Iowa Football: Which Hawkeyes should declare for the NFL Draft

An annual consequence of the Iowa football team’s success is that some of the players declare for the draft early. Who will be declaring for the 2020 Draft?

While we can debate whether or not fans consider a 9-win season a success for the Iowa football team, players that are a part of a team that only lost three one-score games to ranked teams may have the opportunity to move to the next level of football.

I am going to look at the five players that are most likely to have a decision to make with the 2020 NFL draft. I will look at these players in order of likeliness to declare for the draft.

Let’s preface this section by saying that fans should all respect a player’s decision, regardless of whether or not it yields another year with Iowa football. Whether someone plays a year at Iowa or four years at Iowa, they are lifelong Hawkeyes in my mind.

In truth, sometimes it actually makes sense for a player to leave school early for the NFL Draft. If a player is a top-5 lock, there is virtually nothing, from a football perspective, that another season with Iowa football will do for that player.

Iowa football fans have also seen situations where a player stays for his senior year only to drop in the draft the following year. The most recent and most obvious example is Desmond King, a projected first or second-round draft pick that dropped down to the fifth round.

With that in mind, let’s look at this year’s Iowa football players that may leave early for the NFL Draft.