Iowa football: Predicting 2020 senior bowl invites for Hawks

The 2020 Senior Bowl is sending out their invites today. Here are the Iowa football players we expect to be invited to this event.

The Senior Bowl is the most prestigious postseason All-Star event that college football has, and it’s a fantastic opportunity for seniors to raise their draft stock significantly. With initial invites for the 2020 Senior Bowl being sent out today, here is a look at the senior class for the Iowa football and who likely will receive an invite.

Let’s start with the most obvious invite, and that is Nate Stanley, the Iowa football team’s senior quarterback. While there is still much more left to be seen from Stanley as he wraps up his career, he has all the tools that make scouts drool, and I find it hard to believe he would not be considered one of the top six senior quarterbacks in the country.

Outside of Stanley, the only guy I have no doubt will be invited is Michael Ojemudia. He has been, by far, the most consistent and strongest corner the Iowa football team has had this season. Through eight games, he has 28 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 6 passes defended. In addition, there are several advanced metrics that paint a very positive picture of the 6’1” 200 pound Michigan native.

The final guy I want to highlight that should get an invite is Brady Ross. What he brings to the team doesn’t necessarily show up in the stat sheet, but fullbacks are rare these days, and the Iowa football team has a pretty good one. At that point, it’s just a numbers game, which I think gets Ross in.

From there it becomes a bit murkier.

I think middle linebacker Kristian Welch was playing his way into Senior Bowl game consideration before his injury but my guess is he would be a second-tier invite after any initial folks dropped out. The same would likely go for defensive tackles Brady Reiff and Cedric Lattimore, who have had solid seasons for the Iowa football team’s defensive line.

Surprisingly enough, three of the Hawks’ initial six guys who were on the Senior Bowl watch list, have likely played their way out of consideration.

Tight end Nate Wieting has been a great blocker but he has been almost non-existent in the passing attack with just six catches.

And along the interior offensive line, twins Landan and Levi Paulsen have likely played their way out of a Senior Bowl invite. The interior offensive line has been a disaster this season, most notably in the past four games, and Levi is hardly even seeing snaps anymore.

Considering the Iowa football team had just one guy (Anthony Nelson) go to Mobile, getting three guys would be fantastic for the program if that was the case.

As the invite announcements come out, we will keep you posted.

The 2020 Senior Bowl will be held on January 25th in Mobile, Alabama.