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IT'S NOT PLAGIARISM IF YOU LINK TO IT: IOWA FOOTBALL KICKS OFF SPRING FOOTBALL WITH PRO DAY

Spring football is here.

By PlannedSickDays

BUT FIRST. There's a big basketball game tonight. The Hawkeye ladies face #3 seed Louisville at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in round two of the Women's NCAA Basketball Tournament. Tip-off is set for 8:35 PM (CT) and if you can't make it to Carver you can watch on ESPN2. Iowa defeated Marist in round one Sunday night. We have video:

THE LADIES ARE #TEAMPAT.

HAWK BASEBALL TAKES 2/3 FROM NEBRASKA. Hey! Hey! Hey! Look who's tied for first in the Big Ten baseball standings. The Hawks are off to a great start.

TONY RAMOS SAYS THANKS.

IOWA FOOTBALL PLAYERS RECEIVED RINGS FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE OUTBACK BOWL.

FINALLY, SPRING FOOTBALL. The 2014 Iowa Hawkeye football team will start their spring practices Wednesday. The two-deeps will release today or tomorrow and Kirk Ferentz will speak tomorrow afternoon. Iowa typically holds weekly press conferences and we'll get to hear from more than Ferentz. In years past, all of Iowa's coaching staff takes a turn at the weekly PC.

Iowa will hold an open practice on April 12th in West Des Moines and the spring session will conclude with a spring game on April 26th in Kinnick Stadium.

IOWA HELD PRO DAY YESTERDAY. Before we turn the page to 2014, Iowa's seniors off the 2013 team participated in drills for NFL scouts at the Iowa Football Complex. The event is closed to the media but some info leaked online. Cody Sokol, the now former Iowa quarterback, was in attendance and tweeting some numbers.

THERE'S OTHER TWEETS.

NFL.COM'S GIL BRANDT ALSO HAS A REPORT. Brandt writes that Boffeli only participated in the bench press and vertical leap. He had a 30" vert and impressive 28 reps on the bench. Linebackers James Morris and Anthony Hitchens improved their 40-yard dash times from the NFL Combine. Morris ran a 4.60 (he ran a 4.80 in Indianapolis) and Hitchens ran a 4.60. Christian Kirksey had the most impressive day. Kirksey ran his 40-yard dash times near 4.50 (4.50 and 4.52). Kirksey didn't run at the Combine and his times will move him up the draft charts.

KIRKSEY MIGHT EVEN END UP THE FIRST HAWKEYE OFF THE BOARD.

WHILE WE WAIT FOR THE TWO-DEEPS. We can jump right into the linebacker discussion. Iowa loses all three starters from last season and the defensive back-seven will be the biggest question mark heading into the new season. Marc Morehouse lists Reggie Spearman, Quinton Alston and Travis Perry as the starters. Kirk Ferentz has mentioned those three more than once this offseason.

Something to watch: will Iowa continue to use the Raider defensive package and does Alston or Spearman play rush end? If so, who replaces them? Cole Fisher and Chad Gilson might be the answer. We'll learn more in two weeks at Valley Stadium. If Iowa's going to experiment, now's the time.

We'll also learn if Jordan Lomax is a serious contender for the strong safety position. Nico Law has used social media to mention he's working at both safety and some linebacker this spring. Perhaps, Law is the coverage linebacker in the Raider package?

Lomax sticking at safety depends on Sean Draper and Maurice Fleming locking down the corner position opposite of Desmond King. Figure both of them playing a major role as the loser of the battle for the starting spot will likely be Iowa's #1 nickel corner. I still think there's a chance for a freshman to work in there too this fall. Iowa's bringing in a large class of defensive backs and it makes sense to stagger the freshman by playing one or two.

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