If you’re familiar with the Iowa Hawkeyes, you know the phrase “next man in” all too well.

Whether it’s because of injuries or losing seniors to graduation, Kirk Ferentz and his staff are always expecting the second and third-stringers to be ready when their names are called.

Last season, several players seized the opportunity to “break out” after spots opened up on the depth chart and others simply put together fantastic seasons. Players such as RBs Adam Robinson, Brandon Wegher, Marvin McNutt and Tyler Sash come to mind.

Everybody knows the Hawkeyes lost some key athletes to graduation and the NFL Draft. Now it’s time for others to step up to the plate swinging for the fences. Who will it be this year? Here’s a list of who I believe could surprise with great seasons.

1. Jeff Tarpinian LB, Senior, 6-foot-3 238 pounds

It can be hard waiting for a chance to show what you’ve got, especially when the wait finally ends your senior year.

That’s the situation Jeff Tarpinian faces as he assumes the middle linebacker position for the Hawkeyes. But Tarpinian has already given us glimpses of what he can do on special teams the past few years.

Tarpinian was a force to reckoned with on special teams last year for Iowa–just ask Michigan’s Darryl Stronum.

Watch the video below. At about 1:53, you’ll see what I mean.

Big Ten opponents will be seeing No. 33 in their sleep for years to come if Tarpinian has anymore hits like that in him.

2. Keenan Davis WR, Sophomore, 6-foot-3 215 pounds

I’ll admit I expected more out of Davis last season. Whether something didn’t click or there was too much talent ahead of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa native on the depth chart, I was disappointed.

Last season, Davis caught only four balls for 55 yards, but did have a touchdown. His average of 13.8 yards per carry isn’t at all bad, though the fact that he only had four catches has to be considered when looking at that stat.

With a year under his belt, however, my expectations remain high. At 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, Davis is too great a physical specimen to be held back.

The final depth chart coming out of spring practice shows Davis as a second-team receiver. Perhaps where Davis might have a better chance at finding success this season is at the kick returner position. He’s listed as a starter there along with Derrell Johnson-Koulianos–who could be a big reason Davis’ true break out season comes next year.

3. Allen Reisner TE, Senior, 6-foot-3 248 pounds

Reisner, like Tarpinian, is another senior who has given us glimpses of what he can do but was held back only because of the talent ahead of him.

Well, he’s the next man in at tight end for the Hawkeyes.

Two years ago, Reisner hauled in 11 catches for 200 yards and one touchdown but had to compete with Brandon Myers and Tony Moeaki for playing time. Last season, Reisner upped his catch total to 14 for 143 yards and one touchdown but again had to play behind Moeaki–who put toghther a first-team all-Big Ten year.

Now Reisner finds himself all alone at the top of the depth chart. Don’t expect the Marion native to disappoint.

4. Colin Sandeman WR, Senior, 6-foot-1 200 pounds

In a way, Colin Sandeman had a mini-break out year last season. He posted career highs of 14 catches and 136 yards. He also tried his hand at punt returns and was probably one of the most successful at it until injuries forced him out of the role.

Another senior, Sandeman insn’t flashy but he’s got sure hands and is a bit of an underdog.

The spring depth chart lists him as first-team punt returner and second team receiver.

Who did I miss? Let me know by leaving a comment or reply @iowahawkeyeblog on Twitter.

Marcus Grant of Lawrence Academy (Danvers, Massachusetts) tweeted over the weekend that his teammate Mike Orloff would be joining him in Iowa City. Hawkeye Insider’s coverage of Mike Orloff:

• 2011 Hawk Commit Say H.S. Teammate Joining Him
• Mike Orloff Happy to Be a Hawkeye

Orloff is a 6-foot-2, 215 pound LB/QB. Scout has him listed as a MLB. Rivals has him at ATH.

Here’s a link to an ESPN video of Orloff airing it out. He’s got wheels, too.

Last year Orloff showed off his versatility,  throwing for 1,093 yards and 12 TDs with a completion percentage 65.6 percent. He also carried the ball 55 times for 592 yards (9.62 average) and eight TDs. He averaged 51.5 yards per game with his legs.   On the other end of the ball, Orloff average eight tackles per game and had a season total of 72.

Scout does not have a rating for Orloff but Rivals puts him at two stars. Louisville also offered Orloff a scholarship. Eastern schools such as Penn State, Stanford, Boston College and Harvard showed interest–thought the last school was interesting.

Riley McMinn is not only the Iowa Hawkeyes’ 10th commitment, but a budding YouTube star as well. Here’s a picture for reference. Now, watch the video.

