Anthony Nelson Going to the NFL

[ShockHawk22]

I loved Norm, but he rode his starters until they dropped, which they did at Northwestern in '10. Reese Morgan and Phil Parker transitioning to a rotation up front has been very beneficial.

And, yes, Epenesa will be here one more year. He's a first-rounder next year. And if Golston breaks out, which I think is possible, he could follow AJ to the league.

Has AJ said anything to hint that he’s going early next year or is that just because he’s so good and would grade high. I’m only asking because the reason why he came here in the 1st place was his life long fandom to play here, maybe that keeps him. (This is my heart talking not my head)

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Has AJ said anything to hint that he’s going early next year or is that just because he’s so good and would grade high. I’m only asking because the reason why he came here in the 1st place was his life long fandom to play here, maybe that keeps him. (This is my heart talking not my head)

He hasn't been a starter. I figure one year as a starter and he's gone.

 

[4thngoal]

It hurts Iowa next year on the field. Hard to dispute that. Maybe it helps them in the long run as it's another example of Iowa taking an overlooked kid, who was willing to work hard, and turns him into a pro. Great PR, it must be promoted (and exploited).

You can no longer plan for next year, every year is now THE YEAR. Who at the beginning of the 2018 season thought Nelson, Hooker and probably Hockenson would be going pro? If someone said all three, I'd like to see that in writing.

Besides Epenesa, there could be more next year - Wirfs? Hankins? You don't know.

It really ramps up the pressure on recruiting, and getting freshmen on the field who even appear close to being contributors. The 4 game rule will need to be used to its fullest potential.

I didn't name them but I knew we had several.
We still do!!
I think y'all might be surprised at how much talent we have.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

How could Nelson and Hooker be going pro without having skipped the bowl game to protect their interests?

 

[koralakers]

DANG. SHUDDA STARTED EPPY MORE. How many BACKUPS, for of all teams Iowa, DECLARE EARLY?

 

[Jonrn]

I love hesse and Nelson, but I don’t see any drop off between them and epenesa and gholston.

Phil Parker will find a replacement for hooker, he always does, I mean he found josh Jackson and hooker when no one else saw them coming.

The only truly irreplaceable early entry is hockenson.

 

[tom43]

will be interesting to see if AJ will be as effective with a lot more playing time

 

[SmokeTownHawk]

Meanwhile, Auburn's Derrick Brown, one of the top DT prospects in the nation and a fixture in 1st round mocks, is returning for his SR year.

There's got to be a backstory to that one, like he's got some high-tech engineering or pre-med degree to finish.

 

[99topdawg]

There's got to be a backstory to that one, like he's got some high-tech engineering or pre-med degree to finish.

They offered his brother a scholarship and they'll get to play together for a year ala Dusty Devries.

 

[peerok]

DANG. SHUDDA STARTED EPPY MORE. How many BACKUPS, for of all teams Iowa, DECLARE EARLY?

Josh Jackson only started one year before leaving early.

 

[HawksMN]

I don't see this move as working out as well as Jackson, etc worked out.

 

[ssckelley]

I'm confused as hell...all this nfl talent and we still had 4 loses to subpar teams! Yes whisky and ped state were down so yes subpar!

Nothing confusing about it, Iowa had a chance to capitalize and win the west and they failed to get the job done.

 

[revkev73]

Anthony Nelson = Vern Den Herder

 

[SCHawkeye2]

We should all be proud of Anthony and of the entire program. Presumably, he's going to make a lot of money and this is a really happy situation for both Nelson and the Iowa program (although we're sad to lose him early).

But this trend is skyrocketing. Iowa (and all of college FB) should expect to see more 3rd year players leaving for the NFL and it's not slowing down.

Question - how does this structural change to CFB impact the Iowa program? In our current state (with Kirk and coaching staff, current conference structures, etc.), does this change make us better or worse compared to both the top teams and bottom teams of the Big 10?

