Do The Iowa Hawkeyes Have a Talent Problem?

If you consider yourself to be well-versed in the world of social media or if you happen to watch or listen to a lot of nationally televised sports talk shows centered around college football, chances are you’ve heard this critique before: The Iowa Hawkeyes have heart, but they aren’t talented enough to be a top five team.

Whether it’s David Pollack on ESPN pushing this narrative or whether it’s “AnonymousSECFan69420” on Twitter sharing their thoughts regarding the Hawkeyes’ perceived lack of talent throughout the roster, there’s no hiding from the fact that there’s a stigma surrounding the Iowa football program that they’re a team entirely made up of farm boys who lack athleticism and have overachieved every step in their college careers due to a great system for development.

Although that might be true for a number of players who have come through the program over the years, more often than not — especially this year — the Hawkeyes have a number of insanely talented, natural athletes making up their two-deeps who can fit in with any college team across the country .

How is it that regular college football fans on the outside of Hawkeye fandom and self-proclaimed “experts” simply gloss over the fact that a guy like Tristan Wirfs, who grew up down the road in small town Iowa, came into the Iowa program already pushing 300-pounds while supporting one of the most athletic profiles the sport has ever seen? I mean, he only put on one of the best NFL Draft Combine performances of all time regardless of position after all.

And what about George Kittle? or Brandon Scherff? or T.J. Hockensen? ... Need I keep going?

Well, on this week’s edition of the All Eyes Podcast, Thad (tnels20) and I decided to set the record straight and put our thoughts out there for the world to hear.

Although you can listen to this week’s nearly two-hour long episode on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts and, of course, right here on Black Heart Gold Pants, Thad and I have decided to start chopping up each episode into short form videos for those of you who might enjoy visuals and shorter spurts of content.

If you like this format, we’d love for you to leave a comment down below or to tweet us @tnels20 or @RobDFB on Twitter.

Listen to the full podcast here: