Will Wadley be back?

99topdawg

99topdawg

Well-Known Member
I've never seen or heard anything, but Kiper has him as his #5 rated running back behind (and ahead of) some pretty impressive names.

Running backs

You might already know about LSU star Leonard Fournette, but two more star running backs make Mel Kiper's updated ranking of the top 25 prospects for the 2017 draft.



1. *Leonard Fournette, LSU
2. *Dalvin Cook, Florida State
3. *D'Onta Foreman, Texas
4. *Christian McCaffrey, Stanford
5. *Akrum Wadley, Iowa
6. *Royce Freeman, Oregon
7. *Wayne Gallman, Clemson
8. Matthew Dayes, NC State
9. *James Conner, Pittsburgh
10. Corey Clement, Wisconsin

Foreman (6-1, 249), who declared for the draft Wednesday, made his debut in my latest Big Board. Wadley has rushed for 966 yards and 10 touchdowns for the Hawkeyes, and he also has 32 catches and three TDs.


All I can say is:
 
I hope not because he's not physically (or mentally) readyfor the next level yet. I think KF and CD would tell him the same thing, but you never know, he'll do what HE thinks is best for himself....
 
Fryowa said:
Money talks.
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Are we talking the Heisman Trophy consideration next year? If most of the players on that list jump he could be right in the thick of it. Then you're talking real money.
With an O-line with that potential it could be a great year for Mr. Wadley.
 
All the talk has been about Jewell going pro, never even considered Wadley might go. Interesting that he's rated that high. Hope he doesn't, but you can't blame him if he's a top tiered RB. It's all about where he'd go in the draft. King didn't seem to hurt himself this year.
 
Very surprised that he is rated so high. I'm happy for him, but I'm hoping he stays. I think he is too small to be in the league for long.
 
This is interesting to me. Seems like guys who fit the bruiser back role (Fournette, Foreman, Conner) are trending towards busts at the next level. I'm not saying they will be, but I can think of a handful of guys right off the bat who fit that mold and were elite college players, but have struggled at the next level. Eddie Lacy, Trent Richardson, and our own Shonn Greene come to mind. Now, they've all carved out nice careers for themselves and I'm sure they've made a boatload of money, but it just doesn't seem like that's the way the NFL is trending at the RB position. Guys who can be a dual threat out of the backfield seem to be more coveted now days. That's why I'm not shocked to see Wadley up there. His agility is pretty special. Ezekiel Elliott is an elite back because he's big, fast, and can catch the ball out of the backfield, but there aren't many of those types of guys. I think Wadley would be more of a 3rd down type of RB in the NFL. He doesn't have elite speed, but his agility really gives him something to work with.
 
I'd like him to stay of course but if he is rated that high across the NFL, I hope he goes. He's been a great player here. But far underused and far misused, and that is the reason why he should go. KF wants him to put on weight and may try to use him as a traditional RB in 2017. Wadley isn't. He is an all purpose back who frankly has far too much talent for KF to deal with and use correctly.
 
Wadley is our McCaffrey and we should definitely use him as such (and we kind of did as he caught 32 passes)

My fear is that if he does come back, KF asks him to bulk up more and he loses his shift/athletic abilities. I don't know if we've seen RB's who've actually survived four years at Iowa change their style though.

It's not like our QB situation where they get worse
 
Xerxes said:
I'd like him to stay of course but if he is rated that high across the NFL, I hope he goes. He's been a great player here. But far underused and far misused, and that is the reason why he should go. KF wants him to put on weight and may try to use him as a traditional RB in 2017. Wadley isn't. He is an all purpose back who frankly has far too much talent for KF to deal with and use correctly.
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This is so true. KF is such an offensive wiz.:rolleyes: If up to KF, Wadley would've transferred or quit the team by now for lack of use.
 
dwghawk said:
Are we talking the Heisman Trophy consideration next year? If most of the players on that list jump he could be right in the thick of it. Then you're talking real money.
With an O-line with that potential it could be a great year for Mr. Wadley.
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I get that, but Desmond King's draft stock declined after this year and it would be remiss to think that Wadley didn't pay attention to that.

And before the flaming starts, I'm not saying King isn't still a first rounder, but he didn't look like DK from a year ago (even when teams threw his way).
 
Till I saw that same Kiper rating of him it hadn't crossed my mind either. It's a little different with RBs because of how much shorter their careers are and how disposable they seem to be. They only have so many touches/snaps in them and the sooner they get started the sooner they can get to their 2nd contract where they can make the big big bucks. If your a 3rd/4th maybe even 5th rd pick and find yourself going to a team that's a good fit for him it'd be tough to stay... I wonder what his line of thinking is I suppose we'll know in a few weeks after the bowl game...
 
He's actually perfect for what the NFL would want. He's McCaffery minus all the miles and hits on his body. He's had a fraction of the abuse that the other backs on that list have had the last couple of years. And he's been pretty much healthy. No crazy red flags to worry about other than fumbles... As a mid round pick he'd quite possibly be a steal for someone. The fact he's shown he can catch passes and be used in a lot of ways just goes to show ya his value. We might just have to get lucky to get him back one more year the more I think about it...
Is Eno still gone?? JK JK
 
This year senior class in the NCAA must be pretty lame. Daniels isn't mentioned there and our NFL caliber coach had the benefit of having and even better player starting. Just think, McCann probably would have WON the Heisman that year if he'd had another eligible year when Banks was runner up. Chizek was really a not very good coach. I doubt Cam Newton knew the plays.

Now using my ICKY impersonation. I told you IDIOTS at the beginning of the season that Wadley was a premier back....Why the surprise?

For those of you who don't understand....SARCASM..... Except I really did say that about Wadley... leaving out the IDIOTS.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
Till I saw that same Kiper rating of him it hadn't crossed my mind either. It's a little different with RBs because of how much shorter their careers are and how disposable they seem to be. They only have so many touches/snaps in them and the sooner they get started the sooner they can get to their 2nd contract where they can make the big big bucks. If your a 3rd/4th maybe even 5th rd pick and find yourself going to a team that's a good fit for him it'd be tough to stay... I wonder what his line of thinking is I suppose we'll know in a few weeks after the bowl game...
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This is the one reason for him to stay and get a degree. RBs are a dime a dozen in the NFL. With any NFL position, your career can be over in a second, but that is magnified at RB. Plus its the easiest position to play and the easiest position to replace a good player. You can go from starter to unemployed quickly, even without injury.

So if he is within reach of a degree (being this is his 4th year on campus, I'd imagine he's somewhat close) sticking around and getting that degree would be a great idea. Because his first contract may be his only contract and he likely will not be a high enough pick for that contract to set him up for life.
 
Running backs only have so many carries and there are a lot of good ones if not great ones out there. Why do you think the Cowboys let DeMarco Murray go after he won the nfl rushing title, because to wrap a ton of money in a running back who might have a knee or other injury and whole can break down at any time is crazy for these pro GMs and owners. Wadley is a 50-50 proposition because if he gets 1500 yards I think he makes more money than going this year. But he could go this year as a healthy back and try to make one big payday in the nfl in a couple of years.

Myself I think Jermelle Lewis was the best of all of KF's running backs for speed, power, twisting turning spin moves, etc but he hurt both knees and that was it.
 
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