We haven't forgotten that actual Hawkeye sports exist and that they're actually going on these days [could have fooled me.--ed.]. For example, spring football started, which gave Pat Harty a positively orgasmic opportunity to bring up all the arrests that happened over the past year. As far as what happens on the field, we've got a brand new depth chart, linked rightchere (embedded PDF, pops). There aren't many surprises, as you might expect; after all, it's not like A.J. Edds is seeing time at quarterback or anything. But still, we've got several situations for you to keep a close eye on over the next few weeks.
1. The Offensive Line. This is an area of great concern, and really has been since Joe Philbin left (you know our thoughts on that, no doubt). Nonetheless, almost everybody's back from last season, including previously injured Rob Bruggeman (more on him in a moment). Nobody graduated, but Dace Richardson's knee suffered a 9/11-esque structural failure, and there's no reason to expect any contribution from him at this point. Quite a shame, that. So the tackle spots will be manned by known beastmaster Bryan Bulaga on the left side and Kyle Calloway (no, not him) on the right. This is a bit of a juggle, as Bulaga was at left guard last season with Calloway at left tackle. Seth Olsen, last year's right tackle and top lineman, moves to the interior at right guard in front of Travis Meade.
At left guard are two highly underwhelming players, Julian Vandervelde and Dan Doering, both of whom split time at RG last season. Neither was effective, though Doering was slightly better at times. It's quite possible, though, that neither will receive the lion's share of the snaps at LG this fall. That's because there's a remarkable battle underway for the center spot, as Bruggeman and Rafael Eubanks are listed as co-starters. Bruggeman, as you might recall, was in the OL rotation last spring when he tore his ACL and missed all but the last three games of the season. Now, it's hard to think that Eubanks isn't one of the five best linemen on the team, especially considering most guys aren't capable of playing center. Therefore, as the coaching staff decides on a "best five guys" to put out there, it's highly likely that they decide Eubanks is better at center than the Julidan Vanderdoering duo is at guard, and they move Bruggeman over to LG.
If that's the case, and I think it's way more likely to play out that way than with a potential four-year starter sitting on the bench most of the time, then this is what your starting five looks like:
LT: Bulaga
LG: Bruggeman
C: Eubanks
RG: Olsen
RT: Calloway
Considering they're all more seasoned at this point than they were 12 months ago, it's only reasonable to expect better things out of the unit for next season. At the very least, the odds that Vandervelde's going to be on his ass the backfield are far lower than they were last season.
(keep reading...)
Anyhoo, we decided to cap the basketball season by talking with the Great Gazoo's own Mike Hlas. You may be thinking, "BHGP, that basketball ship sailed like a month ago. What the hell?" Well, Mr. Hlas covers more than Hawkeye sports. So he was here. Then here. Then we were gone. Then we were sick. Then--well, shit, you don't actually care, so onto the good stuff.
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