Iowa gets grad transfer from Nevada

[Hawkfnntn]

Keep in mind that in 2015, one of Iowa's best regular seasons ever, Iowa had 4 running backs spiltting playing time.

Canzeri, Daniels, Mitchel were the top 3 and Wadley was actually 4th string that year. It worked out well in the sense that they all got hurt but not all the same time.

Its just a known rule by now. You never can have enough running backs at Iowa.

Amen... I feel great that knowing Toks is the 4th rb along with two stud true freshman (who both hopefully RS now) are providing the depth. If only we had a fraction of that confidence at receiver.

 

[bogeyman]

Kept saying this last couple years, why not put your best players on the field at once and just give more things for the defense to think about (Daniels + Wadley in at the same time).

i wld love nothing more than running two back sets that being said until the day comes I actually see it happen at iowa i wont believe it!

 

[The Big LeHAWKski]

Here are a couple interesting tidbits related to Butler's decision to transfer and decision to pick Iowa--

1. According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, Butler missed much of Spring Practice this year. You have to imagine that put him behind the curve quite a bit in terms of learning Nevada's new Air Raid system.

2. In addition to Butler being recruited and coached by long-time Hawkeye assistant Lester Erb at Nevada and Nevada's new coach being former Hawkeye Jay Norvell, Butler had two other interesting Iowa connections. Neither of these were perhaps the deciding factor, but they are interesting trivia.
--Butler was teammates in 2016 with running back Akeel Lynch, who was a grad transfer from Penn State to Nevada. If you'll recall, Iowa just missed on Lynch when he committed to Penn State and just missed on Lynch again when Penn State's players were granted "Free Agency" when they went on probation in 2012.
--Butler's high school coach at St Francis was Greg Purnell. If that name sounds familiar to you, Purnell is a member of the Iowa coach's Hall of Fame and was a longtime high school coach at Linn Mar.

Impressive!

 

[99topdawg]

Ummm.....AW almost went pro. I doubt he'd take a RS.

 

[deanvogs]

? is can the two of them get over 2,200 yards next year?

I think both could have over 1100 total yards from scrimmage

 

[99topdawg]

From an NFL draft analyst:

 

[99topdawg]

 

[Joshbrown]

Saw Kakert tweet that RB James Butler from Nevada is coming to Iowa

Niiiice. Guys with the initials JB are the coolest guys around. Michigan and Wisky have benefited from the grad transfer rule . . . as have the Hawkeyes. The punter last season was awesome. Now a RB. Next season a WR.

 

[Joshbrown]

That is an awful comparison.Bayless-Paki. No comparison. Bayless rocked it shen Harmon went out, had a drink of coffee w/Vikings. One of the most productive 'slashers' iowa has had.

Agreed. Bayless was a 1,000+ yard rusher. Honorable mention All-American.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

This is a good get. We lack weapons on offense. Wadley, Fant, MVB. That's all we know about.

With Butler we've got another RB who can score from anywhere on the field, catch the ball, and return kicks.

I'd love to see the jet sweep with Wadley and Butler out there. Of course we'd have to be less #%#% predictable. It was obvious when Wadley was in the slot....now with both of these guys on the field the defense has to respect each player.

There was one play against Illinois last year-exactly one, unfortunately--where we saw "ghost motion" with Wadley, then gave to Daniels. It went for a TD. Most of us called for that wrinkle all year--hell, all season the last couple seasons--and we've seen it exactly one time.

Unless/until we see enough of the jet-sweep/ghost motion where Wadley or (insert token jet-sweeper name here) do NOT get the carry, it will be meaningless for Iowa football. As long as that formation is merely a telegraph for who is getting the ball and the direction he is headed, it's a quasi-worthless play/formation.

We ran jet-sweep to Parker against Indiana in 2013 or 2014. From that point on until the Illinois game last year, every time we lined up a RB in that formation, it was either a) 3rd-and-long, thus, knew the RB was another receiver or b), it was NOT 3rd-and-long and every single person viewing the game knew what was coming.

If BF/KoK/et. al. utilize jet-sweep AND ghost-motion (think early years of Melvin Gordon in slot, with Ball or White in backfield), our run game could be incredible vs. predictable-and-sometimes-very-effective.

 

[Hawk1960]

There was one play against Illinois last year-exactly one, unfortunately--where we saw "ghost motion" with Wadley, then gave to Daniels. It went for a TD. Most of us called for that wrinkle all year--hell, all season the last couple seasons--and we've seen it exactly one time.

Unless/until we see enough of the jet-sweep/ghost motion where Wadley or (insert token jet-sweeper name here) do NOT get the carry, it will be meaningless for Iowa football. As long as that formation is merely a telegraph for who is getting the ball and the direction he is headed, it's a quasi-worthless play/formation.

