 Marc MorehouseHi, I'm Marc Morehouse. I've covered sports for more than 15 years, mostly in Eastern Iowa. I've had Hayden Fry [...] |
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Four downs with the running backs
Ohio State's Ross Homan (51) drags down Iowa running back Marcus Coker (34) in the first quarter of their game Saturday, Nov. 20, 2010, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. (Liz Martin/SourceMedia Group News)
[NOTE: Scott Dochterman and I will be running a series of position features and breakdowns on our blogs the next few weeks. This will be paired with the "Iowa running backs: Spaghetti Road" story in The Gazette on Aug. 21. A positional feature and breakdown will run in The Gazette up to Tennessee Tech week on Aug. 29. The blog and newspaper are two entirely different packages with, I'm thinking, two entirely different audiences. Please, let me know if you think that's wrong. Either way, thanks for reading.]
FOUR DOWNS WITH THE RUNNING BACKS
The depth chart (No. 1 first and then probables)
RB — Marcus Coker, so., 6-0, 230; Jason White, jr., 5-10, 205; Mika’il McCall, fr., 6-0, 220; De’Andre Johnson, fr., 5-8, 200; Jordan Canzeri, fr., 5-9, 182; Damon Bullock, fr., 6-0, 195; Marcus Binns, fr., 5-11, 200.
FB — Jonathan Gimm, jr., 6-3, 240; Jacob Reisen, so., 6-2, 231; Scott Covert, so., 6-2, 240; Matthew Meyers, fr., 6-2, 220; Adam Cox, fr., 5-11, 210; *Mark Weisman, fr., 6-0, 225; **Brad Rogers, so., 5-10, 230. *– Weisman is a transfer from Air Force and isn’t eligible this season per transfer rules. **– Rogers has been out since failing a cardiac test last December. He’s the starter, but he hasn’t been cleared.
The guy
Sports Illustrated projects Marcus Coker to be the Big Ten’s offensive MVP with 1,630 yards and 15 TDs. Kirk Ferentz would take that right now. With the departures of Adam Robinson, Brandon Wegher and Jewel Hampton, the ball is now Cokers. In his four starts last season (Indiana, Ohio State, Minnesota and Missouri), Coker averaged 127 yards and 5.98 yards a carry.
Under the radar
Ferentz seems to love the idea of Jordan Canzeri, a smallish running back with quick feet and high burst. Canzeri, a true freshman from Troy, N.Y., is 5-9, 180-ish, but that’s OK. Ferentz has made consistent references to the New England Patriots’ Danny Woodhead for comparison. There might be a little more insight here than just seeing Woodhead, 5-8, 195-pounder who scored six TDs and amassed nearly 1,000 yards offense last season. Ferentz’s son, Brian, is tight ends coach for the New England Patriots. Canzeri was the quickest back in the open scrimmage Aug. 13. He might also find a role on kick return.
Top newcomer
True freshman Mika’il McCall introduced himself during the Aug. 13 scrimmage with an inside run during which he met a linebacker and put him on his back. McCall is 6-0, 220. His body type begs for Shonn Greene comparisons, but Greene won the 2008 Doak Walker Award and is a New York Jet. So, probably should pump the breaks on that. With McCall, who originally committed to Michigan State, Iowa has a chance to pair bruising running backs. When Iowa RB goes as planned, one back gets 200-plus carries with another getting 100-plus. McCall could be in line for the 100.
– Marc Morehouse
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The spaghetti road indeed! However, it’s kind of demonstrated vividly the Iowa offense isn’t reliant on a transcendent RB. Maybe the on-ramp to all of this goes back to Sam Brownlee? Regardless, and without denigrating the fallen – this crew may give Iowa a trifecta of improvement in durability, suddenness and versatility. White and Canzari, in particular, by dimension, seem ideal for screen passing game.
The screen was the first play where Wegher really popped. Remember that catch in Ames?
You’re right about four-star backs and how Iowa goes along without them, but it seems to go easier when Iowa does have a go-to back.
But maybe this year is a passing year. Maybe the offense protects a defense with a lack of experience with more points?
I could see a role for Canzeri.
DiNardo said last night that VDB may be the best pure passer in the Big Ten. Whoa. Kirk Cousins is in the Big Ten.
Woodhead has great hands. Does Canzeri? I guess he must, if KF is musing about using him on punt returns.
He warmed up with the punt return last Saturday, but didn’t take any during the semi-live session.
He did break the scrimmage with the specialists. I’m wondering about No. 2 kick return.
“When Iowa RB goes as planned…”
Come on, Morehouse, when’s the last time that happened?
Best pure passer in the B10 is a comment that must be about accuracy, maybe velocity, but mostly accuracy. It’s a statement that could stick to Vandenberg. Cousins is accurate but generally to one side of the field (the shorter one.) Persa is the next guy to look to and he’s above average but he’s a true run/pass threat more than a true passer. Denard Robinson — not really. Wilson at Wisconsin — effective. And that’s the thing Dinardo didn’t say. He said ‘pure passer’ which may mean but isn’t exclusively about effective. My sense is Vandenberg could be a bit more ‘electric’ from the shotgun and in the quicker drops. And that’s where the RBs in slot or flairs out of backfield could come into play. Guys like Canzeri, White probably need to show good hands. While guys like McCall and Johnson probably need to show more willingness to block in the passing game.