When you’re preparing for a bowl game against a team that proudly boasts of having the No. 1 scoring defense in the country, you’d love to have all of your weapons available.

That’s not the case for the Iowa Hawkeyes, who are preparing for a Jan. 1 meeting in the Outback Bowl in Tampa against a great Mississippi State defense. They’re do so without standout tight end Noah Fant, who has decided to turn pro and not return to Iowa City in 2019.

And Fant, as others have been doing at a rapidly rising rate, also decided to end this season early, opting to avoid injury in a bowl game that is — let’s be honest here — basically a meaningless exhibition game.

First, let’s applaud Fant for a job well done during his three years on the field in Iowa City. He’s had a great college career and has earned the right to be chosen high in this spring’s NFL Draft, probably somewhere late in the first round. Congrats.

“Since the very first time I put on a pair of football pads as a child, it has been my dream to play in the NFL,” Fant said on Twitter earlier this week. “I am very excited for what the future holds and extremely humbled by the amazing opportunity in front of me.”

The critics will say that he’s quitting on his teammates, and if that’s you saying it, then shame on you. Football is a physical, violent game and there’s a long list of first-round picks who have gotten hurt in bowl games lately — Jaylon Smith of Notre Dame and Jake Butt of Michigan come to mind, just to name a few — and those injuries cost those guys millions of dollars. That’s a bunch of coin.

There’s no need for Fant to expose himself to that risk. He gave his all to Iowa.

As a sophomore, Fant led the nation’s tight ends in touchdowns and yards per catch. In his three seasons, he had 19 touchdown catches, the most by an Iowa tight end and third-most in Big Ten history. Overall, Fant hauled in 78 passes for 1,083 yards. As a sophomore, Fant caught 30 passes for 494 yards and 11 scores. This year, Fant posted 39 catches for 519 yards and 7 touchdowns.

The first-team all-Big Ten — along with fellow Iowa tight end T.J. Hockenson — is also a freak athlete. He’s 6-foot-5 and 241 pounds, and he has a 42-inch vertical jump. He’s going to crush the upcoming NFL scouting combine in every drill. And he’s got many NFL scouts drooling.

“I like his athletic ability,”  Dan Shonka, general manager and national scout for Ourlads Scouting Services, told The Athletic’s Scott Dochterman. “I like his football intelligence. I like his speed. I like his leaping ability. I like the way he catches with his hands. He’ll lay out for the ball, bad passes. He’s got a good catch radius. You’d like for him to put on some more weight, get a little more bulk to him. A very, very talented athlete.

“He improved his blocking. Is he a road grader? No, but a lot of times teams will bring in an extra tackle if they want a road grader. Athletically, he’s a first-round guy. He’s a better athlete than (Hayden) Hurst, who went in the first round last year.”

Could he have helped against Mississippi State? Sure, but that’s no longer the point. He’s done his thing for the Hawkeyes, so now it’s time to say goodbye and wish him well. He will certainly continue Iowa’s great tight end legacy in the NFL.