Iowa Football Depth Chart: What to Expect From a Shaken Up Running Back Room

The Iowa Hawkeyes have been fortunate in the fact that they have largely avoided the injury bug up to this point in the 2026 college football season, but some of that luck ran out against Minnesota, with a top offensive star appearing to be sidelined moving forward.

Running back Kamari Moulton is nowhere to be found on Iowa's Week 8 depth chart ahead of its home game against the Wisconsin Badgers, which confirms that his injury against Minnesota must be at least somewhat serious.

With Moulton sidelined, the running group, while talented and experienced, is going to be shaken up a bit. What can we expect from the group tasked with finding success on the ground?

Iowa's Running Back Depth Chart

As it stands right now, Xavier Williams is getting the nod as Iowa's top running back. Admittedly, I am a little surprised by that. I would have thought L.J. Phillips, Iowa's second back over the last few weeks, would be up there.

Phillips is actually nowhere to be found on the depth chart, which is even more stunning to me. After Williams, Nathan McNeil and Braedan Jackson are both listed as the Hawkeyes' second-string running backs.

What to expect from the running back room this week

I fully expect L.J. Phillips Jr. to take over the duties as Iowa's downhill running back against Wisconsin. If the Iowa defense holds up, this could be a low-scoring affair where tough, hard yards come at a premium. I expect to see him get plenty of action.

When looking at the shotgun zone and the outside zone that Tim Lester likes to utilize quite a bit, that is where Xavier Williams fits in. He popped a few against Wisconsin last year on zone schemes, which fit his one-cut style quite nicely. Xavier Williams should see his fair share of touches on the ground.

If and when Iowa is forced to throw the ball, Nathan McNeil seems to be the one the Hawkeyes like coming out of the backfield. Against Minnesota, he was the receiving back when Iowa had to open up the offense. I suspect we will see some screens to McNeil in an effort to hit some easy completions.

That leaves us with Braeden Jackson, the wild card of the group. He is the youngest, but he is the most explosive of the bunch. He has rushing and receiving touchdowns. With how stagnant Iowa's offense was last week, Jackson is my pick to be Iowa's X-factor against Wisconsin.

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