Mike Mayock, LaDainian Tomlinson like Akrum Wadley

Tommy Birch
Hawk Central

Pro Football Hall of Fame member LaDainian Tomlinson admittedly hasn’t seen much of Iowa running back Akrum Wadley.

But Tomlinson likes the glimpses of the Hawkeyes star. 

“I’ve seen him on tape,” Tomlinson said on air while covering the NFL Scouting Combine for the NFL Network. “He flashed a couple of times. Smaller than I thought he would be.”

Iowa senior running back Akrum Wadley is all smiles after being presented with the player of the game trophy after helping the Hawkeyes to a 27-20 win over Boston College during the 2017 Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York on Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017.

Wadley ran for 2,872 yards at Iowa and tallied 3,904 all-purpose yards for the Hawkeyes.

He had mixed results during Friday’s workouts and tests for running backs at the combine. During the 40-yard dash, Wadley tallied times of 4.59 seconds on his first attempt and 4.54 on his second. Wadley also dropped a pass during drills.

But Wadley is still on the radar of Tomlinson, who asked NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock for his thoughts on the Iowa star.

“Wadley’s a tough kid,” Mayock said. “For his size, he runs hard. He’s a physical, tough runner. He’s a little quicker than he is fast. He’ll stick his nose in the fan on pass protection, but he’s going to have to make his living on third down and special teams.”