By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Approximately 30 minutes.

That was the amount of time given to the media to watch the Iowa football team practice on what turned out to be a pleasant and sunny Thursday morning.

And while not much can be learned from watching one practice for a half hour; spring is when you use your imagination and your optimism to create a picture.

Iowa added what is believed to be a program record 27 new players to the roster in January; 14 from the transfer portal and 13 early entrees from high school.

Spring practice always plays a significant role in the developmental process, but maybe even more so this spring due to all the new faces, which also includes former Iowa defensive back, and former college head coach,  Jay Norvell, as the new running back coach, and Chris Polizzi as the new special teams coordinator.

Following Thursday’s practice, Iowa made 10 players available to the media, including junior receiver Reece Vander Zee, who is finally healthy after two injury-filled seasons, and is now an upperclassmen.

Vander Zee answered all sorts of questions, and since none of the quarterbacks were made available on Thursday, he was asked a lot about them too.

Sophomore Jeremy Hecklinski and junior Hank Brown are competing for the starting position, which became available when Mark Gronowski used up his final season of eligibility last season in his first and only season as a Hawkeye.

Brown started last season as Gronowski’s backup, but then Hecklinski became the backup about halfway through the season.

Neither played enough last season to form much of an opinion, and it’s also hard to make any judgements from watching 30 minutes of practice.

What we do know is that Brown, a 6-foot-4, 215 pound transfer from Auburn, certainly has an advantage in size over to the 5-11, 188-pound Hecklinski, who transferred from Wake Forest.

But Hecklinski might have more ability to make plays outside of the pocket based on what was observed on Thursday.

But again, it was just 30 minutes of practice without full pads and without full contact.

So for more information on the quarterback competition, the media turned to Vander Zee for some insight.

“They both bring something different to the table,” Vander Zee said. “It’s been good to work with both of them and get used to everything that they do.”

Asked how Hecklinski and Brown are different, Vander Zee said:

“I would say Jeremy can make more plays outside of the pocket and stuff like that, and Hank is more like a good point guy, be accurate and make his plays that way.”

Asked if he had a preference between the two quarterbacks, Vander Zee predictably said, no.

But just that little bit of insight about playing styles is pretty good information for the spring.

None of the 14 additions from the transfer portal were made available to the media on Thursday, but they were certainly part of the discussion, especially sophomore receiver Tony Diaz, who supposedly has looked very impressive so far.

Vander Zee spoke positively about all the receivers and about every player he was asked about on Thursday.

Senior defensive lineman Luke Gaffney was the first player to show up for interviews on Thursday, and to say that he was upbeat would be an understatement.

Iowa has to replace all four starters on the defensive line, and that’s one of the reason the Iowa coaches hit the portal so hard by landing four defensive linemen.

Part of the challenge this spring has been to mix in the new with the old, and according to Gaffney, it has gone smoothly.

“Spring’s been great, honestly,” Gaffney said. “We’ve got a lot of new guys, obviously, this year. But everybody is really excited, even today being outside and all the new guys coming together.

“We have an urgency to get better, but at the same time, just the collective group in itself, it’s been a blast with everybody getting better every single day. It’s spring ball right now, so we only have a little amount of time, so we’re really trying to put an emphasis on trying to get better every single rep and every single day. And just the people we’ve been working with, it’s been a blast.”

As for the hype surrounding Tony Diaz, he supposedly has shown great hands and the ability to gain yards after the catch.

A native of San Marcos, Texas, the 5-11, 176-pound Diaz played for Texas Rio Grande Valley last season where as a freshman he ranked sixth in the FCS and first in the Southland in receiving touchdowns (11), 14th in the FCS and third in the Southland in receptions per game (5.67), 32nd in the FCS and second in the Southland in receiving yards (875).

It’s no secret that Iowa has struggled to recruit and develop game-changing receivers under veteran head coach Kirk Ferentz.

So to hear that a new receiver from the portal is turning heads this spring is certainly cause for optimism.

But before you get too carried away, remember, it’s just spring practice.