Wadley, Mitchell....wow!

[Kurt Warner]

Couldn't watch the game live so had to dvr it. Man these two were simply fantastic. I swear Wadley can go sideways as fast as forward, he is truly explosive. Mitchell was very impressive also with more power. These two absolutely have to see the field much much more. It is obvious there is no way canzeri needs to carry the ball 43 times. Canzeri has been terrific but all three need to play somehow someway.

 

[QChawks]

Totally agreed.

However KF loves a workhorse back. Always has, it started with Betts.

I honestly think even if Daniels was 100% healthy he'd be our 3th or 4th best RB.

 

[SoonerBeAHawk]

Wadley has got some serious quicks.

The "outside/inside" move by Wadley as he just kinda skipped a half-step inside to make the NW back wiff was a thing of beauty. Subtle little move, but super impressive.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Wadley has the "it" factor and passes the eyeball test. He just needs to hold on to the ball!

 

[Suterman]

Yep...I was really impressed with Wadley & Mitchell. They need to see the field...and they will with Jordan being injured. We have 4 pretty darn good backs. It's too bad that 3 of them are or have been injured for a good part of the year.

 

[FBletterman]

Wadley reminds me of Melvin Gordon. I want to see more, a lot more of him.

 

[DarkThunder#61]

The only thing I'm worried about with these two is that they continue to learn how to protect themselves when they run.

I know I'm worrying too much here but we also need these guys to stay healthy and on the field.

 

[citizenHawk]

Both guys need to play. Hope Canzeri comes back quickly, and I hope Daniels can play at top speed, but once all four guys are healthy, I'm curious how the coaching staff will handle the situation. Good problem, I guess.

 

[hawkiniowacity]

Totally agreed.

However KF loves a workhorse back. Always has, it started with Betts.

I honestly think even if Daniels was 100% healthy he'd be our 3th or 4th best RB.

Wrong. People have never really seen a healthy Daniels. The kid is a beast. He just needs to stay healthy

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Wadley is the real deal. Mitchell is a real beast. We have 4 darn good rb's.

 

[mlb1399]

Wadley is a game changer with his speed. If he can continue to earn Kirks trust with better ball security, he adds a dynamic part to our offense that will stretch the field and defenses.

 

[DutchyFunStar]

Something about the way Mitchell ran reminded me of Eric Dickerson. The arm swing, the neck roll or something.

 

[bagdropper]

Wadley/Mitchell smacks a bit of Russell/Lewis to me...

 

[FranklinHawk]

Wrong. People have never really seen a healthy Daniels. The kid is a beast. He just needs to stay healthy

Agree, Daniels looked very good prior to hurting the ankle against ISU. He's obviously not been the same since, thus the staff putting him on the shelf rather than slowly trying to work him back in. I think most of this is just the normal "the 2nd string guy is the obvious choice" syndrome. Wadley and Mitchell both looked good Saturday, as others have said having 4 quality backs is a good problem to have (particularly with the way they've been getting hurt this year).

 

[Curt Furence]

There are other pictures from Saturday where he is doing it, but in a lot of pictures of Wadley you can see he doesn't cover either point of the ball a lot and makes it a lot harder to hang onto.
I hope the kid continues to hang onto the ball because he is an explosive player but you can see why he has had f word issues. Hopefully Saturday was the start

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Let's not undercut ANY of our backs. I sincerely believe that Iowa currently has FOUR 5 yard per carry backs. That's a wonderful luxury. To make things better for the Hawks - each guy brings a little something different to the table too.

However, I will say this, Wadley and Mitchell need to improve in pass-pro. They BOTH had instances against Northwestern where they missed their blitz pick-up assignments and it led to either a sack or a hit on Beathard. As good as Iowa's O can be ... it's not as effective WITHOUT Beathard. The point being ... they need to make sure that they protect CJ!

 

[HawktimusPrime]

Wadley reminds me of Melvin Gordon. I want to see more, a lot more of him.

If he puts one a little more muscle, he may be another Gordon. He hits 0-60 faster than Canzeri even. His top end speed seems to be a bit better also.

 

[HawktimusPrime]

There are other pictures from Saturday where he is doing it, but in a lot of pictures of Wadley you can see he doesn't cover either point of the ball a lot and makes it a lot harder to hang onto.
I hope the kid continues to hang onto the ball because he is an explosive player but you can see why he has had f word issues. Hopefully Saturday was the start

True, he seems to have small hands. The football looks huge in his hands.

 

[HawktimusPrime]

Wadley/Mitchell smacks a bit of Russell/Lewis to me...

Very true, they do remind a lot of them.

 

[Walleye70]

He will be our new quick "Canceri" for the next two years. I like the Russell, CAnceri type back better than the power runners

 

[Curt Furence]

He will be our new quick "Canceri" for the next two years. I like the Russell, CAnceri type back better than the power runners

I know what you are saying but the odd thing about that, at least imo is that Canzeri is small in stature but is not one of those shy away from contact run for the corner guys. He gets up field makes his cut and lowers his shoulder. For being a smaller guy he really does have some power to him.

 

[David1979]

Wadley is crazy talented. One of the most talented backs I have ever seen at Iowa.

 

[Buckwatcher]

The thing I noticed about Wadley and this was when he first played was how quickly he got to his top speed. Its like 2 steps and he's flying down the field. Iowa hasn't had a back like that since Tavian Banks.

 

[DarkThunder#61]

If he puts one a little more muscle, he may be another Gordon. He hits 0-60 faster than Canzeri even. His top end speed seems to be a bit better also.

Not sure about Wadley's background, but Canzeri has had an ACL injury before so that contributes to how he runs even if he's "fully" healed.

 

[93hawkeye]

The thing I noticed about Wadley and this was when he first played was how quickly he got to his top speed. Its like 2 steps and he's flying down the field. Iowa hasn't had a back like that since Tavian Banks.

the nifty way Wadley moves his feet in the hole, and accelerates made me also think of Tavian

 

[MauiHawk]

I didn't think Mitchell was slow to the hole himself... and it seems like his vision is every bit as good as Canzeri and Wadley. One of those run he avoided the obvious hole in the line that the LB was sliding into and instead shot a small gap to the left for big yards. And that spin move for the TD!