 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 — The Running Backs (spring version)
The RB/slot, is that a real thing? Who's the fullback?
Iowa Hawkeyes' Mark Weisman tries to break a tackle by Minnesota Golden Gophers defensive back Michael Carter during the first half at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City on Saturday, September 29, 2012. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette-KCRG TV9)
QUICK LOOK BACK: How far back do you want to ? For bandwidth purposes, let’s keep it to the field and who’s still here.
Potential No. 1 RB Jordan Canzeri suffered a torn ACL last March. Virtually untested Damon Bullock carried 30 times for 150 yards and the game-winning TD in Iowa’s opener against Northern Illinois at Soldier Field. It was just the ninth time in the last five years that an Iowa running back turned out a 30-carry game. Then, in week three, Bullock suffered a concussion coming down head-first on a defensive back’s knee. He was headed to another 150-yard performance with 77 in the first half against Northern Iowa.
Iowa runningback Jordan Canzeri (33) runs around a pack of Indiana defenders in the fourth quarter of the Iowa homecoming game at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011, in Iowa City. Iowa won 45-24. (Liz Martin/SourceMedia Group News)
True freshman Greg Garmon replaced Bullock for maybe a series before his elbow was bent the wrong way.
Then, it was Mark Weisman. A walk-on. A fullback. A weightroom warrior. Weisman left Air Force because the regimentation was too much. Once he nailed the regulation way to make his bed, he slept on the floor to keep it that way. He lost nearly 20 pounds.
So, of course Weisman was going to work. And he totally did, rushing for a team-high 815 yards and eight TDs. You could argue the the 6-0, 235-pounder lifted Iowa to its only two Big Ten wins of the season. He averaged 8.43 yards a carry with 177 yards and a TD against Minnesota. And then at rainy, stormy East Lansing, Weisman chugged for 116 yards and sent the game into OT on a 5-yard run with 55 seconds left.
He suffered an ankle sprain on the run. Two games later, he suffered a pulled groin. Weisman sat out two games before carrying 29 times for 91 yards in the season finale against Nebraska.
FOURTH DOWN — CONCERNS: Health will always be No. 1 on this list, but Iowa should be able to massage this in ’13.
Of course, Iowa has shown in the past that if it has a clear-cut No. 1 running back and he holds up, he’ll get between 250 and 300 carries. Marcus Coker was the last with 280 carries for 1,384 yards and 15 TDs in 2011. Iowa went RBBC (Running Back By Committee) in ’10 and ’09 and it worked well enough. Shonn Greene carried 307 times in ’08 (most for a running back in the Ferentz era) and won the Doak Walker award in 2008.
Weisman is in the same league as Greene (235) and Coker (230) as far as body type. Think about the leap he took last season. He started August as the No. 2 fullback, won the job and then showed enough burst and running back skill to work into that position the week of practice before Northern Iowa. He went from the fringe to helmets hitting him in the hip every play.
Weisman carried just 14 times during a four-week stretch (ankle vs. MSU; groin vs. Northwestern). Iowa’s O-line also lost two starters and suddenly the offense was without a go-to anything.
Bullock missed four games because of the concussion. The 6-0, 200-pounder rebounded nicely in his return, gaining 107 yards against Northwestern, but suffered a bruised lower back on 23 carries against Purdue and missed the final two games of the season, six total for the season.
Redshirt freshman Barkley Hill (6-0, 210) is on his way back from a torn ACL suffered in August. Canzeri (5-9, 190) almost returned to the lineup during the season and should be engaged this spring.
THIRD DOWN — ADDITIONS/SUBTRACTIONS: Greg Garmon, who rushed 38 times for 122 yards as a true freshman last season, transferred in December. He received an open transfer release from Iowa and enrolled at Butte College (Calif.).
At 6-1, 190, Garmon is a tall, shifty back. Was he a fit in Iowa’s offense? Could Iowa coaches have carved a role for him in the offense? The rhetoricals will pour out until Garmon makes the move back to FBS and does something on the big stage. Bottom line, he’s an athlete you like to have on your roster and now he’s not on Iowa’s.
