Iowa Football: Hawkeyes Begin NFL Training Camp

Training camps have kicked off throughout the league, and the beginning of the preseason games are upon us. It is time to check in to see how the rookie, and veteran Hawkeyes are fairing in the NFL.

CJ Beathard to the shock of many was taken in the third round of this years draft by Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers. It is expected that Beathard will have a long learning curve in a developmental quarterback capacity behind veterans Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley. His head coach likes what he has seen so far:

"“Just watching C.J. you can tell without even talking to him, watching him on tape the way he processes things. He’ll play in that pocket with a lot of people around him and he can get through progression. He’s a very quick thinker. He’ll react and let it rip. He prepares very hard. He is very intelligent. There’s a knack that certain people have in the pocket where they don’t sit there and just freeze paralysis by analysis. That’s one thing we saw in C.J. in college and the more he gets comfortable with the offense and stuff, he’s shown it already, but the more reps and stuff he gets, that’s one of his huge strengths.”"

Beathard’s college and 49ers teammate the ever-popular George Kittle has impressed all off-season, and could be looming to be a big factor in the re-building Niners offense. He is however dealing with a hamstring injury as the Sacramento Bee reported. It is definitely something to keep an eye on.

Another rookie of the undrafted kind is making waves with the champs as offensive lineman Cole Croston. With early depth injuries to the Pats offensive line, Croston is giving himself a fighting chance to stick with New England with continuing to have a strong camp.

LeShun Daniels is also trying to stay with Bill Belichick’s crew. The bruising running back has an uphill battle with the likes of Rex Burkhead, Dion Lewis and Super Bowl hero James White in the running backs room. But, no cutdowns on rosters to 75 anymore, he will have more time to prove his worth.

Changing teams already was tight end Henry Krieger Coble. Krieger Coble was let go of by the Broncos, but was quickly picked up by the Indianapolis Colts. Indy already has WR Tevaun Smith and C Austin Blythe both of whom played for the Hawks.

Marshall Koehn is in the thick of a kicking battle with veteran Kai Forbath. The Vikings are trying to solidify the position that seemingly has been in flux since Blair Walsh missed the chip shot in the playoffs several seasons ago. Koehn is best remembered for his ‘walk off’ 57 yarder against Pittsburgh:

Sporting new colors and a new contract this season is Micah Hyde with the Bills. He got dinged up in camp, but appears to be fine. If used correctly (unlike his time at Iowa) Hyde could be a versatile player for #Billsmafia in the secondary and on punt returns.

Defensive lineman Carl Davis and Adrian Clayborn are both coming back from injuries this training camp.