Five position battles to watch in Iowa spring game
IOWA CITY, Ia. – Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz made an admission a few weeks ago that, "a lot of our 2s right now are 3s, quite frankly, on both sides of the ball."
But while many first-stringers aren't in danger of losing their spots (think QB C.J. Beathard, C Austin Blythe, DE Drew Ott), there will still be some notable position battles to track during Saturday's 1 p.m. spring game at Kinnick Stadium.
Here are five of them to watch:
Punter
This will be interesting. Can senior walk-on (for now) and starting placekicker Marshall Koehn beat out two senior scholarship punters to take that job, too? He said he would have no problem handling both, and special-teams coach Chris White raved about Koehn's leg strength. The Solon native is not just there to push unimpressive incumbents Dillon Kidd and Connor Kornbrath. The punting situation was so dire in 2014, Ferentz has said simply he'll put the best punter on the field.
Strong safety
This one will probably go deep into August, but keep an eye on sophomore Miles Taylor (No. 19) and freshman Brandon Snyder (No. 37) as both battle to replace the departed John Lowdermilk. Defensive coordinator Phil Parker also brought up the name of Anthony Gair (No. 12) in the safety mix but wasn't naming a clear starter Wednesday. "The last practice I saw some stuff I liked out of Brandon Snyder," Parker said. "So we'll see. It's still a long ways to go."
Linebackers
This is one position where Iowa has options. Although sophomores Ben Niemann (outside) and Bo Bower and Josey Jewell (inside) are the starters on paper, the return of senior Travis Perry from injury has him in the mix as well. Senior Cole Fisher had a pick-six in the Valley practice, and freshmen Aaron Mends and Jameer Outsey have impressed position coach Jim Reid.
Wide receiver
Offensive coordinator Greg Davis said there's a clear top three among wideouts in seniors Tevaun Smth and Jacob Hillyer and junior Matt VandeBerg. But who's next? Somebody needs to break through at No. 4. Sophomore Andre Harris (No. 84) has been up-and-down; sophomore Jonathan Parker (No. 10) is learning a new position; Riley McCarron (No. 83) and Andrew Stone (No. 20) have experience but lack size; and freshman Jay Scheel (No. 3) isn't completely right after a knee injury.
Offensive line/center
Position coach Brian Ferentz said last week that the search was on for a backup to Blythe at center. And with injuries and attrition, the line altogether remains thin. He's raw, but one guy to watch in the trenches is true freshman James Daniels (No. 78). Brian Ferentz warned that it's tough to play offensive line as a first-year player, but Daniels — pegged as either a center or guard — enrolled for the spring semester so he's already getting more reps than the typical rookie.