Four Downs — Iowa's 2016 running backs/fullbacks

QUICK LOOK BACK: The 2015 season turned out to be a pretty great exclamation/launch for Iowa running backs. Jordan Canzeri punctuated his career with a career year (984 yards, 12 TDs). His performance against Illinois, particularly in the second half, will forever be known as 'the Jordan Canzeri game,' with a school-record 43 carries for 256 yards and a 75-yard TD run that turned a sticky situation into an Iowa win.

And that's the list of seniors Iowa will lose at running back. Yes, Canzeri is a hit, but 2015 ended up being a launch for senior LeShun Daniels and juniors Akrum Wadley and Derrick Mitchell.

The Hawkeyes needed every inch of Daniels' 195-yard performance in a 40-35 victory over Minnesota, which was clinched by his 51-yard run late in the fourth quarter.

It was the standout performance of Daniels' season, which was kind of up and down with at least one ankle injury (a high-ankle sprain against Iowa State) taking a huge bite out of six games and another what looked like ankle irritation hitting him against Purdue and keeping him slowed the last four games of the season. Still, Daniels logged career highs of 646 yards and eight TDs.

No Hawkeye rode the waves of highs and lows in 2015 like Wadley. Three carries into his season, Wadley lost his fourth fumble in 37 carries as a Hawkeye. It was a crushing blow and it sent the 5-10, 185-pounder into limbo. After three carries against Illinois State, Wadley didn't see another until three games later in mop-up time against North Texas. He didn't play against Wisconsin. He didn't carry the ball against Illinois (while Canzeri piled up his school record).

Then at No. 23 Northwestern, with a severely compromised C.J. Beathard (who had sports hernia surgery last week), Canzeri suffered a sprained ankle four carries into the game. Daniels didn't dress because of the ankle injury he suffered at ISU. Suddenly, it was Wadley.

And it was Wadley and Wadley and Wadley. On his fifth carry, Wadley burst on a counter to the left and went 35 yards with maybe the brush of a defender's glove for a TD.

A. Wadley run for 35 yds for a TD - ESPN Video

He finished with 204 yards, four TDs and a bank account stuffed with trust. Wadley starred again at Indiana (another sticky kind of game that marked the narrow margin between 9-3 and 12-0) with 120 yards on 12 carries, but he suffered an ankle injury that hampered him for a few games. During the last five games, Wadley's high-water mark was 33 yards and he didn't log carries in two. Still, he finished with career highs of 496 yards and seven TDs.

Mitchell didn't have the same launch that Daniels and Wadley enjoyed, but he also was making the transition from wide receiver to RB. He finished with 162 yards and two TDs on 25 carries. He assumed the role of third-down back, which used his receiver skills with 15 catches for 141 yards (including four for 41 yards in the Rose Bowl).

4th Down — Critical Questions

The temptation is to write 'how will this work?' That's too general. Let's shoot for something a little more specific.

I brought up the notion of Iowa needing/wanting a 20-carry back at the beginning of last season. And running backs coach Chris White was affirmative in his desire to have Daniels be that guy. The way it turned out, however, I'm not sure Iowa needs one RB to carry the load. Yes, it's easier that way. And, yes, I believe in the Big Ten West these backs are worth their weight in gold doubloons (oh with the gold doubloons again).

So, instead of asking if Iowa needs a 20-carry RB, let's just go ahead and answer that question. No, it doesn't.

With four backs of very different skill sets and bodies, the Hawkeyes rushed for 2,544 yards (second most in Kirk Ferentz era) and 35 TDs (a Ferentz-era high).

Now, a lot of that was the offensive line and that's another post. But as far as running backs go, think of the Hawkeyes' backfield as a toolbox with a hammer, a Swiss Army knife and whatever tool you want to associate with Wadley (I really don't know, maybe if mercury met Play-Doh, but who carries that around in a toolbox?).

Play-specific question?

