When Greg Davis came to Iowa City he said two things: 1) Iowa doesn't have enough speed at receiver. 2) He would tailor the offense to the personnel. Well, one of those things turned out to be true. Iowa did have a lack of speed at receiver, however, Greg Davis still play-called like he had WRs who could get yards after the catch. We all know how that turned out.
Well, now on the recruiting trail, Iowa has gone all in on speedy receivers. The latest is Anjeus Jones, a receiver from Dallas, Texas. (The second Texas kid in this class...maybe thanks to Greg Davis? I don't know.) Jones has had quite the recruiting journey, and like the other couple of recent commits, was previously committed to another program. Just in the past 2 and a half weeks, Jones committed to New Mexico State, then switched to Colorado State, and now is a Hawkeye. So Iowa is now poaching from the Mountain West instead of the MAC, which is probably a step up. Texas Tech also offered recently.
Jones is a 2-star by Rivals and Scout, but gets a 3rd star from 247Sports. His stats aren't overly impressive. He has 23 receptions for 390 yards and 7 TDs. But watching his tape on Hudl, you can see why Davis might like him. Jones takes a lot of 5-yard hitches thrown short of the sticks and turns them into 15-yard pickups for first downs. He's pretty quick, but his size seems to be a bigger asset. At 6-3, 190, he's able to stiff arm and overpower smaller CBs and muscle his way for first downs.
Jones himself, says he is a fan of the Iowa pro-style offense.
I see myself in a pro-style attack. I feel like that’s what I’m made for and I feel like Iowa’s system is something I can move into pretty easy. They said they need some receivers like me, and I need a system like the one they run.
So Iowa now has 4 potential WR commits in this class: Jones, Derrick Willies, Damond Powell, and Andre Harris. Plus you can add on gray-shirt commit Matthew Vandenberg. And, digging even deeper, another commit from this weekend, Akrum Wadley, said he might play running back or slot receiver. And don't forget walk-ons Connor Keane and Andrew Stone. You would think out of a group that big, somebody would be able to come in and have an immediate impact. Can that someone be Jones? He at least looks the part. So welcome to Iowa, Anjeus.