Iowa football: 3 biggest question marks heading into 2019

2. Will Nate Stanley take the next step?

Speaking of, Nate Stanley is in his third year as the Iowa football quarterback. Will he follow in the footsteps of some of his former colleagues or will he finally break the trend of the third-year quarterback regression?

For the Hawkeyes’ sake, they are obviously hoping for the latter as he is crucial to the success of the offense. Stanley is a potential first-round pick if he can take the next step this season. If he regresses, he could potentially go undrafted despite having a huge arm.

Stanley made some silly mistakes in 2018 and hopefully, he has learned from them, as the Hawkeyes will need him to be crisp in critical road games in Ames, Ann Arbor, Evanston, and Lincoln. That’s not to downplay their home opponents as they will welcome in Penn State, Purdue, Minnesota, and even Middle Tennessee State is no slouch.

He completed his passes at just a 55.5 percent clip in road game last season versus a 61.5 completion percentage at home. PFF had him ranked as third-best in the Big Ten when it came to big-time throws last season, but he will have to do so without Fant and Hockenson this year.

It will be so important for Stanley to get off to a good start while getting on the same page with his receivers.