Football Position Rankings (Williams/Blum)

[ChrisMWilliams]

Try this formula out on your own fanatics. See what you come up with. It's a tough thing to do. Hope you enjoy the column.

Chris Williams and Brent Blum on Iowa State Football: 2012 Position Rankings | Cyclone Fanatic

[BuffettClone]

Nice formula to follow, after seeing your results I don't see much to argue about

[Cyclonin]

I dont know if it was a typo or not, but Chris you said they were 5 deep before Shontrelle and now 6 deep? Who is the other?

Obviously, White, Woody, Nealy, Standard, and now Johnson.

[ChrisMWilliams]

I dont know if it was a typo or not, but Chris you said they were 5 deep before Shontrelle and now 6 deep? Who is the other?

Obviously, White, Woody, Nealy, Standard, and now Johnson.

You're correct. Typo. Thanks!

[TheJackWePack5]

These rankings are fairly similar to the ones i (randomly) made a week or so ago. Obviously you guys know a lot more than me. But i enjoy giving my opinion as well.

I had Tight End ranked above QB though because i think they will be consistently blocking well (Hammerschmidt) and Ernst Brun has the big catch ability.

I really hope we can have either SJ or JB leading the team this year at QB, but not both (unless injury occurs). It's so much better when you don't have to question the QB. I think both are capable of being an every game QB.

I love how our O line looks. Plenty of size and depth to go along with some experience as well.

If Jeremiah George and Jevohn Miller can give Klein and Knott some breathers this year, that would be great. We know what we have in AJ and Jake, they are special. CJ Morgan at his Nickel position is a great player too.

Can you name an ISU team that had a more talented and deep Running Back crew? I'll bet not. That's enough to say. I know what we have in White, Woody, and Shontrelle, but i can't wait to see Nealy and Standard get touches.

With all of the young talented players at WR (Bundrage, Daniels, Ecby) and the returning guys we know we can rely on (Lenz, Horne, West, Gary, Young) i think this group has to potential to be very good this year. If they know they can play, watch out...confidence is key for young guys.

I think that I really underestimated our DB's in my rankings. We know Reeves will play one corner, and the other one is still kind of up for grabs as far as i know? Sounds like Jansen Watson is the leader right now....but there are some talented guys behind him (Lyn, Richardson, Thomas, Stokes). Our Corners are pretty small, but very quick/athletic. I'm really excited to see our Safeties out there flying around. Hopefully becoming every down guys, we will see Jacques Washington and Deon Broomfield really pick up where Benton left off last year. I see this group being better than last year honestly. Will guys like Brackens or Cotton see some snaps?

I am sort of worried about our D-Line. I believe the talent and depth is there, but will they perform like they are capable this year? We have a few guys who are 290 lbs+ and some decent DE size (250-260) so that doesn't concern me. We NEED bigger pass rush this year. We can't let guys like Landry Jones sit comfortably, he could pick any defense apart that way. If these guys get it together, like Willams/Blum said, they could surprise many.

[dualthreat]

I think people underestimate our LB depth. We see the guys behind k & k and think "these guys aren't nearly good enough!"

We have 4 quality big 12 linebackers other than the k & k.

[NickTheGreat]

Hard to argue with any of that. Good stuff

[Drive4cy]

Brutally honest analysis. Interesting read and the formula is a good measuring stick.

[NATEizKING]

I might have put the LB depth a little higher because Jake Knott needs no depth.

[NATEizKING]

And I doubt AJK needs any either.

[RustShack]

How do you judge talent? Because Jantz and Richardson have a lot of "talent"

Also I think Miller is one of those rare guys you can peg as "WILL be good", just like Knott and Klein were before him. I would say Irving too, but hes not quite as football ready.

Pretty spot on though. Really hoping Brun emerges as a good TE for us too.

[RustShack]

Also it would be interesting to see if we move Klein back to OLB against more traditional offenses and bring in George as MLB there. But with a lot of the spread offenses I see Knott and Klein as the easy picks for the two LB spots then bring in they hybrid when we don't go straight nickle/dime.

[ahaselhu]

I think people underestimate our LB depth. We see the guys behind k & k and think "these guys aren't nearly good enough!"

We have 4 quality big 12 linebackers other than the k & k.

2 of those 4 are really nickel/hybrid backs, not true linebackers. There are really only 4 returning "traditional" linebackers on the team. Still, it may not be a big deal since we typically only play 2 traditional linebackers at a time anyway.

[Cincyclone]

Also it would be interesting to see if we move Klein back to OLB against more traditional offenses and bring in George as MLB there. But with a lot of the spread offenses I see Knott and Klein as the easy picks for the two LB spots then bring in they hybrid when we don't go straight nickle/dime.

I agree. Similar to last year I think our base formation will change depending on the matchup. Against a team like Iowa I wouldn't at all be surprised to see Klein move outside and George step in in the middle. On the flip side, against teams like Oklahoma (the bulk of our schedule) I think we'll see Klein in the middle and either Morgan or Broomfield playing the hybrid. In those situations I think we're actually closer to playing a 4-2-5 than a 4-3.

[bosco]

I wonder how ISU's position groups stack up the rest of the B12? Other than LB do any of them crack the top half?