Don’t tell me that’s not him! It gets better. He’s no “one hit wonder.”

So, there’s good news and bad news with this video. I’ll just stick to the good. Riley will be playing defense and there will be no second attempt at dodging dudes in gorilla suits.

It’s all in good fun, Riley. Nice moves. Look forward to seeing you in black and gold.

Riley McMinn of Rochester High School (Illinois) became the 10th verbal commitment for the Iowa Hawkeyes last weekend, Hawkeye Insider reported.

McMinn is a 6-foot-7, 220 pound DE. He’s ranked three stars by both Scout and Rivals.

If he bulks up over his senior year and his first years of college, we could soon see a monster breathing down the necks of Big Ten quarterbacks. Once McMinn is officially a Hawkeye, he will have two inches on the next biggest defensive players–d-linemen Christian Ballard, Carl Davis and Mike Hardy–who are all 6-foot-5.

Can’t wait to see how this young man develops.

According to HI, McMinn took the Hawkeyes over Boston College and offers from a plethora of teams, including several Big Ten foes.

Also of note is that McMinn is only the second commit who plays defense.

Here’s the full Hawkeye Insider article (no login needed!).

Click here for the Hawkeye Insider article on Duzey’s decision.

Duzey is a 6-foot-4, 215 lb TE/H-Back/WR from Athens H.S. in Troy, Michigan. Duzey is rated three stars by both Scout and Rivals. He picked Iowa over Cincinnati, Michigan State, Oregon, Purdue and several other programs.

Check out iowahawkeyesblog on YouTube for more videos.

Don’t forget Jacob Rudock!

In all the news about Ray Hamilton and  John Raymon voicing their commitments to the program, Jacob Rudock, a quarterback out of St. Thomas Aquinas H.S. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida who also signed on June 30 was left out of the news. Rudock was also holding offers from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Memphis, Illinois and Colorado.

That seems a little foolish as Ricky Stanzi is about to enter his senior year. Who knows, we may be looking at James Vandenberg’s replacement, or maybe someone who will get some action a little sooner than expected.

Rudock is a 6-foot-3, 190 pound “pro-style” quarterback. Here’s what Scout.com posted:

“Rudock is a more of a pro style QB that has the athleticism to move around in the pocket and pick up some yards with his feet. He is very cerebral, consistently making excellent reads, and can deliver the ball accurately and in rhythm to all levels of the field. He has the height at 6’3, now he needs to start filling out his frame. He possesses great touch when throwing down the field.”

-Geoff Vogt, Florida Recruiting Analyst

Scout has Rudock listed as a two-star quarterback. Rivals, on the other hand, bumps that ranking up to three. According to Rivals’ stats, Rudock completed 128 of 197 pass attempts for 1,945 yards, 34 TDs and 5 interceptions last season on the way to leading his team to the Class 5A state semifinals.

Rivals also records Rudock’s 40 time at 4.8.

What’s could be more telling of this young man is the 4.3 GPA reported by Rivals. Don’t get me started about grade inflation, but hey, it’s still impressive.

Many times, good grades point the way to a leader. We can hope this is the case here. Scout claims one of Rudock’s strengths to be his leadership, as well as decision making and intelligence. The site also says Rudock has room for improvement in his size.

Unless he’s not your typical high school athlete and just has a knack for staying scrawny, he’ll pack on some muscle when he makes the next step. He might also get a move on that during his senior year of high school.

Jacob Rudock in action:

Visit the YouTube page for more Jacob Rudock videos.

Wednesday has been a busy day for the Iowa Hawkeyes, as they added two new commitments to their 2011 recruiting class.

Ray Hamilton, a TE out of  Strongsville H.S. in Ohio, and John Raymon, a DE/TE from Council Rock H.S. North (Newtown, PA), pledged their allegiances to the black and gold this afternoon.

Hamilton is ranked a three-star recruit by both Scout and Rivals. He is a big kid at 6-foot-5, 230 pounds but can move, claiming a 4.70 40-yard dash. What’s most impressive is the list of schools Hamilton turned down to become a Hawkeye. That list includes Boston College, California, Cincinnati, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Stanford, West Virginia and Wisconsin–among others.

Scoutingohio.com has some good video footage of Hamilton in action. Looks like your typical Iowa tight end–and that’s saying something.

Raymon is listed primarily as a DE. He’s only a couple of pounds bigger than Hamilton at 235 and is 6-foot-5, as well. Neither Rivals or Scout hasRaymon ranked but he attracted offers from Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina State, Purdue, Temple and West Virginia.

