College Football

Iowa Football: Derrick Mitchell Jr. Never Had Chance With Hawkeyes

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 10:30 p.m. ET

Fansided, Jeremy Karll/FanSided via Dear Old Gold

Iowa football didn’t get to see Derrick Mitchell Jr’s full potential before he transferred

Former Iowa football running back Derrick Mitchell Jr, a former three-star wide receiver, announced his intentions to transfer for his final season of eligibility next season. He plans on graduating from the University of Iowa and becoming a grad transfer so he doesn’t have to sit out a year before playing.

Despite originally being recruited as a wide receiver/athlete, the Hawkeyes quickly moved him to the running back position. He only appeared in one game as a freshman in 2014, however appeared in 13 games over the past two seasons.

Still, Mitchell only saw time in blowouts. In fact, in 2016, Mitchell, who many thought would have at least a minimal role on third downs, only recorded two carries for 12 yards and a touchdown, and six receptions for 24 yards.

Injuries hindered Mitchell’s season this year but being healthy wouldn’t have bought him much playing time with the way LeShun Daniels Jr and Akrum Wadley ran in 2016.

Iowa traditionally has multiple serviceable running backs every year, which caused Mitchell to get lost in the mix.

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In 2014, Mitchell’s freshman season, Mark Weisman and Jordan Canzeri shared the backfield. In 2015, Canzeri and Daniels shared the backfield. Then in 2016, Daniels and Wadley became the first set of Iowa running backs to each rush for 1,000 yards in the same season.

Just like most years, one running back graduates, in this case Daniels, and the secondary back, Wadley, takes over as the starter with the next future starter backing him up. Although, unlike most years, 2017 will be the Akrum Wadley show.

After deciding to return for his senior season instead of entering the NFL Draft, Wadley will be one of the most dangerous and used offensive weapons in college football next season. He already rushed for 1,081 yards and 10 touchdowns on 6.4 yards per carry in 2016, while also finishing second on the team in receiving yards, as a backup, but now he’s Iowa’s clear-cut starter in 2017.

Evidently, that means that the five year streak of two Iowa running backs receiving at least 100 carries is over. Many expected Akinribade, who had 16 carries for 33 yards in 2016, and Mitchell to battle for the backup role behind Wadley, but neither would likely have seen more than 50 carries. In fact, they probably would have split the role.

Therefore, it makes sense why Mitchell wanted to leave Iowa City. He would have seen more playing time than this year but still in a minimal role, which isn’t how any senior wants to finish his career.

It’s easy to look at the emergence of Wadley this season as the downfall of Mitchell. Wadley took away Mitchell’s expected touches on third downs and on passing plays, along with guaranteeing the bulk of the carries in 2017. However, moving him from wide receiver to running back is when Mitchell’s career started to go backwards.

Iowa’s pass game dealt with drops and injuries all season. From Matt VandeBerg being lost for the season after week four to George Kittle rarely being 100 percent, and Riley McCarron and Jerminic Smith dropping passes every week, Iowa had few reliable options in the pass game.

As previously mentioned, Mitchell dealt with injuries this year, but he still could have helped the pass game. At 6-1, 220 pounds, he was as tall as VandeBerg and Smith and weighed more than the aforementioned and McCarron.

Mitchell would have likely had a learning curve, as any player who is changing positions would, but he had the size and experience to at least be a respectable option. In fact, Iowa always treated him as a receiver coming out of the backfield whenever he played, so the Hawkeyes trusted his hands.

43.8 percent of his career touches with Iowa were receptions. In 2016, he had six receptions to just two carries. He wouldn’t have replaced VandeBerg’s production, but it would have given Iowa an excuse to have another explosive and talented playmaker on the field.

Mitchell’s only real chance to showcase his playmaking ability came in 2015 against Northwestern. Wadley’s 204 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns overshadowed Mitchell’s career-high 122 total yards and touchdown, but he averaged 9.4 yards per touch, nonetheless.

He showcased his big play ability and avoided tacklers. It’s a skill set that Iowa lacked in 2016 and will be searching for outside of Wadley in 2017.

With Jay Scheel‘s retirement coming out of nowhere, Mitchell might have found time as a receiver after all in 2017, although that would still be unlikely considering Iowa didn’t look his way last year. Instead, the Hawkeyes will give young Adrian Falconer more chances.

Derrick Mitchell Jr waited for his chance for the past three seasons, showing that he had the potential to be a dynamic playmaker, an Akrum Wadley-type player, out of the backfield. His chance never came, but his team-first attitude is a testament to his character and why he’ll find playing time on his new team.

The Hawkeyes will enter 2017 with a new offensive coordinator and down a receiver and running back, but they might have kept Mitchell if they never had him switch positions.