No. 33 — RB Akrum Wadley

No. 33 . . .

If it feels like this list is all running backs, you're not too far off. Sophomore Akrum Wadley (5-11, 185) is the second RB on this list (joining sophomore Derrick Mitchell). You know there are more to come.

The Iowa world saw a glimpse of Wadley last season (in which he finished with 186 yards and a TD on 33 carries). In his debut game, he carried 15 times for 106 yards and a TD in a lopsided victory over Northwestern. Make no mistake, Wadley helped make that a lopsided victory, but the Wildcats suffered two injuries on the interior D-line going into and during the game.

So, on one hand, it was a great debut for Wadley, who hadn't logged a carry for the Hawkeyes through the first seven games of 2014. On the other, you needed to see more.

Part of the package with Wadley's performance against Northwestern was a fumble. It happened again in the second quarter the following week at Minnesota. It helped lead to an avalanche in a listless 51-14 beating at TCF Banks Stadium. Fumbles were a very real issue for Wadley last season.

Fumbles give every coach bitter beer face. If you fumble, you can't be counted on and you're out of the plans. It's really that simple.

On the other hand, Iowa needs playmakers like Wadley. Iowa needs to keep exploring WR Jonathan Parker despite some ugly mistakes at the end of 2014. Same for Wadley, and maybe more so because he is a running back and this is Iowa, a run-based offense.

Running backs coach Chris White covered it all this spring.

'Akrum Wadley is a super talented player,' White said. 'He's really working on just his physical development. He's put on at least 10 pounds this spring working out with Coach Doyle (strength coach Chris Doyle). This has shown up on the field. He had a couple of pass protections the other day that he went in and stoned the guy.

'As you know, he's a work in progress in terms of his ball security, but this kid is talented. He does things that I can't coach. We've got to just keep making progress with him.'

What happened this spring? . . .

Wadley was the rushing leader in the Kinnick spring game, going for 80 yards and a TD on 13 carries. Qualifiers are needed here on the TD run. It was Iowa's first-team offensive line against a third-team front seven that included a redshirt freshman (Terrence Harris), a true freshman (Brady Reiff) and two walk-ons (Jake Hulett and Daniel Gaffney) on the defensive line and a walk-on (Jacob Sobotka) and linebacker-turned-fullback-turned-back-into-linebacker (John Kenny, who has since transferred).

It wasn't a fair fight and who knows if it measures anything. Still, not a bad performance from Wadley. Fumble free, too.

This also happened during the spring semester, a disorderly house ticket for a party in which Wadley on Facebook invited the UI's entire class of 2017. It's probably safe to say he grew from that experience.

Outlook . . .

Iowa's top four running backs probably go like this: 1a) senior Jordan Canzeri, 1b) junior LeShun Daniels, 3) Wadley and 4) Mitchell. Are there any real objections to this? This fits with how Ferentz and White described the position this spring.

Can Wadley and/or Mitchell play themselves 'up' the depth chart? Yes. The best thing you can say about Canzeri's 2014 is that he lived through it and it's over. Health was an issue for him all last season. Same for Daniels, who missed the last half the regular season with an ankle injury.

So, are injuries the only in for Wadley? No. He can run the ball. He moves fearlessly between the tackles. He can make tacklers miss. He's got what a running back needs and what Iowa needs out of a running back. He can play his way into a share of this.

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