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Love the RB room that is being built!

ghostOfHomer777

HR Heisman
May 20, 2014
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I know recent history (i.e. the mess that was the '21 O) muddles the memory of many an Iowa fan ... however, I think that we all understand that Iowa's O is a deliberate-paced, ball-control O. That's a significant reason why Iowa Os traditionally don't rack up video game stats.

However, all that aside, I think that we can also agree that Iowa's Os still have historically underperformed/underachieved. I've long attributed that to the Hawks either having insufficient depth or talent at RB. It's almost laughable that Iowa is viewed as a "run-first" team (we actually ARE) ... and we've had little to no depth behind our top RB. In 2009, when Jewel Hampton went down to injury we had to move Adam Robinson back from safety to RB ... our feature backs that year were a RS FR (ARob) and a TR FR (Wegher). The next year, Adam gets his bell rung ... and the main guy behind him is Coker ... a guy who himself was injured through AT LEAST the first half of the season. Coker was a decent big back ... but he was still just a TR FR that season. The following season, the '11 season, Coker is "the man" ... and again after McCall quits on the team ... we essentially have no depth behind him.

I think that we've all seen that Wisconsin is a pretty elite squad when they have an elite-level RB shouldering the load ... but, when their personnel isn't there in the RB room ... and that happens every so often ... they're a VERY vulnerable team. It's like the Hawk O has been sitting at that precarious, vulnerable position for a long time.

Since maybe around 2015 ... the Hawks finally have attempted to have some depth at RB. Not shockingly, since that time, the Hawks have really enjoyed some nice success on the field. However, while Goodson was definitely a highly skilled back ... we haven't had backfield that has matched what Russell and Lewis brought to the table in '02. Greene and Hampton, in '08, was maybe the closest we've seen.

Anyhow, I know I'm an overly hopeful homer, but if you look at the guys the Hawks will be having in the RB room ... Williams, Williams, Hilson, Patterson, Johnson, and now Raphael (in '23) ... we're looking at a RB room with a nice variety of skill sets and quite a bit of talent! That seems to me to be "upping the ante" for the Hawks ... putting us in better position to contend for the division and the conference!
 
I know recent history (i.e. the mess that was the '21 O) muddles the memory of many an Iowa fan ... however, I think that we all understand that Iowa's O is a deliberate-paced, ball-control O. That's a significant reason why Iowa Os traditionally don't rack up video game stats.

However, all that aside, I think that we can also agree that Iowa's Os still have historically underperformed/underachieved. I've long attributed that to the Hawks either having insufficient depth or talent at RB. It's almost laughable that Iowa is viewed as a "run-first" team (we actually ARE) ... and we've had little to no depth behind our top RB. In 2009, when Jewel Hampton went down to injury we had to move Adam Robinson back from safety to RB ... our feature backs that year were a RS FR (ARob) and a TR FR (Wegher). The next year, Adam gets his bell rung ... and the main guy behind him is Coker ... a guy who himself was injured through AT LEAST the first half of the season. Coker was a decent big back ... but he was still just a TR FR that season. The following season, the '11 season, Coker is "the man" ... and again after McCall quits on the team ... we essentially have no depth behind him.

I think that we've all seen that Wisconsin is a pretty elite squad when they have an elite-level RB shouldering the load ... but, when their personnel isn't there in the RB room ... and that happens every so often ... they're a VERY vulnerable team. It's like the Hawk O has been sitting at that precarious, vulnerable position for a long time.

Since maybe around 2015 ... the Hawks finally have attempted to have some depth at RB. Not shockingly, since that time, the Hawks have really enjoyed some nice success on the field. However, while Goodson was definitely a highly skilled back ... we haven't had backfield that has matched what Russell and Lewis brought to the table in '02. Greene and Hampton, in '08, was maybe the closest we've seen.

Anyhow, I know I'm an overly hopeful homer, but if you look at the guys the Hawks will be having in the RB room ... Williams, Williams, Hilson, Patterson, Johnson, and now Raphael (in '23) ... we're looking at a RB room with a nice variety of skill sets and quite a bit of talent! That seems to me to be "upping the ante" for the Hawks ... putting us in better position to contend for the division and the conference!
Agreed. With the most recent credit going to LaDell Betts who is just killing it on the recruiting trail. Bringing LaDdell back as a coach is paying some huge didvidends for KF and Iowa.
 
