Four Downs (post-spring): Running backs

IOWA CITY — We've talked quite a bit about Akrum Wadley this spring. He's got storylines and he's an exciting performer. Wadley probably rates as a Hawkeye you're happy to pay money to see.

During his kind-of-breakout 2015, Wadley rushed 83 times for 496 yards and seven TDs (5.98 yards per carry). Eleven of his explosive rushing plays went for 20 yards or more, including runs of 60-, 50- and 40-plus. The junior is on the map and in the plans for 2016.

How much in the plans remains to be seen. It's hard to classify Iowa running back 2016 as a competition. Obviously, Iowa's offense can use all of what Wadley brings and everything that LeShun Daniels has, which, when the 6-0, 225-pound senior is healthy, is considerable.

Daniels also enjoyed a semi-breakout season in 2015, carrying 145 times for 646 yards and eight TDs (4.46 yards per carry).

(Aside here: Along with all of the winning in 2015, you certainly enjoyed a rise for the Hawkeyes in explosive rushes. Iowa had nine 40-plus runs in '15 compared to just one in 2014, 2013 and 2012. It had five 50-plus runs after going for just four total from 2014 through 2010.)

So, Daniels between the tackles and Wadley in space for 2016. It's Iowa running back, you know it's not going to be that easy, right?

Health and trust will be determining factors. When you hear the term 'hot hand,' that's all part of it. Some of these come with numbers (fumbles and Wadley's weight) and some come in ankle rehab (Daniels missed two games but was slowed in five after a high-ankle sprain). It's largely undefinable, you-know-it-when-you-see-it kind of things.

Running backs coach Chris White laid out parameters in April.

'I would love to give LeShun the ball 25 times,' White said. 'I would love to see him for 12 games kind of like Shonn Greene (Doak Walker Award winner in 2008), just kind of wear people out. I mean, I'm sure LeShun would love that and the whole staff would, too. But unfortunately for him and for us, that hasn't been the case, but we'll keep trying.'

White also said Wadley deserves to play, because, you know, explosive plays.

'Coach White would like to have a back who can carry it 20 or 25 times and we talk about that,' Daniels said. 'With the amount of backs we have and the amount of talent we have back there, it's not necessarily a No. 1 priority right now. Akrum and I are healthy and we compliment each other very well.'

And there it is, really. Health and trust and where and how Iowa's running game can attack a defense effectively, it all rolls together and it might never look quite the same.

These things work themselves out.

4th Down

What about Derrick Mitchell? The junior missed spring with a shoulder injury. Summer conditioning starts June 6 and he should be full-go for that. Beyond health, can Mitchell shed the third down role he took over last season and get regular rotation? Probably not, not if Daniels and Wadley are healthy. The third down thing isn't a yellow Skittle, either (yellow is my least favorite, substitute your least favorite for yellow).

Mitchell has a role, can he expand it?

3rd Down

What about fullback? When spring finished, it seemed like junior Drake Kulick, sophomore Austin Kelly and redshirt freshman Brady Ross were the depth chart, with Kulick, the most experienced of the bunch, leading the way.

Iowa lost two seniors in Macon Plewa and Adam Cox (who signed a free agent deal with the Falcons), and so this position could take a hit.

One thing I learned talking to Plewa and Cox last year, forget how much the fullback actually plays (it might be 25 percent of snaps in games). Fullback is a tone-setting position in practice. The job is physical and the approach has to be intense or you'll be fed your facemask. Fullback gets a chance to throw out the first shoulder pad clap.

2nd Down

Who plays, Toren Young or Toks Akinribade? These are the two true freshmen who'll be on campus here in June. One of them probably plays in 2016.

Akinribade (6-0, 205) holds Brownsburg (Ind.) High School records for career rushing yards and TDs. Young rushed for 2,779 yards and 28 TDs as a senior at Monona Grove (Wis.) High School.

I don't know who'll play. It'll come down to 1) who comes in and owns it (easier said than done at running back, where reps that matter might be few and far between), 2) who soaks in the playbook and 3) who shows aptitude for pass blocking. Presence seems to catch Kirk Ferentz's attention. We've heard him say a few times over the years about true freshmen who break through that they 'act like they belong.'

So, we'll see.

Who plays, Eric Graham or Marcel Joly? We have little to go on here. During the spring game, they had about the same amount of opportunities. Maybe Joly did a little more. It was one of 15 spring practices, so it's one mile in the marathon.

Graham is only a redshirt freshman, so the clock has only begun ticking. Joly is a sophomore. He's made strides after switching from defensive back last spring. It's hard to say where it's headed for these two in 2016, but there are at least three backs ahead of them in line.

1st Down

We talked a little bit about explosiveness and the success Iowa had there last season. The other side of that is efficiency. Explosive plays are what everyone lives for. Efficient plays are what everyone lives on.

• Four Downs (post-spring): Offensive line

There are a million metrics out there for this. I keep it simple and fix on average rushing yards on first down. Last season, the Hawkeyes averaged 4.79 yards (fifth best in B1G) on 293 first-down rushes (third most in B1G). Second-and-5 plays make a lot of great coaches and quarterbacks.

The 4.79 was Iowa's best first-down rush effort in the last eight years. An offense that can play ahead of the sticks is a confident and less predictable offense. The Hawkeyes might not hit 4.79 again, but somewhere close and a confident offense will emerge. With lack of experience at wide receiver and tight end, efficiency might mean that much more.

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