It’s only spring practice, but the Iowa football team’s passing attack is on track to be explosive during the 2020 season.
It’s not very often that a major college program can lose it’s top three pass catchers from the previous season and actually improve the following season especially when you consider two of those three are going to be first-round draft picks in next weeks draft and the other is former Outback Bowl MVP Nick Easley, who will likely find his way on an NFL roster because of his exceptional quickness and ability to play the slot. Yet, for the Iowa football program, that is exactly what is happening.
The Hawkeyes are returning two-year starter and possible 2020 first round quarterback Nate Stanley to the backfield, and after two years at the helm of the Hawkeyes offense, he’s in a position to break a few records next year.
With him is special catch playmaker Brandon Smith and speedster Ihmir Smith-Marsette, who was this past year’s Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year. Each of these guys had 361 receiving yards last year, but with the departure of Noah Fant and TJ Hockenson along with the greater familiarity with Stanley and the Iowa football offense, those numbers will be going up.
The big thing causing excitement out of spring practice though is the emergence of redshirt freshman Tyrone Tracey Jr and Nico Ragaini.
Both of those guys have big shoes to fill with Easley’s departure but word out of camp is that they are showing a skill set that is quite capable of doing that.
Coaches are also singing praises for these two.
Copeland went on to give even further praise to Tracy who we predicted to be the slot receiver in our early 2019 depth chart preview of the Iowa football team.
As we saw last year with the Iowa football team, Kirk Ferentz has shown a willingness to adapt his offense and defense to what types of players he has. Without an experienced tight end and four of the most capable, man-to-man beating wide receivers this program has had in a while, it might be time for Brian Ferentz to look into more 4 and 5 wide receiver sets continuing the Iowa football team’s trend towards the modern age of college football.
If they choose to do that, next year’s offense could be unlike anything we’ve seen from the Iowa football team or at least since the Drew Tate era.