Iowa Football Recruiting: Can Brevin Doll & Reece Vander Zee help this year? 2025 prospects

today time to lock talk a little football recruiting we got Brian Smith our recruiting analyst for lock on a breakdown of couple of the incoming guys can they help out in 2024 at the skill positions a look to 2025 in the future of Iowa football all today locked on [Music] Hawkeyes you are locked on Hawkeyes your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hey welcome in I'm Trent Condon and this is the lock on Hawkeyes podcast thanks for making lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day we're available wherever you find podcasts and you can also find us on YouTube while you're there make sure you hit the Subscribe button helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that's 150 bucks with any winning $5 bet visit fanduel.com lockon to get started joined today once again by our recruiting analyst with lock on he is Brian Smith as he joins us on a Thursday lot to get into here today Brian exciting time we're getting very close to Camp season for now a lot of universities June that big recruiting month for a lot of people out there in 2025 recruiting you don't ever get any time off this thing never ends does it no it's 365 it literally is I mean even on Christmas Day I'm gonna have something on my phone I'm looking at that's just how it works brother it is nonstop no well keeps you busy certainly and keeps the content coming for us here across the network so I want to jump into a couple of different areas and I mentioned you know this June month is a really big one certainly for us in the Upper Midwest Iowa they always have one of those weekends that they have all the guys that are committed and then kind of their top level targets and over the last couple of Seasons they've been incredibly success successful in those recruiting weekends last year I remember we talked about it they brought in 14 different guys that were uncommitted they got 13 of those 14 guys on that weekend just an absolute huge recruiting coup to kind of get the guys that you want and the guys that you have targeted and probably the guys he also has have a realistic shot of getting for that weekend is that something that happens Nation nationally do a lot of programs do the same kind of thing or is it different just kind of depending on the program it's ironic that you mentioned that because was just talking about this same subject with Alex donno on locked on canes the last two years Miami's first weekend they're over oh wow now they swing for the fences right they they're they're going Grand swam hunting but still to go over for they're over for eight on their first weekend combined the last two years so Iowa does it a little more traditionally not not shocking kids that they want kids in their backyard kids that fit their culture they are a culture program Miami is a take Talent over everything else kind of program right now as far as I'm concerned and it you know it may or may not work but they're all over the country a lot of kids that don't know much about Miami so that's you know that's a totally different approach but there's usually a weekend for whatever reason for each school where you're getting guys on campus you have a great shot at and sometimes they put them all together and I mean you got to give Kirk and all those guys credit they do their due diligence they're not bringing in guys that aren't going to help the program on and off the so that's probably part of it but like getting anything over 10 in a weekend local kids are not that's that's just almost unheard of so good for Iowa one of uh the 2025 guys that we talked about is Jimmy Sullivan who will be coming in the quarterback prospect but he's now not alone in the committed quarterbacks now this is a walk-on but it's Ryan Fitzgerald uh name that certainly people in big tan will know incredibly well college football fans will know this is Pat Fitzgerald's son I remember when he was on his visit last fall uh his dad Pat was with him that was weird to see him in kinnick stadium and not wearing the purple of Northwestern while he was there but this a kid that had some offers had some know fcfs offers a couple at the mid- major level yet instead of taking those offers he made the decision that he was going to walk onto the Iowa program we know Kirk fence and Fitz certainly a lot of respect and admiration between those two and a lot of great battles throughout the years between those two programs but for a kid now it's different money's probably not quite the object that it is for a lot of people but making the decision to walk on in a place like Iowa as opposed to taking a scholarship offer what does that say to you before we kind of get into him as a player he wants to be challenged he wants to be competitive and he has no fear I love that stuff brother that that's the kind of guy you want in your locker room and on your depth jard he uh had offers from bunch of the Mac you know those are the kind of places so as a prospect when you watch him take off the the name played on the back right you take away that Fitzgerald what do you see for him as a