Iowa football: Best/worst case scenarios for Hawkeyes in 2019

The success of the 2019 Iowa football team will largely bank of the shoulders of quarterback Nate Stanley.

As previously noted, Nate Stanley will be in his third season as the starting quarterback for the Iowa football squad. He had a pretty solid sophomore season, completing 55.8 percent of his passes for 2432 yards to go along with 26 touchdowns compared to just 6 interceptions.

Many expected him to take the next step in 2018, but he performed about the same. He made some really bad throws but also had some good throws that show why NFL scouts think he can be a potential first-round pick. In all, he completed 59.3 percent of his passes for 2,852 yards with 26 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Stanley hopes to not follow the three-year quarterback trend under Ferentz (with exception to Ricky Stanzi). If he performs well, he may very well hear his name called on Day 1 of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Best Case Scenario

Nate Stanley completes over 60 percent of his passes while throwing for over 3,000 yards. In doing this, he likely breaks Chuck Long’s record of most passing touchdowns in a season (27). Additionally, he cuts out some of the forced throws and stops staring receivers down.

Worst Case Scenario

Stanley follows the three-year starting quarterback trend of regressing and has a terrible 2019 season. He completes around 55 percent of his passes with less than 7 yards per pass and does not come anywhere close to his 2017 and 2018 touchdown totals.