By definition, as a 'development program', we get 2 & 3 star players who are usually not ready for B10 level play their first year or two. The optimum payoff for a development program would be in year 3 or 4. If we have players leave early we don't get the full benefit of the 'development' investment.
The programs that attract higher level 4 & 5 star talent who can and do play at a high level in years 1 & 2 will continue to do well in the early entry environment, but development programs, such as Iowa, will fall behind.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Yes it does. It also seems like some are going to come up either empty or farther down the line in the draft than maybe they believe. More guys coming out early, combined with the seniors - it's a numbers game, they all can't be first and second rounders. A quick search of Google, 247 Sports (as of January 4) had 89 (if I counted right) guys coming out early. That's almost three rounds of draft picks. Add half as many more to the list (which is probably conservative estimate), and that's more than 4 rounds of draft picks of guys who have declared early.

Last year there were 106, with 37 going unselected. This year there will be more. Of course, the mentality of these guys is - those 37 guys last year aren't me, but the reality is that yes it is you, or certainly can be.

Despite all of that reality, I don't blame a guy for trying to grab the brass ring.

Could you imagine leaving early and going unselected? I mean unless you were just done with football at that point but I'm sure that wasn't it for any of them let alone all of them. I think their all leaving because they know they have to be in the NFL 4 yrs to get to the big 2nd contract. The only way you do that is to get started. It'd be really tough to not go once you can. But for those that don't get selected at all... Ouch..

 

[Adam]

He was 9th out of 10 qbs on the draft board.

Which could mean it's now or never. Next year there are supposed to be even more draftable QB's. Stanley would need to have a monster season to improve his chances for next year.

 

[MoseSchrute]

Same. I was mildly optimistic about '18 and wildly optimistic about '19. Hopefully my Tide win tonight and take my mind off this.

Sorry that didn't work out for you. Hope none of your boys got hurt too bad.

 

[IowaTeddy]

By definition, as a 'development program', we get 2 & 3 star players who are usually not ready for B10 level play their first year or two. The optimum payoff for a development program would be in year 3 or 4. If we have players leave early we don't get the full benefit of the 'development' investment.
The programs that attract higher level 4 & 5 star talent who can and do play at a high level in years 1 & 2 will continue to do well in the early entry environment, but development programs, such as Iowa, will fall behind.

Agreed. The counter argument is that IF we can hold on to successful, development players (into their 4th and 5th years), we could have a physical/age advantage over programs starting many underclassmen. Examples of this are guys like Parker Hesse, Keegan Render, Austin Kelly.

A 4th-5th year Austin Kelly vs. a highly rated 19 year old outside linebacker (say from Michigan) meeting in the hole on a power run is a mismatch that favors Iowa.

 

[Stanzi]

How could Nelson and Hooker be going pro without having skipped the bowl game to protect their interests?

Right? Has anyone checked to make sure they didn’t die in the bowl game? I’ve heard that they’d be stupid to play in the bowl game because it’s basically like a war zone level of danger. Hopefully they are smart and don’t play in the bowl game because if they do their NFL hopes are done.

 

[okeefe4prez]

Agreed. The counter argument is that IF we can hold on to successful, development players (into their 4th and 5th years), we could have a physical/age advantage over programs starting many underclassmen. Examples of this are guys like Parker Hesse, Keegan Render, Austin Kelly.

A 4th-5th year Austin Kelly vs. a highly rated 19 year old outside linebacker (say from Michigan) meeting in the hole on a power run is a mismatch that favors Iowa.

Northwestern started several 5th year guys this year, along with Thorson at QB. I agree with you - I don't give a shit how many stars a kid has if he's 18 or 19 and going up against 23 year olds. In the trenches, it is a man's game and Bama starting 3 sophomores on the OL last night is a big part of the reason they lost - none of those guys could handle Wilkins, who is a fricking beast of a man. Those guys got flat out beat in the red zone.

Anyway, the problem with a developmental program versus a blue blood recruiting program is on the outside. Northwestern, with all of its experience, actually looked pretty closely matched to both Michigan and OSU, but when push comes to shove, "development" ain't gonna make your 2 star DB athletic enough to run or jump with the elite WRs or make your 3 star outside LB be able to close the gap when a stud RB beats him to the edge. I really think a program like Northwestern who is getting even bigger project players than Iowa is going to be in a good spot going forward in the brave new world where guys basically play productively for 1-2 years before leaving.