Daniels: Looking for consistency, no? If you get Minnesota Daniels, you have a Doak Walker Award winner (I can say this because I've seen this at Iowa in the form of Shonn Greene). That was one game.

Beyond injury, here's what Daniels saw on video when things didn't go his way: [This is a discussion on the Big Ten title game vs. Michigan State, in which no one Iowa ran well — 52 yards on 24 carries] "I was just rushing things a little bit too much come game time. I feel like I wasn't rushing the hole enough, really being definite in my reads and stuff like that and being more downhill. I felt like I was jump cutting, being too much lateral, which made it easier for them to make tackles on me and stuff like that.'

And the solution?

'[RB coach Chris White] gets on me. He gets on all of us, especially me. I tell him to get on me if I'm doing something wrong, let me know, don't try and baby it or go around the thing. But yeah, I mean, we both know that I'm much better at running downhill than obviously laterally, so he's like, if you can just stick your foot in the ground and obviously if there's no space for you to run, make space, because you're a strong guy, so you're going to get three, four, five yards if you just put your foot in the ground and get your pads down and go make yards.

'Yeah, those were some things that he was talking about after the Michigan State game and just me making my reads more defined and stuff like that.'

Wadley: It's clear Iowa wants Wadley to be closer to 190 than 180. Can that happen this winter? (Weight gain isn't as simple as we think it is. I talked to Cole Fisher's dad, Todd, for a story this year. There was a point where he got burned out on eating during his formative years at Iowa.)

Couple of snippets from Ferentz's last news conference on this topic:

'Hopefully, we can get Akrum to 185. Hopefully, we can get him above 185. That's goal No. 1 for him.'

'The issue with him is durability with being able to take the punishment that's out there. I mean, you saw their guy [Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey] and you saw him. And I'm not saying they are the same guys. But McCaffrey, he's put together, strong, tough to tackle. I mean, you try to tackle him and he's tough to tackle.'

[On the growth Wadley made after that one fumble in the first game] "I can't quantify this but my belief is he felt the responsibility of the football team and he really took it to a different level and I'm hoping that will move him forward. I hope he'll do the same thing with his training. I'm not saying he's been loafing, but to have a college football physique and compete at this level, like the guy we just saw, it really takes dedication.'

Mitchell: Will he get a chance to show he's more than the 'third down' back?

The junior is 6-1, 212 pounds. He'll probably come out of winter training around 220. He's got the size and he'll get the chance, I think, to show he can do more.

3rd Down — Additions/Subtractions

Canzeri will be missed. There's no question about that. He worked his way from a 170-something pound true freshman who performed well against Oklahoma in the 2011 Insight Bowl to an ACL injury to trusted senior, do-it-all back last season.

Canzeri was just a fun dude to cover. Here was this smallish kid from Troy, N.Y., a long way from home. He fought adversity with injuries. His family sacrificed to come and watch him play as faithfully as they possibly could. On top of that, Canzeri graduated twice with two majors and a minor. He wants to give the NFL his best effort, but if it doesn't work, he immediately wants to go to work with youth, possibly as a teacher and/or coach.

Canzeri is the only departure at RB. Fullback? There will be some pain there.

You feel like the contrast in Iowa's running games from 2014 to last season could be attributed to fullback. Plewa missed a ton of '14 with a shoulder injury. Cox missed the entire season with an ACL tear. They were back this season and they were stellar. One thing I'd love to see the stiff and staid B1G all-conference thingie add is an all-conference slot for special teams and fullback. Why not? Live a little. Plewa and Cox made the case for the importance of fullback in 2015 as loudly as you can make it.

Eric Graham (5-9, 195) will come online as a redshirt freshman this spring and fall. He looks like he belongs and that's really all we know. How soon will Iowa need Graham? Hey, it is Iowa running back. The bucket almost ran dry last year. I think four is the right number, so . . . Graham should know the plays. He'll likely be No. 4 in spring and fall camp.