RB recruiting has been very good lately. It didn't look good last season until Jazuin committed and then Johnson. Hopefully the young linemen develop into the players we thought they would
 
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RB recruiting has been very good lately. It didn't look good last season until Jazuin committed and then Johnson. Hopefully the young linemen develop into the players we thought they would
Jazuin commit was big for 2 reasons. One is Iowa whiffed on multiple guys year before at RB. No offense to Hilson but we missed on so many before offering him late. 2nd is at this time or little after last year things weren't looking good on recruiting front. Our big recruiting weekend at end of June we basically struck out with all of them (minus Nwankpa which at the time lot were unsure we had a shot) with only Bostick who committed prior along with our K we ended up landing. Some guys like Riley-Decker and Deyo 4* lot of people thought Iowa was going to get ended up else where. But out of no where it seemed like Ladell landed Jazuin out of FL and got him over FSU and got the ball rolling again. The rest is history with Iowa getting a great class with lot of late additions in the secondary, getting Johnson to decommit from Cal and of course landing the prize 5* with Nwankpa. Betts like Copeland has come in and done a great job of bringing in talent at his position.
 
RB Room is now deep with high potential Guys , I have zero stress about the RB room with Coach Betts running things, He is a winner ,
While Coach Betts already knew the intricacies of running within our system - the fact that he is now more fluent with our entire offense will likely reap further benefits.

Furthermore, I always loved the way Ladell ran for us back when he was a player. I also respect the hell out of what he managed to do in the pros.

I agree that he'll keep our RB room in a really nice place.
 
I know that Wadley is a persona non grata - however, in 2015 the Iowa RB group was surprisingly deep and was unselfish. The group comprised of Canzeri, who was quite the leader ... and complemented by Daniels, Wadley, and Mitchell. Daniels and Canzeri were dinged off an on throughout the season ... but having 4 capable backs really helped give the O a little extra "octane."

As TDSD suggests ... through the coming years, the current installment of the Iowa RB group will feature comparable depth (to the '15 group) ... but arguably have a bit more talent. I'll truly be excited to see how things shake out. Hopefully some leadership emerges and that each guy prepares like they're the starter. Injuries happen at RB ... so hopefully each guy will be ready to seize his opportunity when the time comes.
 
Love the optimism OP and I agree we finally have some good depth at RB. We definitely need our running game to take some pressure off the QB, whoever it is.
 
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We will add to that room with another one in this class. Nolan Ray is high on Iowa but Stanford is in there also.
 
I know that Wadley is a persona non grata - however, in 2015 the Iowa RB group was surprisingly deep and was unselfish. The group comprised of Canzeri, who was quite the leader ... and complemented by Daniels, Wadley, and Mitchell. Daniels and Canzeri were dinged off an on throughout the season ... but having 4 capable backs really helped give the O a little extra "octane."

As TDSD suggests ... through the coming years, the current installment of the Iowa RB group will feature comparable depth (to the '15 group) ... but arguably have a bit more talent. I'll truly be excited to see how things shake out. Hopefully some leadership emerges and that each guy prepares like they're the starter. Injuries happen at RB ... so hopefully each guy will be ready to seize his opportunity when the time comes.
Yeah that was a fun group. Amazing the big games that year like canzeri vs ILL with 40+ carries. Wadley big game vs NW when canzeri went down and Daniels was out. Daniels huge game vs MN then to cap it off canzeri torched nebby with back to back long td runs. Mitchell was very solid too as a 3rd down back. Played well when his number came up like vs Maryland and NW.
 
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While Coach Betts already knew the intricacies of running within our system - the fact that he is now more fluent with our entire offense will likely reap further benefits.

Furthermore, I always loved the way Ladell ran for us back when he was a player. I also respect the hell out of what he managed to do in the pros.

I agree that he'll keep our RB room in a really nice place.

Homer, the nuance you bring to the table is greatly appreciated by me at least! That thought on LaDell is quite an insight!

I loved Goodson & he was everything I hoped he’d be, buuuutttt….A LaDell Betts Rber would have helped that team immensely (last year) and him gaining valuable coaching experience, along with some strong, powerful backs is BIG!!
 
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Question is can you keep them all happy
I'm not certain about that. However, I do know that in our O, we have plenty of 2 RB looks. We did that with Wadley and Butler ... and then later with Sargent and Goodson.

With the quality of RBs we have now ... I think that we'll continue to see plenty of it. Thus, I think that the Hawks will have plenty of snaps to distribute (using the 2 RB sets). However, more importantly, having the combo of talent, passion, work-ethic, etc ... the combo of guys in the room should really help to drive everybody forward.
 
There was a season that Toren Young and two other guys all played regular downs. I could see this offense going in that direction, keep more guys happy. Possible good strategy. Gavin and LeShon have both shown a willingness to administer a blow to the tacklers. Bang around with those guys for 3 or 4 series and one of the two really fast guys is running against a tired defense.
 
Big lineman beating on the defense all game and having the luxury of fresh legs at running back in the 4th quarter will help us close out games and give our D some rest they haven’t always gotten late in games.
 
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