16 Days Until Hawkeye Football: Charlie Jones and Terry Roberts

The countdown to kickoff continues with WR Charlie Jones and DB Terry Roberts.

Charlie Jones, Junior

Deerfield, IL (Deerfield HS) / Buffalo

5’11”, 187 lbs

2020 Projection: WR Rotation

Recent news out of “camp” has been some talk about Buffalo transfer Charlie Jones. Iowa arguably is returning the best group of wide receivers in the Kirk Ferentz era. Brandon Smith, Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Nico Ragaini and Tyrone Tracy are known commodities. It appears that another receiver is pushing for playing time. Jones redshirted last year for the Hawks. I looked back at his time at Buffalo. His stats as a true freshman were solid, gaudy even when talking about yards per catch. He hauled in 18 balls for 395 yards and 3 TD’s. A terrific average of 21.9 yards. He was also quite adept at returning kicks at a 19.3 yard average. Interestingly enough, K.J. Osborn, now with the Minnesota Vikings, also returned kicks that year for Buffalo with the exact same average. On tape Jones showed he can make all of the catches. His toughness is evident as well, as many of his catches came in the middle of the field. Jones had a number of over-the-shoulder catches that reminded me of Adam Thielen. Iowa has a history of getting the rock to slot receivers, Nick Easley, Nico Ragaini, etc... I would expect that Charlie will be hauling in quite a few passes for the Hawks this season.

Terry Roberts, Sophomore

Erie, PA (Cathedral Prep)

5’10”, 177 lbs

2020 Projection: Backup Defensive Back / Special Teams

I’d like to be a fly on the wall when it comes to Hawkeye coaches recruiting Cathedral Prep in Erie, Pennsylvania. My guess it goes something like this:

Hawk coach “You got any guys for us?”

Erie coach “Yes, Coach.”

Hawk coach “We want ‘em. We know we’d get tough, hardworking, winners. See you next year.”

The Erie pipeline has produced Bob Sanders, Ed Hinkel, and Jovon Johnson. Terry Roberts was a do-it-all player for Cathedral Prep, helping them win state championships in his junior and senior years. Roberts played in 12 games in 2019 for the black and gold. He tallied three solo tackles and assisted on eight others. Roberts could carve out a role on the back end of the defense for Iowa this fall. You can never have enough athletes on the field; Roberts will make a name for himself on special teams, and from there, tough, hardworking, winners find themselves on the field more often than not.