If everything goes as planned, Iowa will sign two backs next Wednesday — Toks Akinribade (6-0, 205) and Toren Young (5-11, 206). Don't rule them out. Akinribade has excellent lateral quickness to go with straightline speed. Iowa got in early on Young and might've gotten a steal out of the state of Wisconsin (Madison suburbs, actually).

2nd Down — Battles Brewing

I think the real battle is for the top three backs to fully realize their talents.

How does Daniels unlock himself? How does Wadley build his body to B1G 20-touch back? What can Mitchell do and be? These aren't bad questions. The possibilities are tantalizing.

Running back has a chance to be a position of strength. A strong running game is the currency of the B1G West (you saw how it worked at Nebraska this year). This is a good problem.

● Are Daniels and Wadley in competition for No. 1 carries? I think yes and no. Daniels will begin as the No. 1 and it will be up to him to own it. But Iowa absolutely has to explore Wadley's talents, the moves, cuts and breakaway potential.

● How do Wadley and Mitchell differentiate? Wadley has a resume as a runner; Mitchell doesn't have that. Mitchell is trusted on third down, which, upon further review, includes pass protection and is, yeah, pretty important. Wadley doesn't have that. One thing that Wadley kind of sneaked in there at the end of the season was his pass catching ability and making things happen in space.

He didn't catch a pass until Michigan State and Stanford. In those two games, he had six catches for 94 yards (including a 31-yard TD catch in junk time against Stanford). It was a new dimension and maybe a harbinger.

● Fullback? I think it'll be junior Drake Kulick (6-1, 228). He's next in line and did see some playing time this season. 'Drake really improved this year,' Ferentz said. 'I think all of us feel a lot better about him in the December mode than we did back in August.'

But you definitely have to take note of what Ferentz said about redshirt freshman Brady Ross in his postseason news conference.

'He was kind of the Grant Steen of our scout team this year,' Ferentz said. 'Grant was a total pain in the neck, '99. I didn't know what he's going to play, but I have a feeling this guy is going to play and he starts three years for us. Boy, what a great job he did.

'Brady was that guy this year, he was just a pain in the neck all the time. Everything he did was full speed. He knew our offense better than we did and boom, he was always breaking stuff up. He really took to it naturally. He did that in high school and I think he's got a great future, as well. Not saying we are going to replace them, those two guys are great guys, special guys and great leaders.'

Returning running backs — LeShun Daniels Jr. (6-0, 225, sr.), Akrum Wadley (5-11, 185, jr.), Derrick Mitchell Jr. (6-1, 212, jr.), Marcel Joly (5-11, 185, so.), Eric Graham (5-9, 195, #fr.)

Incoming running backs — Toks Akinribade (6-0, 205, fr.), Toren Young (5-11, 206, fr.)

Returning fullbacks — Drake Kulick (6-1, 228, jr.), Brady Ross (6-1, 220, #fr.), Steve Manders (6-1, 235, jr.), Austin Kelly (5-11, 245, so.), Lane Akre (6-0, 220, #fr.)

1st Down — In Summary

Five finishing thoughts on what needs to happen for the best-case scenario.

● Daniels finds his downhill-ness and learns the not-so-fine art of 'making space.' (This is way easier said than done, I'm certain.)

● Wadley builds on a surprisingly productive 2015, starting with the winter training that began last week (Jan. 19). (I'm not sure any other Hawkeye has a more explicit agenda from coaches going into the offseason).

● Mitchell gets . . . hmmm . . . 20 carries in the spring game/practice. (It might not mean anything in the long run, but it would show the world that Mitchell either made headway in becoming a full-service back and that he was being given a real shot at showing he can be that back.)

● A true freshman comes in and does stuff. (I'm thinking Toks and I'm intentionally leaving this open-ended because I don't know what 'stuff' would be, either.)

● The fullback banner is carried as well as Plewa and Cox carried it. (That's asking a lot, I know, but that is the culture Iowa is striving for — you remember the 'leave the jersey in a better place' T-shirts — and as we saw last season, fullback matters and every little detail helps).

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com