2011 NFL Draft Breakout Candidate: Iowa Quarterback James Vandenberg

For the first time in almost two decades, the Iowa Hawkeyes had a quarterback selected in the NFL Draft when the Kansas City Chiefs picked up former three year starter Ricky Stanzi in the fourth round back in April. Also for the first time in a long time, the Hawkeyes have stability coming in at the quarterback position when a long-tenured starter leaves school.

Redshirt junior James Vandenberg is set to take over as the signal caller of the Hawkeyes, and while he may not be in the national spotlight right now, by year’s end, he could be.

Vandenberg has only seen limited action with the Hawkeyes, taking over for an injured Stanzi in a loss to Northwestern two years ago, and then on the road against Ohio State the following week. Vandenberg threw three interceptions in the loss to Ohio State when the Big Ten title was on the line, but he showed a lot of guts and made some great throws in that game, and really he didn’t make all that many mistakes as some of the interceptions he threw were not his fault.

As a high school player, Vandenberg became one of the most prolific quarterbacks in Iowa high school football history. As a senior in 2007, he threw 49 touchdowns to only seven interceptions, and completed just under 70 percent of his passes.

Now, the Iowa coaching staff is raving about Vandenberg’s work ethic, and his accuracy this Spring. Of course, his abilities and performance will be really tested come time for the regular season to start, but Vandenberg appears to be the type of quarterback that doesn’t buckle under pressure. He seems to be the kind of player who relishes the spotlight, and always wants the ball in his hands.

At 6’3″ and about 215 pounds, he has the ideal size for an NFL quarterback, and he’s a pretty good athlete. If you check out Vandenberg’s highlights from the Ohio State game in 2009, you can see that he has a really strong arm and good accuracy. At about 0:55 you will see Vandenberg rolling out to his left, where he makes a phenomenal, NFL-caliber throw on the run to Trey Stross–a senior at the time–and it hits Stross in a terrible place:  the numbers.

In the fourth quarter of this game, he leads the Hawkeyes down the field for a game-tying drive but he also makes two pretty awful throws. He gets bailed out by Chiefs tight end Tony Moeaki late in the game, who grabs a ball that gets tipped in the air by what seems like three Ohio State defenders.

Vandenberg has a chance to be a great quarterback for the Hawkeyes, and the offense could even be more aggressive with him at the helm.