Fullback Brad Rogers had back surgery in December and has decided to take a medical redshirt. His playing career is over, leaving a hole at fullback. With the graduation of Jacob Reisen, walk-ons Adam Cox and Macon Plewa are the only fullbacks.
That opens the door to the possibility that Weisman moves to fullback. If he does, he’ll do it probably closer to 250 pounds and with an expanded role in the offense. Iowa fullback has been a statistical non-starter logging just 15 carries for 59 yards the last six seasons.
Without trying to read too much into what “might be” with Greg Davis’ offense, it does seem as though he would like to use running backs as receivers. Last season, Weisman caught 15 passes and Bullock 18. Garmon caught another eight.
Iowa signed a pair of smallish backs — Jonathan Parker and Akrum Wadley — with the idea of motioning them into the slot or lining them up there. Head coach Kirk Ferentz talked this winter about formations that had Weisman and Bullock on the field at the same time, but neither were healthy at the same time, so that never materialized.
Will this concept show up on the field? Iowa won’t back away from the zone running scheme. Could there be modifications?
Along with Parker and Wadley, Iowa signed Ohio RB LeShun Daniels. At 5-11, 220, Daniels is in the big-back mode. Iowa wants to keep
Caption: Iowa walk-on Michael Malloy during an open practice at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette-KCRG)
the big back presence, but the RB/slot hybrid seems to be on the drawing board.
“With the way our offense is progressing, Damon Bullock had a ton of success with what he did early on before he got injured, and then we can not only play him at running back but also as a slot receiver,” Iowa recruiting coordinator Eric Johnson said. “That’s where you get the next two guys, Jonathan Parker and Akrum Wadley, in the mix. We feel very strongly that those two guys can help spell Damon in that role.
“One thing we felt we needed were guys who had a shot to hit the home run when you handed the ball to them or got the ball out to them in space. That’s where you see part of our recruiting going toward. . . . When you don’t have to pound it 3 or 4 yards a carry every time, if you can find the guy who can make the 30-, 40-, 50-yard run, that helps out your offense.”
SECOND DOWN — BATTLES BREWING: This depends on whether or not Davis is re-drawing the RB position.
If not, then Weisman will carry 200 times and the other backs will split the other 200 or so. And then injuries and AIRBHG and all that. If the RB/slot hybrid idea sees the field, Iowa seems to have several candidates for that spot (Bullock, Canzeri, Parker, Wadley).
Does Iowa have big back No. 2? No, unless Daniels can fill that role as a freshman. Weisman was a third-year sophomore last season and is a weightroom fanatic.
Then again, Iowa was ready to roll with Bullock and Garmon last season, and, as many of you have pointed out, coaches kind of backed into Weisman (although he practiced at RB prior to the UNI game, so someone knew what they were doing).
If Iowa leans more traditional, the RB spot probably slots this way:
Weisman
Bullock
Canzeri
Malloy
Hill (if healthy)
Andre Dawson (if he’s free from whatever scholarship qualification that kept him off the field last season)
Parker, Wadley, Daniels
If you see two backs, Weisman will be one and the other will come out of what might be August camp’s best competition.
Bullock and Canzeri will be interesting to watch. Bullock showed sparks last season and Ferentz mentioned what Iowa missed with him out of the lineup more than once during news conferences this winter. Canzeri has been a rehab beast and begins next season as Iowa hungriest player.
If Weisman doesn’t play fullback — or a derivative — who does? Davis has maintained that he will use a fullback. Iowa does run some ISO, but it also ran more empty backfield last season.
FIRST DOWN — WHAT COULD HAPPEN: This is nuts.
– Weisman could rush for 1,200 yards and 12 TDs. He averaged 16 carries in 10 games last season, but if you throw out the five and nine carries he got when injured against Penn State and Northwestern, he averaged 18 carries in eight games. He could get plenty of opportunities.
One question that comes up with Weisman is the competition he faced. He did a lot of damage against Northern Iowa (113), Central Michigan (217) and Minnesota (177). CMU was No. 93 in the nation in rush defense; Minnesota was 72nd and UNI is an FCS school. The counter to that is the Michigan State game, running 26 times for 116 yards when the No. 8 rush defense in the nation pretty much knew Weisman was going to get the ball.
