Agree would deffenitly benefit but worse case scenario he would at least be more competitive then current backups
Recruiting….
- Thread starter Lightweight87
- Start date
Batista is gone next year so it'll be between Herrera & Merrill. We'll be just fine without Herrera
I was thinking he was a Jr but if he is coming in next year I take back no backup plan at 285. I do think Mocco would have a lot of difficulty with the bigger college 285s through his true freshman year.
You’d only switch now (or next year) if it’s what’s best for Block.
He’s in control based on his performance thus far, but if he feels good at 49 there’s no reason to force a move.
If Ben decides to give up a year of eligibility to really concentrate on football, we should see if our athletic director would let us bring in AJ in for his senior year. There is no way after having no problems for 2 years at 2 programs he would do anything to blow it his senior year at the program he really wanted to be at with his brother. I think Ben redshirted in both sports his freshman year, then intentionally gave up one year of football eligibility, then missed another one this year, which he could probably get a medical shirt for. That would still only be 3 years for football, so he better start putting in a lot of time if he wants to have a chance at the NFL.
If he wrestles well against Vanness, stay 149, especially with Henson out of the weight class. He definitely has the frame to easily add more good weight in the off season and not have to cut much, but Henson will be 157 next year, and PSU will have one of their studs there also. Would be interesting to see him go up against Bo at 149 next year to see if his length, experience and riding ability could neutralize his insane attacking.
That’d be fine by me, but I don’t think Beth would ever agree to it. Mocco should be a AA contender right away, so we would be okay.
It’s incredibly difficult to have multiple guys switch weights mid season and have any successes, let alone high level success. A vast majority of the time weight changes are a full off season process.
Dan Vallimont is one of the more recent examples that comes to mind. He had a great year as a sophomore going 32-3 to take 3rd. All 3 of those losses were very competitive against Poeta.
The following year he started off at 157 and switched to 165 in Mid January. He ended up 22-12 and missed the podium.
Then, his senior season, he would make the finals, losing to Howe.
Unless a guy is having that hard of a time making a weight, you just don’t mess with lineups this far into the season. Even then, the guy better be that good to mess around with multiple weights…
Once upon a time I (kind of) understood the continued fascination with AJ Ferrari.
Now? I can’t fathom why Iowa would go down that road - for team and administrative reasons.
A redshirt would be really nice for him. Ross and Merrill will be going as true freshman, would also give him a year of separation from them. I guess the big question is would Ben take a year off wrestling to see how good he can become in football. Any thoughts on that.
I can't speak to Kueter's attitude toward football - other than that he's previously spoken about wanting to return to the sport.
But I'd imagine any such return would also be informed by the prognosis for his getting playing time once there.
And while (again) I can't speak authoritatively to that end, I would remind folks that Iowa has amassed a whole host of talented linebackers (and defensive ends) over the past few recruiting classes.
Assuming Kueter stepped back on the practice field next spring, it'd be his first time in two full years. And while I'd never rule out the possibility for him to make his mark in some form or fashion, it certainly wouldn't be my prediction based upon all of the contextual factors.
BK didnt crack the FB 2 deep before. The young crop of LBs behind him - Cam Buffington, Preston Ries, and Derek Weiskopf - are the most talented group of LBs to come into the program in a long, long time.
He’d play DE, but we’ve got some talented guys there too.
Phenomenal HS athlete for Iowa. Truth is his full season freshman can play alot without burning RS. He didnt see a minute on field. I think he should stick to wrestling. Give up FB dream
If it wasn’t so lucrative in college and especially in NFL, it would probably be an easier decision. It will be tough after 2 years away to jump right into full time starting role. Thought this year was worst linebacker crue we had in a while. If he would’nt have been recovering from hip surgery, this would have been an ideal season to break the line up. I was surprised Kirk didn’t get him in his 5 dates his true freshman year when he redshirted, especially on special teams?
a couple things happened. he went from looking like a 125/133 to a 133/141ish.