quarterback he's got a really nice delivery he's got a little bit of size uh doesn't have a gun but he's accurate he can throw it in the middle of the field and not get picked off all the time and he he's just consistent like his motion is really really natural so I I think he a guy that you would see like as a fifth year senior at Central Michigan or something like that go to the big house and give them fits he's that kind of guy now whether or not he can play at Iowa I I don't know because you know much patience he has and What offense are going to run we're still trying to figure that out with Iowa football but I don't see anything wrong with his throwing motion he just needs to get a little bigger and stronger and obviously can you imagine the football conversations he's been a part of I mean it's you either your dad is a head coach or he's not so he's got a way way way higher ceiling in that regard he's he's coming with a lot more info so he'll know playbooks quickly and he'll be able to help them in some way shape or form yeah definitely an interesting one and one to keep an eye on in the future well his school teammate from Loyola there in the Chicago land area Drew mcferson mcferson excuse me also committed a safety Prospect Iowa as a long history of those defensive backs and putting them in the league and uh what do you see from mcferson when you put in the tape first thing I noticed is he played a little bit of everything like he was the receiver makes great catches he's got incredible hand eye coordination uh pet peeve of mine is when DBS especially like a free safety gets an overthrow right to him and they drop it drives me bananas this is a kid that's going to catch the football and he's a guy that's always going to be around it has good timing understands when to jump I I just think that's a natural thing either you don't have it or you do and like I was surprised he didn't have a few more offers to be honest with you and he's playing Chicago it's not like there weren't people it was a little surprising to me he's not a burner or anything but like I I I don't know what the deal was anyway I like him and for what he's trying to do athletically like I's two high scheme is a great fit so he'll end up playing for Iowa yeah he's just another one of these guys and we've gotten to the point I know as Hawkeye fans where when it comes to defensive back what Phil Parker has done over the last quarter Century putting guys in the league under recruited guys and guys that stick for a long time uh guys that become all big 10 players you look at some of the walk- on safeties that they've had and just all the success that they have it's a guy you look at the offer list there's not another Power four offer for him on his list 247 yet you say it's all right because it's Phil Parker I mean we have grown accustom to that and I'm sure you guys in the National landscape are the same kind of thing I mean we've heard the stories where he's stashing guys he's telling them hey don't tell them that you have an Iowa offer doing those kind of things late in the recruiting process he he finds those guys every single time and I'm sure you guys on the national landscape also Eyes Are Open why is IA the only guy like in this kid I don't understand like how he's able to do it number one just great coach I got to give Phil a lot of credit um but like they they recruit to a scheme that is as old as it gets cover two is not a news you know IA just does it better than anybody so why is he able to identify kids that can play in that better than anybody else I want somebody to explain that to me I don't I don't know what it is but like your guess is good as mine it's fascinating we do talk about it like uh had a conversation with John Garcia recently like at one point I it may still be true Iowa had more DBS in the league than even like Bama yeah um it would like if you're even in the conversation though that puts things in perspect they were pulling from two different Apple carts so athletically like I I see the kids that Bama gets at all these camps and combines but where the players end up after three or four years is not much different that's that's what's amazing so the strength and conditioning program at Iowa needs to be given some credit to but I I don't know what it is man like I I don't understand it nobody and the recruiting get it either because Iowa is the one that takes the kid and does it and other schools don't so their development's got to be better than anybody's well knowing the little bit of practice that we see it is fundamentals fundamentals fundamentals it is boring it's hand placements it's just those little things and they coach it incredibly well couple with the strength and conditioning program that's definitely built those guys up you have a good thing and and Phil Parker he gets the most out of his guys well that is a look towards the future let's talk about the not too distant future as we continue Brian Smith joining us we're going to talk about a couple of guys in the class of 2024 they're going through their High School graduation right now getting ready to make their way to the Iowa campus to