Three takeaways from coordinators, including Jimmy Horn’s return skills

Canales has said, in general, the two backs will split reps much the way Hubbard and Rico Dowdle did at times last year, with one back taking a series and the other coming in for third down.

But they are not beholden to that cadence, offensive coordinator Brad Idzik explained Thursday.

“What I really commend all of our backs for this offseason is for understanding what’s the intent of our play calls, what’s the intent of the core of our run game, and they’re all hitting that with consistency,” said Idzik.

“While they’re different body types and they have different things that they can accentuate, the style of runner that we want when we’re calling a wide zone, mid-zone, tight zone, gap, no pole, toss crack — they capture that. They understand what we’re asking for and what we want, the flavor.

“So I feel comfortable with all three of those guys having a little bit of a varied role, and they’ve earned that. They’ve gone out, and they’ve earned that respect. So while their body types, and their speed, or their strength, and the things they’ve put on tape in the past vary a little bit, they all understand the whys behind what we’re trying to present to the defense. So I really look forward to mixing and matching those three guys.”