Iowa football: Five observations in win over Rutgers
By Andrew Wade
Tyler Goodson isn’t just the future, he’s right now.
I won’t get ahead of myself and say Tyler Goodson should be starting because I don’t. I think Mekhi Sargent and Toren Young are a fantastic 1-2 combination, but Goodson is a heck of a runner, who does deserve 5-6 carries a game, and the hype he was getting before the season has been warranted thus far.
He started seeing action in the second quarter and finished out the fourth quarter with the second-string unit, ultimately finishing the day with 53 yards on 10 carries for a 5.3 yard per carry average, and he almost broke a big touchdown run if not for a shoestring tackle from behind.
On that run, in particular, in the middle of the 3rd quarter, Goodson displayed impressive vision that caused many to be reminded of another great Iowa football running back, Akrum Wadley.
As we’ve mentioned multiple times, Sargent is a combination of speed and power, a do-it-all type of back who isn’t quite elite at one thing. Young is a powerful downhill runner, and Ivory Kelly-Martin has great speed, but Goodson might have the most elite skillset of all of them.
Next. Postgame recap of Iowa vs Rutgers. dark
His playing time alone speaks volumes to what the coaching staff thinks of the true freshman. Instead of letting him sit behind three junior running backs who are all capable in their own right, he is getting meaningful snaps and will likely burn his redshirt opportunity. The Iowa football team’s coaching staff wouldn’t just willy-nilly do that unless it was for a good reason. And Goodson’s exceptional talent seems like a pretty good reason to me.