freshman at the skilled position and we know Iowa certainly needs help at the skill positions can they help out next year we'll talk a little bit about rece vandery the wide receiver and Brevin dah who had an incredible State Track tournament we'll talk about that as we continue with Brian Smith this is lockd on Hawkeyes let's get straight to the point you want to grow your portfolio to deal with the rising cost of inflation to pay off your debt or your mortgage pretty much anything standing in the way of you and 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hawkey your first listen every day Brian Smith joining us here as we're talking some football recruiting uh let's talk about couple of guys that will be making their way to campus in the next couple of weeks not early en rol Reese vandery an interesting one an outstanding baseball Prospect um and we do it different here we are the only state that plays summer baseball the way that it should be in my mind I call a ton of high school baseball here uh Vander is going to go through his final season of baseball so he won't finish up if his team makes a state tournament until late July uh if that happens you have to figure little bit behind the curve you'll get there before August Camp begins but let's just start with him as a prospect when you look at that big tall receiver in ree Vander Z get from up in Northwest Iowa small school football H maybe you're thinking a little bit of a Cooper de Jee type and we've had plenty of those guys coming up from the Northwest part of the state what do you see from ree vandery he's got really good ball skills and he should a 6'4 65 um but he's not just a plotting guy he can move he's got pretty good ability to sink his hips and change direction after he gets the football in his hands and I just think he's a more physical player than what many will probably give him credit for again a lot of these guys are going to have to interfere with him at the high school level they can't they can't guard him so he he through it has excellent hands now my only question is how will they use him right away as compared to where will he finish 190 200ish is my guess of where he's at playing baseball he's probably not going to gain a whole lot of weight because you got to do so much cardio for that but I'd imagine he's gonna play at 220 by the time he's a senior is he I I guess it doesn't matter what you call him but he might be a flex tight in by the time he's done it's not like that'd be the first time that's happened at the University of Iowa yeah and what your label and what you do really have nothing to do with the final outcome of the scoreboard either but I think they can move him around definitely a boundary guy up on the line you need a bigger stronger kid and he's he's gonna fit that but he's a little twitchier than some other guys they might be able to move him to slot at some point once he wns Iowa's passing scheme they could use him in a lot of ways this this is a kid that really kind of fits it doesn't the Trent like getting the kid for Northwest Iowa nobody else recruits him maybe Kansas State or something like he has a handful of offers and then he ends up as a Junior and senior like he's third Team all big 10 or something would you be surprised I wouldn't so this is a great story and it's why Iowa football is always entertaining to me looking at the Back stories you know one of the guys that uh I I think comp would make a whole lot of sense in the way that he used him is going back about four or five years as Brandon Smith a guy from down in the south Mississippi Kid was a great track athlete and they used him as that X receiver the outside guy now he's not nearly as tall as Vander Z is he was about 6' one and a half 6'2 right in that range but Brandon Smith's a guy that bounced around the NFL for a little bit know Iowa I know the last two and a half years have just completely changed the perception of what Iowa football is but they have been able to throw the football and throw it to wide receivers it just been so awful the last two and a half years we forget that know when they had Brandon Smith and Amir Smith Mar said a couple years back they threw 30 touchdowns in a season they were able to do that which is crazy to think about now I think they can get back to that but you look at their wide receiver it's not a real deep position as is for Iowa and they need to get those numbers up but most importantly probably their top two guys Caleb Brown the Ohio State transfer that certainly showed glimpses a year ago making the transformation in from Ohio State a high school running back and moving to wide receiver but he's more of a slot guy same thing that you see when you look at like a Seth Anderson at least not a real big guy Flipper Anderson son that transferred in from Charleston Southern well you don't have that prototypical ex guy it's not going to be for 60s a game but can you come in even with a limited knowledge of the Playbook and and play that extra receiver 15 18 snaps a game is that a realistic expectation for Vander Z this year Well number one it's not how many snaps it's how many snaps you got to make