OT: Former Players

fourthandshort

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 17, 2017
Messages
9,700
Congrats to John Ridgeway on being drafted. Unfortunately for him, it’s to the Cowboys but an accomplishment, nonetheless.
5th round ... good for him. The FBS transfer made sense and worked out for him. Though thinking he would have gotten a shot even if he stayed at ISU. Though not as definite if he hadn't proven himself in SEC .. meaning, he might have gone route of Jame Robinson, and not gotten drafted at all and have to go underpaid less promising UDFA route.
 

MadBird

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 16, 2017
Messages
4,730
Location
Madison, Wisconsin
5th round ... good for him. The FBS transfer made sense and worked out for him. Though thinking he would have gotten a shot even if he stayed at ISU. Though not as definite if he hadn't proven himself in SEC .. meaning, he might have gone route of Jame Robinson, and not gotten drafted at all and have to go underpaid less promising UDFA route.
Well, I told Mrs. MadBird today that he would have went about in the fifth if he had stayed at ISU and I'm convinced he would have, maybe I'm wrong one J. Ridgeway would have made that much difference, but the 2021 ISU team would have done much better with #99 in the middle and he would have had great exposure and so forth, and had a great pro day and like I say, would have ended up about the same. No way to know for sure. And really doesn't matter, good for him, he worked his tail off for what he got.
 

fourthandshort

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 17, 2017
Messages
9,700
Devin Taylor signed with Washington as a UDFA
Good for him ... he was a good one.

Loved that 2019 secondary: Devin Taylor, Luthor Kirk, Christian Uphoff, Charles Wood, and now add Clayton Isbell to the list of FBS transfers / NFL prospects from that 2019 DB group. Uphoff got close with Packers, and many there were surprised he didn't make the roster. Curious if he will get another shot.

Plus DE Romeo McKnight and DT John Ridgeway from our DL group.

Pandemic and transfer portal were hard on our 2019 defense returnees. Yet, our defense showed a lot in fall of 2021 ... surprised me for sure - I had concerns it would be more like 2013 and would take half a season to develop. They showed promise very early on despite our anemic offense not helping do their part.
 
Last edited:

Total Red

Well-known member
Staff member
Joined
Jul 17, 2017
Messages
3,143
Location
One mile west of Hancock
Good for him ... he was a good one.

Loved that 2019 secondary: Devin Taylor, Luthor Kirk, Christian Uphoff, Charles Wood, and now add Clayton Isbell to the list of FBS transfers / NFL prospects from that 2019 group. Uphoff got close with Packers, and many there were surprised he didn't make the roster. Curious if he will get another shot.

Plus DE Romeo McKnight and DT John Ridgeway from our DL group.

Pandemic and transfer portal were hard on our 2019 defense returnees. Yet, our defense showed a lot in fall of 2021 ... surprised me for sure - I had concerns it would be more like 2013 and would take half a season to develop. They showed promise very early on despite our anemic offense not helping do their part.
The defense did have some truly great moments last fall. A lot gets forgotten in a losing season but it deserves to be remembered. The N. Iowa game was epic. N. Iowa had a big, nasty O-Line led by Trevor Penning 6'7 325. He was projected to be a 1st round draft choice and that proved to be true. He was the drafted by the Saints in the 1st round #19 pick.
Our D-front was unfazed by the big uglies of UNI and they gave them nothing. N. Iowa was scoreless through the first 3 quarters and Illinois State led most of the way after Isbell got an early pick 6. Tied 10-10 in OT the offense finally got a spark from the passing game with Waring finding Nagel for the winning score. N. Iowa scored just 10 pts in a OT game. Iowa St. (Big12) was the only other team to hold N. Iowa to 10 and the Redbirds held the Panthers to 4.4 yards per play while Iowa St. gave 4.6 per play. Awesome day for the defense, Coach Niekamp and the entire defensive staff.
 

