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Iowa football: Nate Stanley’s decision to stay in school changes look of 2019 season
By Tom Brew
Published:
Nate Stanley is a good quarterback, without a doubt. Better than good? Well, that’s debatable.
There was plenty of preseason chatter around Stanley and his ability to jump to the NFL after the 2018 season. Some “experts” even had him in the top-3 of potential quarterback draftees. After 12 games, that’s not the case any more, as a season filled with ups and downs has slowed his path to the NFL a bit.
You can never fault a guy for chasing the money — like Iowa tight end Noah Fant, for instance — but when it comes to quarterbacks, it’s a different thing. And what Stanley proved this year is that he’s not an NFL quarterback right now. That’s why he said Monday that he’s not going to pursue an NFL pre-draft evaluation and instead will stay at Iowa and be back for the 2019 season.
A good senior season in 2019 can help his stock rise once again. And it changes a lot about how the Hawkeyes look at their chances next year.
“Talking with coach [Ken] O’Keefe and coach [Kirk] Ferentz, they know a lot about that process,” Stanley said. “I just decided to take the feedback they had, because I don’t think it would have been much different from what they said to what the review board would have said. I just decided to take their advice and let it be, move on, and get back to work.”
This season, Stanley has completed only 58.5 percent of his passes, throwing for 2,638 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions. He knows he can be better, especially with his completion percentage and avoiding turnovers. There were several interceptions this year that came at inopportune times late in games, and he knows he has to clean that up.
Stanley said his coaches pointed out specific areas where he can improve to be a viable NFL quarterback down the road. It also lets the Hawkeyes prepare for 2019 knowing that they have a veteran quarterback at the helm. It changes the thickness of the playbook and the ability to aggressively go after a few things.
So he’ll go to work, and he’ll get better.
“Mobility in the pocket, ball placement, accuracy — just consistency with that — and getting through my reads quicker,” he said.
Stanley and the Hawkeyes do have one last chance to make a good impression this season, but it will be tough. The Hawkeyes are playing in the Outback Bowl in Tampa against Mississippi State, a team with the No. 1-ranked scoring defense in the country.
It will be a tough test for Stanley and the offense, but it’s also a chance to make a good impression on a national stage. Getting a ninth win is a worthwhile goal for the Hawkeyes, who have lost four games this year and all were close with the outcome still in doubt late in the game.
Stanley has a chance to make some history in the bowl game. If he throws at two touchdown passes against the Bulldogs — which is a pretty big ask — he’ll become the first quarterback in Iowa history to throw for at least 25 touchdowns in two different seasons.
He’ll have to do it without tight end Noah Fant, who has already declared for the 2019 NFL Draft and has decided to skip the bowl game.
Tom Brew has been a recognized reporter in Big Ten sports for decades. Among other projects, he writes about Big Ten football for Saturday Tradition.