– Weisman could play a fullback/running back hybrid and rush for go for 1,200 yards of total offense. This number needs to be weighed against competition, but Weisman did have six of Iowa’s 23 plays that covered 30 to 49 yards. They were all rushes from the line of scrimmage.
– Iowa has to be serious about increasing impact plays on offense. Last season, the offense produced the Hawkeyes longest play in just five of 12 games. In five other games, Jordan Cotton kick returns were Iowa’s longest plays. Iowa won just one (MSU) of those games.
– Bullock could have 1,200 yards total offense and eight TDs. Again, is the RB/slot thing for real? Also, Bullock showed he can play running back in Iowa’s offense.
– Let’s go with 800 yards total offense for Canzeri. He’s No. 3 right now and if he works his way into the rotation, it’ll take some time.
– Malloy was really close to playing last season. That didn’t come out of nowhere. He must’ve opened some eyes in camp.
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Not that I think he is in the mix, but did Jacob Reisen graduate? Last year I thought he was listed as a junior.
This is going to be interesting. I think if Kirk gets his way it will be a lot of Weisman. If Davis gets his way I think we will see a lot of Bullock and Canzeri.
If the O-Line is good and our QB is accurate and can complete passes I think Weisman works well to keep the chains moving. But if the O-Line and QB are inconsistent I would like to see them lean more towards Bullock and Canzeri because we won’t be able to count on mistake free 10-15 play drives and won’t be able to afford to miss home-run opportunities when they are there. I can’t argue Weisman is a good back and did well last year. But in his best games the O-Line was opening up some nice holes. Some of which Bullock or Canzeri might have taken to the house.
Hahaha and let the arguments begin. This article should be worth about 25 replies.
I forgot: I just don’t see Wesiman being “the man” all season unless it’s a balanced attack. His durability will be under fire until he proves differently.
Mike,
I think durability is a concern for all the backs, at least the presumed top 3 (since we really have no idea about Malloy or Hill). Weisman, due largely to his running style, isn’t going to avoid many hits. And that’s fine, but it raises key questions about his ability to take 25 carries a game. And Bullock is largely unknown, he’s looked decent at times last year against second-tier competition, but has also looked lost against anyone with a pulse (or even without one, as his 2011 performance tends to indicate – i.e. Being passed as Coker’s backup early. As for Canzeri, well, to date he’s been a YouTube sensation, long on high school highlights, but lacking against D-1 level competition.
I agree Max on all points. I, too, am tired of the YouTube sensation that Canzeri has been to this point. He reminds me of another HS YouTube sensation Sam McGuffie – the HS kid with 4.3 speed who hurdled defenders on multiple occasions. He played one year at Michigan, got hurt a lot, and then transferred to Rice University and recently graduated as a terrific athlete that was remarkably unaccomplished. With all the smoke surrounding Canzeri I really do hope there’s a fire!
Wow Mike lets take it easy on the Canzeri kid. I agree he hasn’t proved anything yet. But lets not blackball him either. In the bowl game for a true freshman seeing his first real action I thought he showed promise and toughness. Agreed, Canzeri is going to be a redshirt sophomore no one really cares about what he did in high school anymore.
Actually Bullock looked pretty good against eventual Orange Bowl participant NIU.
The reality is none of the backs have seen enough extended action against Big Ten competition to be considered a proven commodity.
My guess is Bullock, Weisman, and Canzeri are going to split the carries out of necessity.
Sportz:
Not trying to bury him – just tired of people talking about him as if he’s actually done something or is a “sure thing”. I would LOVE for him to be as great as some people assume he will be….but would prefer to SEE it first.
Excellent discussion. All fair points.
I might be reading too much into the hybridization of things. The difference is they recruited to that position, the RB/slot.
Is Weisman too RB to be a FB?
If it goes the way it’s always gone, it’s mostly one guy and there’s a definite distinction between RB and FB.
If Weisman is an RB, who is the FB? Who else but Weisman could it be?
