Iowa football: Could subpar stats keep AJ Epenesa with Hawks next year?

AJ Epenesa hasn’t quite dominated the stat box for the Iowa football team like we expected this season. Could that actually result in him staying in IC?

Before anyone gets upset about this concept, I want to first start by saying, I am not a box score scout, and I don’t think AJ Epenesa’s limited statistical production is proof that he is struggling this season. Being the number one playmaker on the Iowa football team’s defense and a future first-round pick means he gets significantly more attention with double and triple teams week in and week out.

That being said, when you compare it to the production that consensus top defensive end prospect Chase Young is putting up at Ohio State, it starts raising some eyebrows.

Yesterday, I wrote an article about Iowa football underclassmen that are likely to leave for the NFL Draft after this season, and I was pretty confident that Epenesa would be going. Who says no to a top-10 selection after all?

But I kid you not, less than 24 hours later, I read and hear two things that had me questioning my own opinion. The reason being was simply that Epenesa appears to be falling among some draft experts that I trust.

The Athletic’s Dane Brugler has Epenesa all the way down to #17 on his 2020 top-100 big board stating this:

"Through eight games, his tape simply doesn’t have the backfield production for a player with his power and hand tactics."

I read this as, it doesn’t make sense that he isn’t producing more, but he just isn’t.

And then on Stick to Football’s Monday morning show, draft analysts Matt Miller and Connor Rogers mocked Epenesa at pick #19 with this to say about it.

"Epenesa is an interesting guy because it does feel like his stock is falling back a bit."

We still have four regular-season games and possibly two postseason games left for the Iowa football team, which is plenty of time for Epenesa to rack up that production, and let’s not forget how tedious and long the pre-draft process can be as well.

A guy like Epenesa, a former five-star recruit, with incredible size, the versatility to play in a 3-4 or 4-3, and a fantastic work ethic and makeup is not going to go unnoticed by scouts, but as of right now, it appears that his drop in statistical production (just 3.5 sacks this season) is causing him to slide down the draft board this season.

Could this be enough to keep him in school for another season to maybe see if he can play his way back into that top-5 discussion again?

Personally, if someone told me I would be a day two pick in the NFL Draft, I would be bolting so I am probably not the right one to ask, but it’s worth pondering if it could even be a possibility for Epenesa.