Although the Iowa football team lost 14 key contributors to graduation and early declaration after a disappointing 2018 season, expectations are high in Iowa City for the Hawkeyes and rightfully so.
Kirk Ferentz’s team is returning a three-year starting quarterback (Nate Stanley), two potential first-round tackles (Tristan Wirfs and Alaric Jackson), a likely top-10 pick at defensive end (AJ Epenesa) and seasoned veterans at the linebacker position (Nick Niemann, Kristian Welch) not to mention a maturing and explosive wide receiver core that we haven’t seen in years from the Iowa football team.
The players mentioned above are a large reason The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel has the Iowa football ranked 18th in his early top-25 poll entering the college football season.