Iowa football: Nate Stanley highly ranked heading into senior season

There are high expectations from Iowa football fans heading into Nate Stanley’s senior season, and Gil Brandt obviously agrees with those expectations.

Nate Stanley is about to become the third three-year starter in Iowa football history when he begins play against Miami of Ohio the last day in August. In his two-year career, he has put on quite a show for the Hawkeye nation showing he has the chops to play NFL football while also frustrating the heck out of fans.

A hot start with 10 good throws is followed up by a bullet right into the hands of the opposing team. It’s mistakes like that that Nate Stanley will need to improve prior to entering the NFL if he wants to be the highest quarterback draft pick from the Iowa football team since Chuck Long was selected in the 1986 first round.

With the third year under offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, many expect him to finally make the jump that could be the difference in another 8-4 Iowa football season and a darkhorse entrance to the College Football Playoffs.

One of those guys expecting big things is NFL Analyst Gil Brandt when he released his top five senior quarterback rankings.

Smack dab in the middle is the Iowa football team’s starting signal-caller.

Understandably so, Justin Herbert, widely considered the top quarterback prospect in the 2019 NFL Draft before he abruptly returned to Oregon, is number one on this list. He is almost a consensus top-10 pick heading into next season (as of right now). Behind him is former five-star recruit Shea Paterson who will be playing under Jim Harbaugh for the second year in Ann Arbor.

When watching Patterson play, I believe he has a higher floor than Stanley does with his running ability allowing him to get out of bad situations if needed. It also forces the defense to account for this in their weekly game plans.

With that said, Stanley has a higher ceiling. He’s got the prototypical size and arm to look the part, but he just needs to be more consistent and more accurate. Unless I see big growth from Stanley this year, I can’t fathom him going in the first round next year, but given his size and his experience in a pro-style offense designed by two former NFL guys (Kirk and Brian Ferentz), there is always a chance.

I mean, if Daniel Jones can go 6th, Stanley could become the first first-round quarterback for the Iowa football team in the last three decades.

If Brandt is basing this off their development right now this ranking makes sense, but if this is in any way a projection, I don’t know how he put Stanley at 3 and not 2.