On a day that was for the kids, it was appropriate that it was younger Hawkeyes that really stood out. Many first and second year players showed their potential on Saturday making strong cases for playing time. This was the first chance for us to see the incoming freshmen and they made a good first impression. It also didn't hurt that the weather was beautiful (aside from a couple of sprinkles at the very end of practice).
Okay, so thoughts from practice...
Quarterback:
Vandenberg is still clearly number one. He was very good on Saturday and aside from a bad stretch on 3-down practice he was sharp. During a 2-minute drill he went 5/6 for 48 yards setting up a last second field goal (the coaches went super conservative, no surprise, and settled for a field goal with about 28 second left on the clock).
Behind Vandenberg, Wienke and Derby split reps as number 2. Derby, like in the spring, looked clearly better but threw 2 interceptions. If the coaches want a game manager, Wienke's probably number 2...but if they're looking for someone to go out there and win a game, I'd go with Derby.
Ruddock also had a very solid outing. He looked very comfortable out there and was connecting well with the freshmen receivers. I still think he'll redshirt this year, but he's going to be pushing the other QBs.
Running back:
Coker didn't participate in the scrimmage portion of practice and wore a red jersey all day. Ferentz said if it was a game day, then Coker would have played. It sounds like a really minor injury and the coaches are just being precautious. In his place, White and Johnson got first team reps until Johnson went out with what looked like a minor leg injury. It didn't look serious, but I hope it wasn't his knee again. White looked okay and was pretty good finding the hole in the goalline practice, but overall didn't really impress me.
The trio of true freshmen, though, all showed some promise. McCall was first in and showed his ability to take a hit and push the pile forward. He's got good size and looks like a B1G runningback already. Canzeri was also showed some potential with his speed. He hit the hole fast and got into the secondary a couple time for some nice gains. Bullock looked fine, but didn't stand out as much as the other two.
Receiver:
McNutt and Davis will both be good. They didn't have a lot of catches on Saturday, but when they were thrown the ball, they made plays. The workhorse over the weekend was Kevonte Martin-Manley. He was the clear number 3 guy and played a lot with the first and second teams. He was consistently open and had the ball thrown his way more often that any other receiver. The two true freshmen, Grant and Hillyer, looked good against the 3rd string defense and I wouldn't be surprised if one or both of them play this year.