Iowa football: AJ Epenesa already mocked in 2020 first round

The 2019 NFL Draft just ended, but attention is already turning to next year when the Iowa football team could have another top ten pick in 2020.

There is so much that could change between now and next April that it’s almost not even worth putting out mock drafts at this point, but the purpose is really to show the evolution of boards from the beginning. Mock drafts put out right now will not be accurate, but it gives football fans an idea of who some of the top prospects in college football are, and despite not registering a single start to date, Iowa football player AJ Epenesa is high on draft boards heading into the 2019 college football season.

The former five-star recruit has worked his tail off since he’s been with the Iowa football program, and it showed last year when he led the Big Ten in sacks without starting a game and while playing a limited number of snaps. He’s got the requisite size (6’6” 280 pounds), strength and speed to beat tackles a variety of ways. As just as a sophomore, he routinely put Big Ten offensive lineman on skates, and with another year in the program, he could be gunning to become the nation’s sack leader.

So what are analysts projecting as of now?

• Bleacher Report’s Joe Tansey has Epenesa going 18th overall in next year’s first.
• The Draft Network’s Trevor Sikkema has Tampa Bay adding another pass rusher from the Iowa football program with the 11th overall pick.
• Stick to Football’s Mello Miller (brother of Matt) has Epenesa as his number six overall prospect on his early 2020 top-20 big board.

As I said above, this doesn’t mean much now as Epenesa still needs to go out and perform for the Iowa football program next year, but it’s never a bad thing for a young player’s NFL Draft stock to have early hype as long as he performs.

It does, however, mean that as Iowa football fans, we should enjoy every second of Epenesa’s play this year as he could likely be gone after this season.