Total Red

Well-known member
Staff member
Joined
Jul 17, 2017
Messages
3,143
Location
One mile west of Hancock
Well, I told Mrs. MadBird today that he would have went about in the fifth if he had stayed at ISU
I'll agree. James O'Shaughnessy certainly wasn't hurt by playing for the Redbirds. Shag went at #173 in the 5th round, 5 places ahead of where Ridgeway was drafted - #178 in the 5th.

Others will point to James Robinson having to go the free agent route. I don't think FCS ball hurt James as much as playing on team without much of a passing game his senior year. James had more attractive #s his junior year when the Redbirds had a more effective passing attack. In 2018 Davis and Kolbe completed 58.5% of passes for 2391 yards passing in just 11 games. Robinson averaged 6.3 yards per carry in a multi-dimensional attack. In 2019 the Davis/Jefferson led passing game fell to 49.3% passing and just 1767 yards passing in 15 games. The offense became one dimensional and while Robinson gained more yardage than the year before, his rushing average dropped over a full yard per carry to 5.2. Robinson had to run against defenses stacked to stop him his senior year and I believe that led the NFL to see him as a "grinder", a back to carry the ball on 3rd and 2 but not an everydown back with big play potential. It's true that James lacks the breakaway speed that some NFL backs have but he definitely has big play ability. He's shown that and it has worked out ok for him.

All that leaves me intrigued and hopeful for the Redbird offense in '22. Annexstad could lead a revitalized passing attack and a return to a multi-dimensional offense that will give backs like Cole Mueller a boost. Mueller, like Robinson, averaged a very acceptable 5.2 yards per carry against defenses stacked to stop the run. If Annexstad can pick defenses apart with quick, accurate passes, the running game will benefit and Mueller and Co. could return to the 6 yards per carry mark, not to mention more points and more victories.
 

Dmills

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 6, 2020
Messages
1,738
The defense did have some truly great moments last fall. A lot gets forgotten in a losing season but it deserves to be remembered. The N. Iowa game was epic. N. Iowa had a big, nasty O-Line led by Trevor Penning 6'7 325. He was projected to be a 1st round draft choice and that proved to be true. He was the drafted by the Saints in the 1st round #19 pick.
Our D-front was unfazed by the big uglies of UNI and they gave them nothing. N. Iowa was scoreless through the first 3 quarters and Illinois State led most of the way after Isbell got an early pick 6. Tied 10-10 in OT the offense finally got a spark from the passing game with Waring finding Nagel for the winning score. N. Iowa scored just 10 pts in a OT game. Iowa St. (Big12) was the only other team to hold N. Iowa to 10 and the Redbirds held the Panthers to 4.4 yards per play while Iowa St. gave 4.6 per play. Awesome day for the defense, Coach Niekamp and the entire defensive staff.
I thought there were several times where Zeke made Penning look silly during that game. I think he got pretty frustrated and got into it with our D line a couple of times. I thought he was pretty much a non-factor in that game. He did not look like a first rounder based on what I saw from that game, but good for him. Excited to watch Zeke play for one last go around this year. Hoping for big things out of him.

Zeke was player of the week that week btw:
"Vandenburgh played the best game of his career when the Redbirds needed it the most to pick up their second-straight win over a ranked opponent. The junior from Freeport, Illinois, recorded a career-high 14 tackles, added two sacks and tallied a career-best 3.0 tackles-for-loss for the Redbirds. He took down UNI quarterback Theo Day twice in the contest and also added a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry in the contest, as the Redbirds recorded a season-high six sacks as a team."

