 Marc MorehouseHi, I'm Marc Morehouse. I've covered sports for more than 15 years, mostly in Eastern Iowa. I've had Hayden Fry [...] |
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No. 39: WR Don Shumpert
Byline Caption: Iowa's Don Shumpert (8) pulls down a pass during the team's open practice Saturday, April 14, 2012 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. (Brian Ray/The Gazette-KCRG)
WIDE RECEIVER DON SHUMPERT
Arrival: Some careers feel as though they are on rocket skates. Wide receiver Don Shumpert will be a junior this season. This feels like maybe the quickest career in Iowa history. As a true freshman, the St. Louis native jumped in on kick coverage and maybe a few other special teams. He was in and out of the lineup with a toe injury.
Last season, he chipped in on special teams and smelled some real action when Keenan Davis injured an ankle and Marvin McNutt missed a few plays against Michigan State (I think it was Michigan State).
We are in love with numbers in our results society and Shumpert goes into his junior season without any. The 6-3, 190-pounder is still looking for his first career reception.
Without knowing how the wide receiver room works, you have to give Shumpert a “team-first” award. Not only did he run into action on special teams as a true freshman, he also slid over to wide receiver after originally being pegged to come in as a safety.
Most coaches will tell you they can work with that.
2012 Takeoff: You all saw Shumpert this spring. Filling in for injured Keenan Davis on the first team, he had four receptions for 59 yards. He also had a fumble on a short catch. After the scrimmage, wide receiver coach Erik Campbell had Shumpert, a junior, take a ball and do five push-ups every 5 yards all the way down the field.
The competition for No. 3 WR is always intense. There might not be another position on the team with such a clear “point A to point B” path. Today’s No. 3 WR is tomorrow’s McNutt.
During his spring press conference, Campbell didn’t say a whole lot about Shumpert, mentioning him behind senior Steven Staggs and junior Jordan Cotton. What you saw in spring was a receiver who could get behind the defense, but who also dropped a few passes and fumbled. Shumpert will have to shake the inconsistency tag.
The fact that he went in for Davis during the spring scrimmage says Shumpert is in the running for No. 3.
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Marc,
One of the several things that I appreciate about you is that your printed words are always measured, never harsh. You were kind in assessing Don’s spring practice results, or drops. I found the frequency of his drops discouraging, but I know it was simply one day, one practice.
However, ever since Eddie Hinkel graduated (back in the good old days when the Hawks caught everything and the Gophers dropped half of everything), Hawk receivers have been less reliable (or maybe more normal or more like other college receivers).
I think Ed set the bar high and spoiled me.
Thanks, Kent.
It’d be easy to say a junior should be doing this or that. But everyone moves a long at a different pace. Maybe Don becomes all-Big Ten as a senior. Maybe he’s a career special teamer. Does that make him a bad player? Absolutely not.
Am I horrible at my job because I’ve never won a Pulitzer? Maybe a bad example.
As close as I’ve been to it at times, I can never begin to understand the heat of the crucible of competition that goes on between those lines. It measures you in ways few of us can imagine.
I go back to something Norm Parker said a few years ago. Just getting to the team and being on the sideline is a massive achievement. Value everyone.
I think Don will surprise us this year but what isnt surprising are googles ads right in the middle of the article. Whats next, ads that pop up and take over you screen with no option to minimize or close? Oh Wait……