[Music] just about 36 hours out from Iowa's contest against the Illinois State Redbirds to kick off the 2024 season we've had all kinds of preseason coverage right here from the Hawkeye of the storm a couple of things I want to let you know about if you're not familiar with our playlists for one being the press conferences playlist which includes all of our interviews from media day they're all up on the channel if you click on from the Hawkeye of the storm on YouTube then click on playlists and find press conferences you'll find all of my interviews with select Hawkeye players back in mid August plus if you have not checked out the 2024 season preview I recorded with Coach Don Patterson former Hawkeye assistant coach Don Patterson we sat down for almost three hours talking about the Hawkeyes in a two-part special be sure to watch that you can find that under playlist and Brat's branded thoughts that's the brand Ed podcast here from the Hawkeye of the storm check it all out under playlist here on YouTube also if you are not subscribed I've been making this plea be sure you subscribe I don't normally do this but take a look at this analytic from a recent video about half of our viewers from a recent video are not subscribed check out this number pretty incredible when you think about it as we near 10,000 and yet half of the viewers this is a pretty typical number have not yet subscribed please if you're a Hawkeye fan folks be sure you subscribe it does help the channel immensely and more and more coverage more and more features here as the number continues to grow let's hit 10,000 ASAP right here from the Hawkeye of the storm so as we approach kickoff let's talk about injuries there was some Scuttle last night on Kirk ference's appearance on Hawk talk which is Gary dolphin and L fields midweek show with the head man for the Hawkeyes who will not be with the team Saturday morning for a kickoff due to a suspension but Kirk did mention that they have dealt with some injuries during this final week of prep they're obviously going full contact now and injuries are a part of the game no official word on the severity of any he hoped at least he expressed last night that he hoped most guys would be able to play on Saturday I had made mention to our premium subscribers throughout the month of August of a couple of injuries that I had been made aware of but nothing too serious that I am A Ware of at this point but with that being said last year the injury bug really hit Iowa once the season got underway You could argue Iowa's three most important players went down in Cade mcamera Luke Lee and later Eric all so who are the most indispensable players on the 2024 version of the Iowa roster and I almost guarantee you my number one will surprise you perhaps my entire group of five will surprise you because an important position not listed let's start start with number five my fifth most indispensable player and this may surprise a lot of people it's Jacob Gil yes I know this wide receiver group has not really proven anything Gil has not proven anything in a game but all I keep hearing about is his leadership within that room and it's a young group of players that desperately need a guy to look at as an example and to lead the way and right now I think he's the number one guy not only ahead of Seth Anderson Jared Buie Kaden ouen Ree vanders but also Caleb Brown and who knows what production Iowa will get out of the wide receiver room this year but I do think the leadership of Jacob Gil and his ability to make plays in big situations I think we'll see that I think he's seasoned enough and obviously has the big 10 experience at Northwestern to be a very important person in the fry of a very crowded room with a bunch of unproven talent at wide receiver how about number four reys daon another guy who's never officially played for Iowa but how can we not list Iowa's punter after the importance that Tory Taylor showed over the last four seasons he of course is now with the Chicago Bears but re taken a lot of hype around this freshman who came from the same Australia kicking camp as Tor Taylor did and daen has really turned heads in preseason Ty Nissen is behind him but does not have the leg and the leg Talent overall that ree daken has Iowa is still going to be very Reliant on good special teams play D is my number four on my top five most indispensable and we come to a guy that got hurt last year it's not Kade mcamera but it's Luke Lee who may be Iowa's best overall their best offensive player on this team he's certainly one of their most proven a lot of hype around the offensive line but a lot of guys who have not met expectation as of yet I'd say the same thing about Cade mcamera at quarterback and certainly all the wide receivers on this team pretty healthy at running back we've discussed it but Luke Lea is going to be in line for a lot of targets his ability to block in this new running Attack under the Tim Lester lead will certainly be big and he's got a chance to Vault up draft boards as this season progresses and he wants to get back out there he hasn't been off the field for this long in quite some time now he's been back for several months but I'm talking about the injury he sustained in September of 2023 and the amount of time it took for him to get back healthy and he opted to come back when he probably still could have been drafted hey his counterpart Eric all got drafted in the fourth round by the Bengals in spite of a season ending knee injury Luke Lee comes in at number three number two Sebastian Castro the suburban Chicago native boy no proven experience behind him right now John Nester the red shirt freshman is listed as his backup at cash but that 425 concept continues to be more and more important as offense def has changed and Phil Parker's done a nice job of getting the next guy in whenever somebody graduates but they've maintained Health there from Gino Stone to Amman hooker to danne Belton it's rare they have to go to number two Sebastian Castro throws his body around he is like a missile Reckless abandonment is a term we hear when we watch him and I'm telling you this right now folks he is of utmost importance his health is of utmost importance and he may end up being considered the best player on this team as a whole and that's a lot to be said when you have guys like Jay Higgins Luke Lee even Nick Jackson and hopefully a very talented group on the line up front on defense and on offense and that brings me to number one and this may throw everybody for a loop but it's Iowa's Place kicker Drew Stevens they have no proven experience they have nothing behind Drew Stevens with all due respect to trip Woody he may turn out to be a great power four big 10 kicker someday and hopefully that's for Iowa but as I mentioned to my premium members here what a week or two ago he's been dealing with a bit of an injury and that means that Alec Wick is really the only other guy who would be in line for Place kicking duties if Drew Stevens were to go down now it sounds like trip Woody is trying to get some work in now but he struggled during Camp when he was healthy as a true freshman there's just nobody behind Stevens and I get it like it's rare that you have great kicking depth but I just worry about the amount of depth lack thereof right now behind your Stevens Stevens dealt with a little bit of an injury during the season last year sounds like he's maybe been kicking through some pain would not be surprised to see him do that again in 2024 look they need him to stay healthy the kicking game is so important not just kickoffs we know returns have become less and less a part of college football but boy your ability to put three points on the board in low-scoring games is of utmost importance and everybody hey you have a right to your opinion if you disagree with that estimation but to me when I look at most indispensable I look at a guy you can least afford to lose and Drew Stevens what are you GNA do without Drew Stevens tell me I mean is it g to be a trip Woody who struggled with injuries and has struggled with accuracy and distance throughout fall Camp are you g to bring in a wide receiver who kicked in high school they absolutely need Drew Stevens to stay healthy and and he will be instrumental in Iowa's success because I think he's going to be pretty good this year when put in a position to score so those are my top five most indispensable players on the 2024 version of the Iowa Hawkeyes and yes game one is Saturday 11:00 a central Time join this channel for Iowa postgame with Coach Don Patterson following the game and then a second part of that show Sunday night with Coach Patterson we've got you covered all weekend long following the game