The Sports Desk: Coker and then newbies

KCRG's John Sears and I continued our march through the Iowa roster on today's Sports Desk. (Click here and view.) Check back Friday for the wide receivers and tight ends.

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Not a lot of new ground to tread on Marcus Coker.

He rushed for 622 yards in just seven games as a true freshman last season with the Iowa Hawkeyes. He averaged 5.46 yards a carry, highest for an Iowa back with more than 100 carries since Shonn Greene's monstrous 6.03 yards per carry in 2008.

He rushed for 219 yards (35 percent of his 622) and two TDs in the Insight Bowl, earning offensive MVP.

Coker, a 6-foot, 230-pounder from Maryland, wears the belt at running back, but you knew that. Assuming good health, he's looking at as many as 220 to 250 carries next season. He probably won't rocket into the 300 club, where only Greene and Sedrick Shaw live in Iowa lore.

He'll be a significant part of an offense that should be fueled by an experienced and talented O-line.

No new ground on Coker this spring, but check a couple photos over at the official Iowa site. Here's a link. Check pick No. 27, Coker making a cut maybe in a pass pattern. Check how low he is to the ground. Here's another link. Check pic 14 and how Coker is running with lean, behind his pads. That's something he didn't do last season. He ended up holding his rib area against Indiana. OL Julian Vandervelde commented after the Insight on how he wished Coker would run a little lower with a little more lean.

Easy fix and Coker, just going off these, appears to have gotten the message.

Which is good, because, you know, we're talking about Iowa running back. When we talk Iowa RB, we can assume two things 1) injuries and 2) it's going to take more than one or two or maybe as many as three.

But you know, the last two seasons, Iowa has always had one running back, even when it looked as though the Hawkeyes didn't have any.

In 2010, Wegher leaves, Jewel Hampton tears an ACL and Adam Robinson trucks on until he leaves some consciousness on the field and yields to Coker. In 2009, the ball bounced between Wegher and Robinson, with the closest call coming at Ohio State when Wegher wasn't able to play after receiving some pain medication and Robinson jumped in just three weeks after a high-ankle sprain.

The trek the last two seasons kind of reminds me of this Bugs Bunny bit, the one where he navigates a series of steel girders after taking one to the noggin.

Check it. The bit starts at 4:30.

You can't assume 250 carries for any Iowa back, given the recent history. So, you have to keep the depth chart close. This spring, the Hawkeyes have redshirt freshman De'Andre Johnson and walk-on Jason White on campus. Johnson redshirted in 2010 after suffering a knee injury his senior year in high school at Monsigner Pace in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. White, who's bounced between safety and running back during his career, suffered a sprained MCL on a kick coverage against Iowa State and carried just once for 14 yards in '10.

Next fall, they'll have incoming freshmen Rodney Coe, Mika'il McCall, Jordan Canzerie and Damon Bullock.

It's impossible to project for the incoming players. Coe is 6-3, 255. He played linebacker in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, but Iowa brought him in as a running back. McCall is 6-0, 210 and has deceptive speed and good power, in the Greene vein.

At 5-8, 177, Canzeri is a scooter who might have the vision to find and run to green. Bullock put up great numbers at Mansfield (Texas) High School, some 1,606 yards and 22 TDS. He's 6-0, 195.

 Check the pictures of Coker on the official site. Get to know the others. You're going to need to know those names.