post Snap reads like if they keep it simple with him they should be good and he's a bigger kid so he should be able to run block at least a little bit better than most freshmen and at the end I mean I know this isn't the most friendly conversation but it's not like Iowa's depth chart is loaded with guys in front of him so if he doesn't play that's more on the player than it is Iowa staff got to be able to block got to be able to know the Playbook if he does those two things how many other 65 200 pound receivers are walking around on their campus not many he he has to play yeah I think 18 is a conservative number you should I would hope that he can get against teams that they need him to play at least Big 10 games if he plays 25 to 30 snaps at a game you shouldn't be shocked yeah you nothing else he's a depth piece that you can rotate in if other guys step up it's a win for Iowa across the board well another guy for the class of 2024 and he goes into a position that is loaded right now all the guys coming back at the running back position four of them a year ago I shot I thought all showed some glimpses Caleb Johnson if he's healthy this year I think has a chance to be an absolute star SP the size and the power that he has we saw Lesean Williams just a good solid running back the two freshmen both popped last year aamari Molton the guy that you know from down to your neck of the woods he had a couple of glimpses a year ago so you got four guys coming back you have another guy in the uh room that at least looks to have an ability now you're bringing in two more running backs but brendal he's a guy that a track star uh set State records again this week at the state track meet an absolute burner good size to him he's absolutely yolked I mean he's got the physicality that goes along with it what you see from him though when you put in the tape and and there's not a lot of it he lost his senior season broke his arm in a game that I was calling which I I felt terrible about was broadcasting the game and he broke his arm early in the second quarter of that one so didn't get obviously a full season but what he put in the film of Brevin D before we get into the speed component what do you see number one he's got pretty good instincts he doesn't put himself in bad spots he's a speed guy you don't want to try to be a you know a tractor you want to be the Ferrari so he makes guys miss he uses his vision to set up his speed and when he gets a little space between him and another guy that's when the hips and the ability to break down and make guys miss comes into play of course guys that run under 108 and 100 meters and he's even hit 104 before that that's an opportunity like I know these they're deep they have to find a way to get him on the field I wouldn't be surprised if they even tried him a little bit at receiver because like I don't know how you do it because I was just so short-handed outside the numbers compared to a lot other schools I got to find a way to do this and maybe this young man only wants to play running back but you're gonna be say look you can wait through the step chart a couple of years or you can play right away over here I think they should at least move him around and don't discount him playing kick return punt return either at some point way too much speed yeah that was a direction I I was certainly going with you is thinking about that potential one of those running backs they moved during the Spring Terrell Washington a kid from Texas that played last year as a true freshman they moved him out kind of that slot thing and the other thing that I don't know if everybody realizes with brevan d he's 61 right in that range his dad's 66 and uh I know his parents very well grew up with them asked them last summer uh we were together and they said he was over in Iowa City going through a workr after the hip injury he had last track season his growth plates were still open so all of a sudden you get that one more grow spurt and you go from 61 to 63 well hey you don't see many 63 running backs but you couple that with yeah maybe wide receiver makes a whole lot of sense and we just talked about I was struggled to find that ex receiver the last couple of years you throw a kid like that with that kind of speed at wide receiver that's a pretty good problem to have well Iowa never really struggles to find running backs but receiver again especially if he gets taller I agree with you Trent you at least got to consider it and if he can play running back at 63 blessing you know what that's great but uh receiver would make more sense to me final thing for you and talking about this upcoming season and the wide receiver position Jacob Gil comes in from Northwestern 19 career catches he was injured last season does have two years of Eligibility obviously comes in with Brandon Sullivan the transfer quarterback from Northwestern that look looks like he'll be backing up Cade mcir we'll see what kind of actual you know push we're going to have come August Camp between those two guys fighting for the starting spot but Jacob Gil IA needs help they need guys is he a guy that can help him out at least at minimum a