On line -- RB De'Andre Johnson

Spontaneous combustion, ring worm, acute mania.

We're talking Iowa running back, so you know anything is possible. Thrush, brucellosis, typhus. Who knows what's in store as we slide toward the oncoming abyss of 2011.

Get to know the names. All of them. You never know.

Kirk Ferentz said this to me when I asked about Adam Robinson last season. This was when Robinson was in good standing and in the top three leading rushers in the Big Ten. You know Robinson's story from there. At the beginning, he was a grayshirt and then a safety and then the No. 1 running back.

Iowa's biggest competitor in recruiting Robinson was UNI.

"You never know," Ferentz said.

That said, Johnson already has beaten an ACL, so the vapors should be no problem.

Three most interesting bio items a year in . . . 1) Named to all-Dade County team as a junior before missing senior season due to injury; 2) team captain as a senior, despite missing season due to injury; 3) also lettered in track, winning state shot put title as a junior.

Key quote . . . "De'Andre Johnson has got miles to go, but at least right now, you can see he looks more like what we hoped he would look like," Ferentz said after spring practice concluded. "He's healthy now and moving around a little, but he's got a lot to learn. He's showing some potential, too."

Standing after spring . . . Just going off Ferentz's comments, Johnson, a 5-8, 200-pounder, was No. 3 coming out of spring practice, behind sophomore Marcus Coker and junior Jason White. Johnson will face the brunt of the competition from the incoming freshmen class, which definitely includes Mika'il McCall, Damon Bullock and Jordan Canzeri and might include Rodney Coe.

“Someone in the freshman class, it's realistic to think one or two of those guys might help us next year as well,” Ferentz said.

Johnson missed his senior season with a torn ACL, an injury that lingered his redshirt season at Iowa. He's full go now. In the spring, he looked streaky, but had nice burst, quick feet and really read the cutback well.

It's Iowa running back. You never know.