I still don’t see Iowa using the FB much in their offense. It hasn’t happened for 10 seasons.
Sportz,
Reisen came out with the seniors on senior day and is finished.
1. “When you don’t have to pound it 3 or 4 yards a carry every time, if you can find the guy who can make the 30-, 40-, 50-yard run, that helps out your offense.” No kidding – most of college football moved in this direction 7-8 years ago….
2. You are right Sportz – our offensive philosophy will depend on whose influence is strongest. Either let GW run things his way for AT LEAST 2 years or just let Barta promote Brian already. If things go as badly next year as last year, it will become obvious to even the hardiest KF supporters whose fault it will be – not that they will acknowledge publicly, though.
3. Marc, your comment about Iowa football being an “open nerve” was spot-on in the now-closed QB article.
4. I just want Iowa to establish ONE identity and go with it – this “hybridizing” of philosophies is nice in theory but nearly impossible in reality. I will give GW credit though, at Texas he ran: a power running game (Ricky Williams); a spread with medium-deep passing games (Chris Simms at QB); a spread run-option with shot-putting throws (Vince Young); a spread with short-throw/timing routes and a smart, though, quick though smaller QB (Colt McCoy). He actually CAN modify his game when necessary with the tools available. He just got screwed with all the early commits that Texas had that ended up being more of the 2-star material in reality (vs. the 4-star/5-star rating they got for being a Texas commit).
With the schedule this year, Iowa could improve in all facets and still end up with the same or worse record. I sure hope they get a few things figured out this spring….
1. Absolutely yes.
2. Agree. If you can’t tell what they’re trying to do on offense this year (no one could last year), then something has to change and someone has to go.
3. Thanks and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
4. I think Iowa wants to have a wide-ranging repertoire to play the the strengths of the players they have. I could never figure out what that was last season. That was the players as much as what the players were coached to do. One offseason comment that really stuck with me was when KF said in the season wrap-up presser that at times last season it looked as though the Hawkeyes “weren’t coached.” That’s a damning statement and was probably the prelude to the offseason staff changes.
Good point on the schedule, too.
This could be a better team with a worse record. I think it’s nine bowl teams and Ohio State on the road.
Your comment about “wide-ranging repertoire” on offense reminded of what the great philosopher Norman Parker once said about Charles Godfrey: when asked about Godfrey’s varied abilities as a defender, Parker scoffed, “Yeah, he’s a jack-of-all-trades, master of none”. With KF’s history being one that included a death grip on the nearly pinpoint execution on offense to have any notable success, I welcome a wider-ranging strategy but am concerned that KF will be unable to “let go” of the reins long enough to give Davis and the players the time/space they need to “master” the new philosophy. If he doesn’t, we can expect a repeat of last year’s futility.
“When you don’t have to pound it 3 or 4 yards a carry every time, if you can find the guy who can make the 30-, 40-, 50-yard run, that helps out your offense.” — Iowa FB coach, March 2013
Mike Miller, you’re being WAY too generous. Ask Amos Alonzo Stagg, Knute Rockne, Forest Evashevski and Hayden Fry. Evy had Bob Jeter and Willie Fleming, among others, two home run hitters in the same backfield who, coincidentally, led Iowa to its last Rose Bowl win…in 1959.
Iowa’s football staff is consistently amazing in its grasp of the obvious.
Of course, Kirk is fretting over this home run stuff cuz, well, you know if you score too fast, then the other team gets the ball, and then, well, who knows what terrible things might happen? Then again, they don’t worry about that too much on many campuses beyond Iowa City.
And imagine if this crazy “home run” concept were to seep from the RBs to the passing game! You mean throwing one 50-yard pass might be better than 17 three-yarders? Oh, the humanity…
I wonder about protection this year.
I think it was solid last season, but I think Vandenberg’s internal clock was set on panic. That said, I think if you see 50-yard receptions, it’s going to be the result of a short out where the WR makes a defender miss and gets loose and YACs for 45 of the 50.
I’m not sure we see the short passing game go away. They want to extend the offense, but all evidence points to extending it with athletes who can do something in space.