Iowa football: Hawks receive critical grades for draft selections

One of draft analyst’s favorite things to do is grade picks immediately after they happen. Here are the grades for the selections of Iowa football players.

To be fair to both the analysts and the players, these grades don’t mean much right now. They are just instant reactions to selections. Some selections like Daniel Jones as number six is easy to give a bad grade because he shouldn’t have been picked there, but who knows, maybe in four years, Jones is a stud quarterback. Things can change quickly in the NFL and you can truly judge a class until about year three, but it doesn’t stop the practice either way. This draft season, members of the Iowa football team received glowing grades for their selections.

Starting with TJ Hockenson who went 8th overall to the Lions (possibly a little high for a tight end), Bleacher Report’s Mike Tanier gave the selection a B+, which I disagree with. In his report he notes these things:

"Hockenson is more of a hustle-and-hit guy than a top blocking technician, and he doesn’t pull down quite as many tough catches as Travis Kelce-tier tight ends."

It’s apparent to me that he didn’t watch tape of Hockenson. To say he’s not a top blocking technician is to take away from Hockenson being one of the best blocking tight ends in the NFL instantly with his selection, and he routinely caught tough balls throughout his time with the Iowa football program. I would give this an A-.

Noah Fant’s selection by the Denver Broncos may have been a little surprising, but it was a great pick. Tanier, again, gave this pick a B+, and while I don’t agree with his commentary on the selection, I agree. Denver had other needs but by trading back, collecting extra picks, and still getting a great offensive weapon in Fant, the Broncos mastered the middle picks of the first round. Fant isn’t as great of a blocker as Hockenson but he’s more of a threat in the receiving game.

My only issue with the assessment is to say that Fant’s selection was boosted by George Kittle. That’s taking a short term approach that doesn’t reference Fant’s inclusions on NFL Draft first round big boards since before last college season.

The selection of Anthony Nelson received a solid B from Tanier in his fourth round grades, and like the Hockenson pick, I disagree. I actually think it should be lower. Nelson is joining a 3-4 scheme, which is not what is used to. While he does have the size in terms of weight, his height takes away some of that “size” advantage especially when the requirements for him will be to eat up blockers. With the Iowa football team, Nelson was great at fulfilling his assignment, but he wasn’t asked to eat up multiple blockers on a consistent basis. I would give this pick a B- or C+.

Shortly after Nelson’s draft selection was Amani Hooker’s by the Tennessee Titans with the 116th pick and Tanier gave that the best grade of any Iowa football player selection, an A.

Interestingly enough though, Tanier basically criticized Hooker for all of his limitations while explaining his grade. I agree with the grade, but not the explanation. The Titans snagged a starting strong safety in the 4th round, and even though he may not start right away as he sits behind Kenny Vaccaro, he will find a way to get on the field immediately.

This is a big reason why Bleacher Report’s Maurice Morton mentioned the junior safety from the Iowa football team as a day three pick with Pro Bowl potential.

Overall, it feels like the some of the “analysts” didn’t actually do their jobs and watch the tape of the Iowa football team, but that’s okay. These guys are used to being overlooked and under-projected.