We ran jet-sweep to Parker against Indiana in 2013 or 2014. From that point on until the Illinois game last year, every time we lined up a RB in that formation, it was either a) 3rd-and-long, thus, knew the RB was another receiver or b), it was NOT 3rd-and-long and every single person viewing the game knew what was coming.

If BF/KoK/et. al. utilize jet-sweep AND ghost-motion (think early years of Melvin Gordon in slot, with Ball or White in backfield), our run game could be incredible vs. predictable-and-sometimes-very-effective.

I remember that "ghost motion" play you mentioned above. A thing of beauty. Link below has the video at the 44 second mark. Watch the huge hole open up for LeShun Daniels after the fake to Wadley ... and Wadley did not even sell it that well. James Daniels also did a great job of steering the IL DT to the left to clear room for his bro.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

This is THE BEST thing the coaches could have done to help keep Wadley's carries at a reasonable level, to help ensure he stays healthy and fresh.
Great addition - welcome to Iowa City Mr. Butler - So glad you're a Hawkeye!

PS - Hoping BF has what it takes to be his own man and ditches the FB altogether.
Put them both in there, keep the D guessing and get our Offense into the modern era.

Exactly. This is such a luxury for Iowa. Getting a seasoned RB who I presume won't have fumbling issues as many younger players do when they start. He's ready to contribute right away. I suspect his pass protection will be fine. Plug-n-play player!

 

[BigD]

This is very interesting to me on so many levels.

One would think that a very productive grad transfer leaves to go to a bigger school in order to gain NFL exposure- Which includes needing to go to a school where you'll get plenty of snaps. Depth at running back did not seem to be an issue this year for the Hawks. Curious what the coaching staff told him. You know he's coming in to play right away.

How do you suppose Wadley feels about the addition?
Does this mean the younger backs still aren't ready?
Was this a proactive or reactive target - reads like maybe Erb had something to do with this.
How does his running style counter to Wadleys?
What does this say about our offensive philosophy this year?

I'm having a hard time convincing myself we can win more than 6 games this year, but I'm hopeful this another low expectation season that surprises us all!

Lol, awe yes the life of an Iowa football fan.

 

[Hawk1960]

Exactly. This is such a luxury for Iowa. Getting a seasoned RB who I presume won't have fumbling issues as many younger players do when they start. He's ready to contribute right away. I suspect his pass protection will be fine. Plug-n-play player!

Good news ... he holds on to the ball well ... only 1 fumble lost in the past two years and 468 carries.

Nice video below from his Arizona Bowl MVP and the commentator talks about his blocking, which is solid ...

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Good news ... he holds on to the ball well ... only 1 fumble lost in the past two years and 468 carries.

Nice video below from his Arizona Bowl MVP and the commentator talks about his blocking, which is solid ...

Wowza. That's terrific! Bet you that makes Ferentz a bit calmer.

 

[thetrza]

I agree the comparisons to Paki are unfair, in the clips he looks more like Rudy from that movie not so long ago.

 

[PCHawk]

Now I'm worried that we will spend a lot of time next year wondering why Wadley isn't in the game.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

I remember that "ghost motion" play you mentioned above. A thing of beauty. Link below has the video at the 44 second mark. Watch the huge hole open up for LeShun Daniels after the fake to Wadley ... and Wadley did not even sell it that well. James Daniels also did a great job of steering the IL DT to the left to clear room for his bro.

I loved that play design. For whatever reasons they just never seem to want to reuse plays that WORK. I can get the concept that you don't want to run plays like that into the ground necessarily but busting it out more than a couple times a year sure wouldn't be. I also like the fake bubble screen pass where the TE fakes like he's going out to block and then streaks up field. I think they did it with Dallas Clark, Moeaki, but always just once or twice a year. For crying out loud once a game wouldn't even be too much for plays like that.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

I loved that play design. For whatever reasons they just never seem to want to reuse plays that WORK. I can get the concept that you don't want to run plays like that into the ground necessarily but busting it out more than a couple times a year sure wouldn't be. I also like the fake bubble screen pass where the TE fakes like he's going out to block and then streaks up field. I think they did it with Dallas Clark, Moeaki, but always just once or twice a year. For crying out loud once a game wouldn't even be too much for plays like that.

<<For crying out loud once a game wouldn't even be too much for plays like that>>

And the other thing is, the play doesn't always have to be "successful" for it to have an effect. Just the knowledge that we will use it can be enough to take that 8th or 9th man out of the box.

 

[PCHawk]

I loved that play design. For whatever reasons they just never seem to want to reuse plays that WORK. I can get the concept that you don't want to run plays like that into the ground necessarily but busting it out more than a couple times a year sure wouldn't be. I also like the fake bubble screen pass where the TE fakes like he's going out to block and then streaks up field. I think they did it with Dallas Clark, Moeaki, but always just once or twice a year. For crying out loud once a game wouldn't even be too much for plays like that.

Are you suggesting we run one less stretch left per game?