I find it amusing Nebraska wasn't on his radar. Back in the day, they certainly would have been a choice for a western Iowa kid like this..
'22 ILB Will McLaughlin Commits
- Thread starter CyPunch
- Start date
What do they have to be afraid of? Hawks are batting 1000 vs Campbell. They should want MC to have lifetime contact.
I think you are on to something here.
Hoks should offer Ferentz family life time contract and ISU offer CMC life time contract.
I will contribute all I can to make this happen.
Klein always looked like the super athletic one to me. That guy took some risky angles, but it usually worked for him.
And the diff between that linebacker group 8 years ago to now is we don't have a garbage D line anymore. Last year we probably had the best D line outside of OU in the league, going to be really good again.
That makes a hell of a difference.
That’s the funny thing to me. We have this really sweet group of linebackers already committed. And at least a half dozen other guys in places like Illinois, Ohio and Florida that I’d still cheerfully take to fit with them at linebacker—including Matt Rose.
My, the times have certainly changed at Jack Trice Stadium.
demoncore1031
Well-Known Member
What?? Most of those d-linemen went on to NFL rosters. Were they as good as the line we have now? No. But they were pretty good.
We can agree to disagree but I think the majority of rhoads era D lineman would not start for Jon Heacock.
demoncore1031
Well-Known Member
I agree with that. Most of those guys wouldn't be starters now, but I was just saying that most of them were decent football players. McDonough spent some time in the NFL. Rony Nelson wasn't bad. Lattimer was fun to watch, and spent a little time with the Packers. Laing played in the CFL for a good while. I'm probably forgetting a couple of guys.
Very true. Now that I think about it Rhoads was actually really good at DE recruiting. He always lacked getting good DT's and noseguards to plug the middle. I cringe of the days of brandon jensen getting thrown around. We've come a long way that's for sure.
Half the brilliance of the D turnaround has been scheme too. The Heacock chess philosophy of 3 down sometimes infuriates me but I know what he's doing now - seeing the other teams hand, playing multiple guys back, and getting agressive when it calls for it.
Man this upcoming season is going to be fun, going to be hard to wait 5 months.
Everything seems to indicate he'll be a linebacker, but I love having an athlete like him at fullback. Think Dimitri Flowers. He obviously has the aggression. Could also see him as a Zach Petersen type DE if he fills out more. As a linebacker he looks like a traditional Mike.
AJ was a star. So solid in all facets of the game. He’s had a long, successful NFL career.
Wow. Listing their names only reminds me that they were miles behind our recent DL.Not even close. None of those guys start either of the last two years.
Will McDonald hasn’t started the last two years. What’s your point?
Our DL is the best it has been in our history history, much better than even highly thought of DL we have had in the past. Wasn’t that obvious? And why did you get confused and think it was about Will McDonough? There is no reason to given the context of my the post I responded to.
What’s your point?
Simple logic.
Saying that someone “wouldn’t have started the last two years” isn’t saying much, when one of our best pass rushers ever hasn’t started the last two years either. It’s not really an adequate benchmark to evaluate by.
Zach Petersen only started one of the two years. As talented as he is, Bankston transferred because he figured out he was never going to start here. Blake Peterson and Corey Suttle barely played last year—but they both might well have started as redshirt freshmen on those teams several years ago.
You simply had your paradigm backwards. Pretty much every scholarship DL on the ‘20 team would have had a really good shot at starting on any of Rhoads’ teams. Or Chizik’s. And the vast majority of Mac’s teams.
And it’s starting to look like ‘21 ramps that talent level up a notch.
I like it. Go Cyclones!
demoncore1031
Well-Known Member
Rhoads had some really good defenses in general. That 2011 team, I think 10 of the 11 starters went on to NFL rosters. Maggitt was the only starter that never signed with an NFL team. That is probably why there was a huge fall off defensively, they lost a ton of good players all at once. But the talent level then compared to now is not even close. That's not a knock on Rhoads and his staff, it's more a compliment to Campbell and his. This staff recruits better, but they also develop players at a high level. That is something Rhoads wasn't great at.
Not to mention the depth Campbell has is so so so much better. Also, I would be willing to bet most of the CPR players wouldn’t even be recruited by Campbells, for more than just on the field performance...
