Going on a limb here but Sargent will be A LOT better than Butler

[Hawkeyeinsoutherncalifornia]

Why? Sargent is faster, stronger and is a JUCO AA... and has been proven on the field .. I know that Butler accomplished amazing yards and scores at Nevada however Sargent is the real deal and can definitely motor. I also recall Butler was injured a lot and missed a ton of games for the Hawks but my gut instinct tells me Sargent is going to be much better than Butler was.. Sargent has some scoots to his game and he can cut on a dime and make you miss compares to Butler was more of a power back who loved creeping through his blockers. As for Sargent he seems the have an extra gear or 2 when he hits the hole .. shall be interesting to see how all of the backs unfold this year and who does what... as the running game clicks so does the Iowa offense and when they go the defense feeds off the offense...

 

[Wadzinator]

I believe butler ran 4.49 is sargent that fadt

 

[Hawkeyeinsoutherncalifornia]

Holy shit.. he can move didn’t even know that .. I might have to insert foot in thy mouth on this post

I believe butler ran 4.49 is sargent that fadt

 

[Johnsoda123]

So did the Children's Hospital get those 6 tickets for the Wisconsin game? On the 42 yard line right? Asking for a friend.

 

[Hawkfan_08]

Butler had his own accolades before he got here. I think it's unfair to judge him in an injury filled season.

 

[AlabamaHawk]

I think it’s safe to assume he’s going to gain a yard or two this season!

 

[AlabamaHawk]

I believe butler ran 4.49 is sargent that fadt

And I believe he ran a 4.59 on pro day

 

[Hawkeyeinsoutherncalifornia]

Hey what’s up man? I was going to call you Johnny boy.. I wanted to thank you for introducing your boyfriend to me and my wife we enjoyed having you over .. also.. I sent you an email bro you left your false teeth in a glass in the spare bedroom where you and your BF stayed .. talk later man !

So did the Children's Hospital get those 6 tickets for the Wisconsin game? On the 42 yard line right? Asking for a friend.

 

[cocoem]

Butler had success in a much weaker league where he was the dude. Some good backs get better with extended carries

 

[StormHawk42]

We never really got to see Butler’s potential IMO

 

[Wadzinator]

And I believe he ran a 4.59 on pro day

I stand corrected when he came over to iowa could have sworn I read he ran a 4.49

 

[The Governator]

I'm not sure this is a fair comparison. Sargent will have 3 years in the program while Butler only had 1 when there was an established #1 ahead of him. Unfortunately, he hurt his elbow, so he was more or less a blip on the radar during his time here.

That being said, I hope like hell Sargent turns into a JUCO success like Shonn Greene.

 

[ChuckThomas12]

We need Sargent to become a solid option for us.

I still think we are really underestimating the loss of Wadley. He was a special player, turned a lot of plays that were nothing into something. Back to back 1K seasons. There will be a talent void there. I don’t care how many backs we have to rotate. Neither Kelly-Martin or Young are even close to that caliber (yet).

This is a bit of a reloading & rebuilding year, I’m almost half expecting our run game to struggle a bit. There is certainly much to be excited about, but this is a valid concern.

 

[Wasnt-drunk-didnt-troll]

Fred Russell comparisons are being made.

 

[katman15]

I thought all the backs looked good today..I was very disappointed in what we call a passing game.I will say our pass protection didn't help our qbs much..

 

[scotthawk1964]

I think the coaches feel pretty good about Sargent's ability to pull Brock's offer, even withTyler Goodson committing. So they must feel he has equal or more ability then Brock.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

I'm not sure this is a fair comparison. Sargent will have 3 years in the program while Butler only had 1 when there was an established #1 ahead of him. Unfortunately, he hurt his elbow, so he was more or less a blip on the radar during his time here.

That being said, I hope like hell Sargent turns into a JUCO success like Shonn Greene.

Shonn Greene wasn't really a JUCO success ... he was part of Iowa's '04 recruiting class. However, he didn't make the grade, so he went to Milford for a year - and then joined the program as part of the '05 class. He then played during the '05 and '06 seasons ... however, academic issues reared their ugly head again ... so then he popped over to Kirkwood for a year to get his grades in line. After missing football in '07, he rejoined the program a bit overweight entering the '08 season. From there, the rest is history ....

The key observation that you rightly make is that Sargent has 3 years to play 3 ... so that will enormously benefit him because he'll get more time to learn the playbook. Furthermore, poor Butler was learning the O at the same time that pretty much everyone else was learning the O (including some of the coaches, like Copeland and Polasek). Sargent benefits by being surrounded by a group of folks who are more familiar with the O and who can help him and answer any questions he might have.

Anyhow, I think that Butler was a good one ... and he would have even been better had his health been better and had Iowa's transition on O been a little smoother. Instead ... it ended up being what it was.

Of course, I hope that we can look back and say that Mekhi had a great Hawkeye career ... of course, I hope the same about the career of each and every Hawk!

 

[Herkmeister]

We need Sargent to become a solid option for us.

I still think we are really underestimating the loss of Wadley. He was a special player, turned a lot of plays that were nothing into something. Back to back 1K seasons. There will be a talent void there. I don’t care how many backs we have to rotate. Neither Kelly-Martin or Young are even close to that caliber (yet).

This is a bit of a reloading & rebuilding year, I’m almost half expecting our run game to struggle a bit. There is certainly much to be excited about, but this is a valid concern.

I agree 100%

Look what Akrum did against Iowa State and Penn State. Long plays when we had to have them.

 

[El Simbolo]

Is butler on an nfl preseason roster?

 

[Herkmeister]

Is butler on an nfl preseason roster?

Yes. Oakland

 

[The Governator]

Shonn Greene wasn't really a JUCO success ... he was part of Iowa's '04 recruiting class. However, he didn't make the grade, so he went to Milford for a year - and then joined the program as part of the '05 class. He then played during the '05 and '06 seasons ... however, academic issues reared their ugly head again ... so then he popped over to Kirkwood for a year to get his grades in line. After missing football in '07, he rejoined the program a bit overweight entering the '08 season. From there, the rest is history ....

The key observation that you rightly make is that Sargent has 3 years to play 3 ... so that will enormously benefit him because he'll get more time to learn the playbook. Furthermore, poor Butler was learning the O at the same time that pretty much everyone else was learning the O (including some of the coaches, like Copeland and Polasek). Sargent benefits by being surrounded by a group of folks who are more familiar with the O and who can help him and answer any questions he might have.

Anyhow, I think that Butler was a good one ... and he would have even been better had his health been better and had Iowa's transition on O been a little smoother. Instead ... it ended up being what it was.

Of course, I hope that we can look back and say that Mekhi had a great Hawkeye career ... of course, I hope the same about the career of each and every Hawk!

Correct that he was at Iowa before he went to JUCO so there was some history, unlike Sargent.

You also bring up a good point that there was a lot of transitioning going on with the staff.

I wished we could have seen more of him, because the talent is there, (his numbers at Nevada and being on an NFL preseason roster) but things didn't work out here. Wish him all the best.

Good post, ghost.

 

[NevadaHawk]

Yes. Oakland

I saw him get a few runs in Oakland's preseason game. The blocking wasn't there so he didn't get to show much.