Iowa Hawkeyes Pro Day Review, Thoughts, and Analysis

I watch a lot of college football, but I grew up an Iowa Hawkeye. Born in Sioux City, Iowa, my father is an alumni of the University, and my late grandfather taught us all to bleed black and gold. In fact, the last time I got to spend time with my grandpa, my brothers took him to lunch and to watch the Hawkeyes beat the Minnesota Gophers.

It’s no surprise then that I still pay close attention to the Iowa Hawkeyes. They were the pro day of note on Monday, and I think four or five guys from last year’s team could be selected in the first four or five rounds.

It was reported that representatives from the Bengals, Steelers, Cardinals, Panthers, and Ravens oversaw the defensive line workouts. I have also heard that Ricky Stanzi has a pro day scheduled with the San Francisco 49ers.

The player everyone had their eyes on today was defensive lineman Adrian Clayborn, who has Erb’s Palsy in his right arm. Since he has short arms, scouts have been saying Clayborn cannot be a first round pick because of various other reasons. My advice would be to turn on the 2009 tape of Clayborn to see what he is capable of. Had he come out after his junior season, he would have likely been a top 10 pick. I think he had a similar hype to that of Nick Fairley. Clayborn was unstoppable.

His senior season was not so great. Clayborn looked at times like he was playing not to get hurt, a lot of which could have been serious frustration from receiving triple teams and being chipped by running backs all season long. Clayborn also made some comments in the season that a lot of the Iowa players were distraught by their underachieving in what should have been a BCS season.

Still, Clayborn has maintained a first round grade, and proved to scouts exactly why he was considered one of the top defensive players in all of college football at the start of the season. Reports indicate that he showed fantastic quickness and had no problems sticking his right hand on the ground in a three point stance. Clayborn will likely be a power strong-side end in the pros, likely in a 4-3 front. I view Clayborn as a four down player.

Clayborn’s “short” arms allowed him to not only block this punt, but pick it up on the run and return this ball to the house. I remember watching this game with my brothers and close friends. It was one of the best nights of my life. That’s what football is about–watching it with your closest friends and family and enjoying the fellowship. Thanks be to Clayborn for providing me with another Hallmark moment!

Another player high on coaching radars is defensive end/tackle Christian Ballard. I love Ballard as a professional prospect. At Iowa, he played both power end and defensive tackle in their 4-3 front, and he wasn’t as highly publicized as Clayborn, but many think he can be a better professional. I think Ballard can play either 4-3 DT, DE, or 3-4 DE. He has great speed and quickness, good instincts, and is a much better athlete than he’s given credit. Many scouts think Ballard can bulk up to 300 pounds and be a dominant 3-4 defensive end, and I think that’s fair. Here is one of Ballard’s best games at Iowa. Tough to watch for an Iowa fan, but pro scouts will love this game tape.

You can’t say enough about the job Iowa’s defensive line has done over the last couple of years. They have done everything in their power to set up the defensive backs. Iowa employs a very, very similar defensive system to that of the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts. Thus, it should be no surprise that safety Tyler Sash is consistently being mocked to both of those teams, particularly the Colts.

Sash reportedly ran in the 4.6 range in the 40 yard dash, but that doesn’t bother me. Sash looks like a 4.6 guy on game tape, but he is ALWAYS around the ball and is a playmaker. He will be a steal for a team in the 3rd or 4th round. What Sash brings to the table is his leadership and his intangibles. He is a hard-hitter who I would compare to a cleanup hitter. He makes the most of what others create. For example:

This is the best interception you will ever see in the history of football. I can say that with relative confidence. I remember watching this game live in Minneapolis with my dad, another game I will never forget, and we left our hotel room at halftime thinking the game was over. That play kept Iowa in the game, and they went on to dominate in the second half and turn their season around, really.

The Hawkeyes were able to come back in that Indiana game thanks large in part to the contributions of one Ricky Stanzi, “America’s” quarterback. Stanzi reminds me a lot of Kyle Orton. He does a lot of things very well, but he’s not a master of anything. He has better athleticism than Orton, but Stanzi is a mechanically sound quarterback, he is very smart, he has three years of starting experience in a pro style offense, and he is not going to make a ton of mistakes.

I think Stanzi could creep into the third round, and the word from scouts today was that Stanzi has locked up a spot in the third or fourth round. He didn’t “wow” anyone, per the reports, but as usual, Stanzi was solid. How about this for clutch?

Stanzi made some great passes in his Iowa career. But he had no better target than Derrell Johnson-Koulianos. “DJK” has been a popular talk around here at NFL Mocks. We have done an interview with him, scouting report, and we are one of very few, if any sites to rank him in our top 10 wide receivers. I have seen every game DJK has played in the last four seasons, and I believe completely that he will out-perform his draft position.

With his legal troubles at Iowa, DJK will likely not be a 2nd or 3rd round pick like he should, but I could see him easily going in the 4th round, and not much later than the 5th. DJK told us at NFL Mocks that he “lives for the money down” meaning he wants the ball in clutch situations. This guy is an intriguing combination of charisma and ability. He measured at 5’11” 1/2 and 200+ at his pro day on Monday, and ran a reported 4.5 second 40 yard dash.

Those are fantastic numbers for Johnson-Koulianos, statistically the best wide receiver in Iowa football history. Highlights cannot do it justice, because he did it for four straight years.

Those are the top players coming out of Iowa this year in the 2011 NFL Draft. If you have any questions, you can e-mail me at sayre111589@gmail.com, or reach me on Twitter @MHR_Sayre or @NFLMocks