 

fourthandshort

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 17, 2017
Messages
9,700
The defense did have some truly great moments last fall. A lot gets forgotten in a losing season but it deserves to be remembered. The N. Iowa game was epic. N. Iowa had a big, nasty O-Line led by Trevor Penning 6'7 325. He was projected to be a 1st round draft choice and that proved to be true. He was the drafted by the Saints in the 1st round #19 pick.
Our D-front was unfazed by the big uglies of UNI and they gave them nothing. N. Iowa was scoreless through the first 3 quarters and Illinois State led most of the way after Isbell got an early pick 6. Tied 10-10 in OT the offense finally got a spark from the passing game with Waring finding Nagel for the winning score. N. Iowa scored just 10 pts in a OT game. Iowa St. (Big12) was the only other team to hold N. Iowa to 10 and the Redbirds held the Panthers to 4.4 yards per play while Iowa St. gave 4.6 per play. Awesome day for the defense, Coach Niekamp and the entire defensive staff.
agreed on the 2021 fall defense .. there were many games where our defense was strong or dominant for 2-3 qtrs, but faded as the game wore on .. usually because the offense wasn't able to sustain drives very often. We dominated highly ranked SIU for entire half into Q3, and a few others.

Others correctly predicted the defense would be ready .. I was less optimistic thinking it would take half of season to find ourselves ... like 2013.

I'm looking forward to seeing our entire young roster "age up" this fall ... we had a lot of young uns on the field last fall.
 

DaveBird10

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 17, 2017
Messages
1,389
5th round ... good for him. The FBS transfer made sense and worked out for him. Though thinking he would have gotten a shot even if he stayed at ISU. Though not as definite if he hadn't proven himself in SEC .. meaning, he might have gone route of Jame Robinson, and not gotten drafted at all and have to go underpaid less promising UDFA route.
Well, I told Mrs. MadBird today that he would have went about in the fifth if he had stayed at ISU and I'm convinced he would have, maybe I'm wrong one J. Ridgeway would have made that much difference, but the 2021 ISU team would have done much better with #99 in the middle and he would have had great exposure and so forth, and had a great pro day and like I say, would have ended up about the same. No way to know for sure. And really doesn't matter, good for him, he worked his tail off for what he got.

I agree with MadBird on Ridgeway, I was happy to see Ridgeway get drafted but not sure the FBS route helped him that much. Eric Johnson the DT from Missouri State got drafted in the 5th round pick number 159 by the Colts, that was a roughly 10-15 picks before Ridgeway. I love Ridgeway and how he plays but the NFL wants D-tackles and D-Lineman who have speed and can get up the field, get in the gaps and rush the passer. That's not really Ridgeway game.
 

fourthandshort

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 17, 2017
Messages
9,700
I agree with MadBird on Ridgeway, I was happy to see Ridgeway get drafted but not sure the FBS route helped him that much. Eric Johnson the DT from Missouri State got drafted in the 5th round pick number 159 by the Colts, that was a roughly 10-15 picks before Ridgeway. I love Ridgeway and how he plays but the NFL wants D-tackles and D-Lineman who have speed and can get up the field, get in the gaps and rush the passer. That's not really Ridgeway game.
Not as sure, the SEC experience had to have helped, and only got him in 5th round ... but I'm splitting hairs and it doesn't matter any more .. good for him, not good for us.

That said, if you asked the Bison coaches, players, and fans ... they would have pegged him as definite draftee. He had several very good games against the Bison .. manhandling their interior OL. He got kudos a couple times over on AGS ... and especially on Bisonville when I used to creep on their site after game days.
 

MadBird

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 16, 2017
Messages
4,730
Location
Madison, Wisconsin
Tim McCloyn, our bruising FB, is listed in today's Chicago Tribune as having a "rookie tryout" for the Bears, during the current mini-camp. Sweet.

Someone else will have to explain the difference between an "undrafted free agent" and a "rookie minicamp tryout".
 

Total Red

Well-known member
Staff member
Joined
Jul 17, 2017
Messages
3,143
Location
One mile west of Hancock
Tim McCloyn, our bruising FB, is listed in today's Chicago Tribune as having a "rookie tryout" for the Bears, during the current mini-camp. Sweet.

Someone else will have to explain the difference between an "undrafted free agent" and a "rookie minicamp tryout".
Wishing Tim well in his pursuit of NFL football.
 

MadBird

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 16, 2017
Messages
4,730
Location
Madison, Wisconsin
Good story from the Naperville Sun about O'Shaughnessy coming to the Bears. Hope you all can see it and not behind a paywall:

 
Top Bottom