Iowa Recruiting Review

Not including Raymon, as his main position is presumably DE, five of the Hawkeyes’ seven commitments are either TEs or WRs. Raymon is the first defensive recruit. This will even itself out but I’d like to see the Hawkeyes make a splash with some higher-ranked defensive recruits, mainly defensive linemen (like Raymon) and linebackers. Looking at the latest depth chart from Rivals, a lot of seniors pop up at those two positions–first and second string.

In another note, it’s always good to see home-grown kids on the list. The Hawkeyes have welcomed two Iowa natives to the team, OL Austin Blythe (Williamsburg) and TE Henry Kreiger-Coble (Mt. Pleasant).

Rivals has Blythe listed as Iowa’s only four-star recruit so far. Scout ranks Blythe three-stars.

According to Rivals, Iowa has recruited fairly well with Blythe (four stars) and JaCorey Shepherd (WR), Ray Hamilton (RB), and Marcus Grant (RB) all ranked at three stars. With Blythe ranked only three stars and Grant dropped to two on Scout, the Hawkeyes look as though they’ve done an average job recruiting this offseason–but it’s hard to tell and there’s still a long way to go.

Here are links to the sites’ Iowa recruit lists:

Scout

Rivals

Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes will once again find themselves playing “catch-up” with Ohio State in terms of recruiting. The Buckeyes have already claimed two five-star and seven four-star players, according the Scout.

Hope that didn’t ruin your evening.

I’m just going to come out and say it. Track is an awesome sport.

It’s even more awesome when I have the chance to attend as a member of the media (for the Iowa Sports Connection, not my blog) and get a front row seat to watch the spectacular display of athletics. Aside from all the excitement, I also got to watch several future Iowa Hawkeyes tear up the Blue Oval at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

Here is a list of the future Hawkeyes and how they fared at State.

Austin Blythe, Williamsburg, Class 3A (2011 OL Recruit)

Shot Put: 7th

Discus: 15th

John Chelf, Iowa City High, Class 4A (2010 WR Walk-on)

400 Meter Hurdles: 10th

Shuttle Hurdle Relay: 10th in Preliminaries (Team did not advance to finals)

Blake Haluska, Carroll, Class 3A (2010 QB Walk-on)

100 Meter Dash: 11th in Preliminaries (Did not advance)

200 Meter Dash: 16th in Preliminaries (Did not advance)

Tanner Miller, Mid-Prairie, Class 2A (2010 S Recruit)

Tanner Miller gets set for the start of the Class 2A 400 Meter Hurdles

110 Meter Hurdles: 2nd

400 Meter Hurdles: 1st

200 Meter Dash: 2nd

4×400 Meter Relay: 4th

James Morris, Solon, Class 2A (2010 LB Recruit)

4×100 Meter Relay: 1st

4×200 Meter Relay: 2nd

Shuttle Hurdle Relay: 2nd

Shot Put: 4th

Brandon Scherff, Denison-Schleswig, Class 3A (2010 OL Recruit)

Shot Put: 1st

Discus: 3rd

Iowa Prep Sports — Iowa Hawkeyes OL recruit Austin Blythe (Williamsburg H.S.) and Christian French (Cedar Rapids Kennedy) have been nominated to participate in next year’s U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

For the full story, click here.

Williamsburg, Iowa product Austin Blythe is the Iowa Hawkeyes’ third recruit for the 2011 recruiting season. The 6-foot-3 275-pounder is listed by Scout as a three-star OG and was recruited by the Hawkeyes to fill the offensive trenches.

The website ranks Blythe as the 28th overall OG. According to Scout, Blythe had scholarship offers to play ball from Iowa State, Kansas State, Stanford and Wisconsin.

Blythe is not rated by Rivals.

All of Iowa’s recruits thus far have been from the offensive side of the ball. Blythe played both sides of the line but excelled as a guard, where he was a Class 2A all-state selection.

Blythe is also a two-time defending champion in wrestling…any other Iowa wrestling fans licking their chops? His accomplishments are enough to get any fan of the mat excited.

It’s doubtful, however, that Kirk Ferentz will allow Blythe to pull double duty. The last Hawkeye to do that was reserve fullback/linebacker Jordan McLaughlin in the 2006-07 season after the wrestling squad suffered multiple injuries at 197 and Hwt.

McLaughlin debuted with a pin, imagine what Blythe could do.

For now, Blythe is expected to merely put his wrestling skills to use at the guard or possibly center position for the Hawkeyes. It may be best to just focus on football anyway.

Check out the rest of Iowa’s 2011 recruits here.