he didn't wrestle in his season championships (national preps)
and he didn't place at Fargo.
the drop from the 20's to 40 on the Big Board is really a fine line. there's plenty of time for him to solidify that.
the kid's always been a personal favorite of mine. he's a gamer, in my opinion. with the exception of that fargo, he always seems to turn it up a notch in major events. glad you landed him.
i text with his father briefly they day he posted it.
they were getting bombarded with people asking stuff so i kept it short. i'll follow up this week.
the short answer is...i don't know much more than what's already out there: tOSU, Tech and Rutgers. haven't heard anything on Iowa, but that's not to say there isn't something there.
Was he that interested in tech the first time around or is this the Bassett effect? Rutgers makes sense from location and lineup. tOSU is loaded at lightweight, so someone will probably be leaving. Mills could go back to Missouri. We obviously have a spot for him next year, but seems like tOSU is about as far west as he’s looking.
I don't know where Ben Kueter will end up on the Football Field, but count him out at your own peril. This kid was an extremely talented
multi- sport Athlete in Iowa's largest class.
If he can get and stay healthy, and wants to concentrate on Football, he'll find a spot playing on Saturdays in Kinnick IMO. Another athletic Iowa kid (smaller school class) who started out at South Dakota, Andrew Van Ginkel is currently a hybrid DE/Linebacker for the Vikings. He's 6'4" and 242 lbs. Sound familiar?
Ben Kueter's future is yet to be written, but I wouldn't write him off just yet.
If you look back several years, the linebackers are our highest ranked recruiting group. Pretty much all 4 stars and they are all still on the roster. I hope Ben moves to DEnd and gets up to about 260. It would help him in both sports in my opinion.
I would have more faith in him reaching 260 if Doyle was still in charge of SC.
BK didn’t crack the 2 deep his true freshman year. Far from a surprise considering who was in front of him. What exactly has that young crop of LB’s done?
They've been on the practice field and in team meetings every single day - honing their craft and earning the trust of a defensive staff (and coordinator) whose standards are unrelenting.
Several of them also received significant special teams reps this season - a strong indicator of their growth within the program.
And they're being joined by another excellent three-man crew from the 2026 class - including a pair of early enrollees.
It's not just baseless speculation that so many folks are so high on the young talent within the Iowa linebacker room. And heck, they've also earned commitments from two more high-end prospects in the Class of 2027 already.
If Ben could get to 260-265 and healthy- I would like to see what that looks like in both sports.
I was surprised Ben didn’t even get a few snaps on special teams as a freshman, especially since you can play in 5 games without losing your red shirt.
Jax DeJean and the kid from Pleasantville Braylon Bingham are both athletic freaks at any sport they play. Kirk has one more really special undefeated type team brewing before he calls it a day. Probably 2-3 years out. Some of his best recruiting in awhile.
As is Ben Kueter. And he's the only current Iowa Linebacker prospect who is already a DI All- American.
I remain perplexed as to why folks identify some 'ideal' weight range that would somehow unlock Kueter's full potential.
1) We don't actually know what suits his body/skillset best - and certainly not any better than he and the Iowa staff do.
2) This notion that he needs to get so much bigger also flies in the face of some notable data points - i.e. his wrestling a competitive 4-2 match against a top five HWT in the world in his 2024 U20 World Championships gold medal bout, and his reportedly accounting for himself pretty well in a practice match against 2024 US Olympic teamer Mason Parris that same summer.
Kueter weighed notably less at that time than he does now, so who's to say adding another 15-20 pounds wouldn't do more harm than good?
He’s been gaining weight while participating in two sports and off season surgery if he has full off seasons to dedicate to the process it likely wouldn’t be an issue
Yep I get it. We all do. However let’s not forget BK was a big recruit and Butkus award finalist. Something that seems lost on some fans.
Football is recruiting well….. sick. What about Knox?
Yep - in wrestling. Which means nothing when it comes to football.