rotational piece do you see anything from Gil I don't know like northwestern's passing game wasn't exactly San Francisco 49ers 1988 either yeah I need to see him play under a different system I'm open-ended so Northwestern was pedestrian the last several years so if Iowa is truly going to throw the football summon I know that's the big conversation in your neck of the woods maybe this kid gets 1015 balls maybe he gets 20 I'm not going against him and here's the thing he's been through a strength and conditioning program for multiple years he understands like Fitz if you can say whatever you want about him much like Iowa that's a technical program he's not going to come in not knowing how to run routes yeah iow will have something to work with I think he'll contribute I just don't know if he can be dominant against some of like the upper echelon teams we'll have to see on that but I bet he contributes good stuff hey Brian appreciate your time as always always good catch closer to that June time we'll have a lot more 2025 conversations there we've talked about I think most of the guys that already committed for that class but we'll have some new prospects to talk about and another Glimpse or two back at the guys that'll be coming in and making their way in June Brian Smith you can find him on Twitter at FB Scout Florida Brian as always thanks for your time thank you sir appreciate it ran Smith joining us as we talk a little recruiting with Iowa football we continue locked on hawkey a big one coming up today Iowa Baseball looking to keep their season alive what's it going to take to knock off the Ali we'll do that as we continue this is lockdown Hawkeyes it's winner take all time right now in the NBA and NHL and FanDuel is giving you a shot to bring home a big win of your own right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that's 150 bucks to bet on point spreads money lines player props Futures and a whole lot more it's as simple as that this offer is absolutely incredible for new customers 150 bucks in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet so many different things that you can jump in taking a look is it going to be a bounceback from the Timberwolves in game number two and the Indiana Pacers bounce back in game two we got game one coming up tonight with the Stars the Dallas Stars which should have left the name in Minnesota but that's another thing visit fanduel.com lockon and make every playoff shot count that's fanduel.com lockon FanDuel America's number one Sportsbook Trent Conor back with you one final time here on the lockdown Hawkeye podcast thanks for making lock down Hawkeyes your first listen every day it'll be Kade mu over Mueller coming up later today as the Hawkeyes base off against top seated Illinois in the Big 10 tournament it's an elimination game Iowa needs to be perfect and they got a long road now in front of them if they're going to make the NCAA tournament La uh yesterday the bats just weren't there and though saw a couple of big hits Ben wilus came up with one to tie the game up at two the depth of roster has taken a hit the injuries that have happened all those kind of things but not only do I want I would win this baseball game for obvious reasons we're all Hawkeye fans we want to see that I just want to see what they do in game three if they get there if they knock off Illinois and send the Ali packing at 0 and2 I will then bounce back it'll either be Penn State or Michigan again in the next round and with the victory you know kind of what happens with this Iowa team in that third game is it Marcus Morgan who has struggled and has had a lot certainly on his plate a lot of frustrations that are there what is going to happen on that front is it a bullpen game do they go that direction do they use one of the arms that they used at times this year in some of the midweek games to open things up and go from there and now knowing that with your back against the wall you also have to conserve some arms yes you have to get to the next day and that's the only way to advance on but this this task was incredibly difficult coming in and when you lose that opening game in any Conference baseball tournament it just gets that much steeper we'll keep an eye on that one we got you covered coming up tomorrow we yesterday did a lot jumping around a bunch of different sports kind of just gave a cursory glance at a lot of different things and have some other areas want to jump into here throughout the course of the week we got you covered your team every day that's what we do here on the lockdown Network we got you covered on the Hawkeye front but it doesn't matter your team professionally maybe you're a twins fan like myself a Cubs fan white socks on and on and on we have you covered there with lockdown MLB every team Major League Baseball and fell you're an NHL fan we got you covered there and the NBA make locked on your first listen every day are you watching FS1 or ESPN all day long you have to turn down the volume because of all that shouting well it's time to make the switch to lock on sports today it's a free 247 sports 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