leader this season and made a lot of big plays for a team missing their top wide receiver and tight end for most of the season.
Besides, it’s not like Iowa is a pass-heavy offense that Beathard could churn out 3,500 yards and 30 touchdowns.
Iowa will have to rely even more on Akrum Wadley next year, as Nathan Stanley has just eight career pass attempts. Stanley played a little against North Dakota State when Beathard went down with an injury, however he only saw the field in blowouts otherwise.
He delivered a couple of beautiful passes, including a 37-yard pass to George Kittle against North Dakota State, but it’s too small of a sample size to draw any conclusions. That leaves a lot of uncertainty surrounding Stanley in 2017.
Beathard only started for two seasons, but he had one of the better careers an Iowa quarterback has ever had. Iowa will have an inexperienced quarterback with a different skill set next year, and that could mean growing pains in 2017.
Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Jaleel Johnson
Everyone knew Jaleel Johnson had potential to be a monster on the defensive line as a senior. Johnson exceeded expectations by recording career-highs of 55 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks and a pivotal safety in the second quarter of Iowa’s upset win over Michigan.
He also finished tied for sixth in sacks and 18th in tackles for loss in the Big Ten. The coaches named Johnson to the All-Big Ten Defensive First Team, while the media named him to the All-Big Ten Defensive Second Team.
Johnson went from a solid run stopper to one of the best defensive lineman in the nation and a possible NFL selection. He anchored a defense that allowed just four yards per carry in 2016 and fewer than three yards per carry in each of their last three games.
It’s evident how big of an impact Johnson had, even though his play only started to really be nationally recognized after his stellar nine tackles and one sack against Michigan. Although, the hole he’ll leave at the end of the season is a lot larger than many expected it would be.
Iowa’s defense ranked 11th in scoring defense because of their depth, therefore replacing Johnson won’t be an impossible task. Cedrick Lattimore should see more playing time and A.J. Epenesa is also a huge addition for a defense losing a lot of pieces.
Even if no one emerges as a dominating run stopper like Jaleel Johnson did this season, Iowa has the depth and team defense to be a good run defense in 2017, too. That being said, the quickness of Johnson’s 6-4, 310 pound stature is not something easily replaced.
Ron Coluzzi
Ron Coluzzi spent one season as Central Michigan’s kicker, where he made 12-of-17 field goals and 33-of-35 extra points. He then moved to being their punter before transferring to Iowa for his senior season.
Coluzzi has improved every season as a punter, and it culminated to averaging 41.3 yards per punt this season and ranking 30th in punting yards in the nation. As a result, he became one of Iowa’s biggest weapons.
On a team where the offense struggles to move the ball at times, winning the field position battle is important. Coluzzi helped Iowa do that by averaging at least 40 yards per punt in all but two games this season. He did that while attempting at least five punts in all but the Hawkeyes’ first two games, which is telling of how big his role was.
Coluzzi’s best game came against Michigan in which he averaged an astounding 47 yards per punt and pinned the Wolverines deep multiple times. That includes him somehow kicking a punt that landed at Michigan’s two-yard line and then bounced sideways until the Hawkeyes downed it there.
Forgetting Coluzzi’s trip and fall on a fake punt attempt, that led to Devin Bush Jr being ejected, there isn’t a lot to complain about Coluzzi’s game.
Sure, he’s a punter, however, he rarely had a bad punt, which is extremely important on a team where every point matters. Besides, when your punter is jokingly called the ‘MVP’ of the team, it’s telling to how good and how big his role is.
Replacing a punter doesn’t sound like a big deal, however it’s evident how important Coluzzi was this season. Punters might not score points, but they help win games by changing field position, and that could be very important next year on a team with a young quarterback.
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