2019 NFL Draft: Nate Stanley getting first-round hype

Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Nate Stanley has generated some preseason 2019 NFL Draft first-round hype after a breakthrough 2017 campaign.

Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Nate Stanley is apparently not going to be taking anyone by surprise in the 2018 season.

The 2018 NFL Draft saw five quarterbacks selected in the first round, but is Stanley on the same level as any of those guys, or even capable of it?

At least according to Todd McShay of ESPN, he is.

McShay recently put Stanley 23rd overall on his list of the top 32 prospects in college football for 2018.

Stanley had a productive sophomore season at Iowa, his first year as the starter of the team. He only completed 55.8 percent of his passes but finished with a 26 touchdown to six interception ratio and had over 2,400 yards passing.

In 2018, Josh Allen of Wyoming was heavily criticized for having a completion percentage under 60 percent, but Allen’s issues were due more to his inaccuracy than in Stanley’s case.

This is a great write-up and summation of Stanley’s skill set, which is not yet fully developed.

Stanley has the size profile NFL teams look for in a quarterback at 6-foot-4, roughly 240 pounds. He’s also got a very strong arm and showed in his first year as a starter that he’s capable of fitting the ball into tight windows that other quarterbacks simply can’t.

The issue with Stanley in 2017 was not talent, but consistency.

A perfect example is a two-week stretch where Iowa faced Ohio State one week and Wisconsin the next.

Now, those are two very different teams and Iowa likely approached them very differently, but Stanley had five touchdown passes against Ohio State and none against Wisconsin.

That type of streaky play is a clear indicator that Stanley is not yet NFL-ready, but that assessment can obviously change over the course of the next five months.

Stanley’s strong arm can become a weakness when he needs to put air under the ball or make touch throws. He’s got to learn to find that balance and be able to drop the ball in a bucket without putting it on a rope.

Part of Stanley’s completion percentage issues in 2017 were also tied to his lack of help at wide receiver, which was something Josh Allen apologists also pointed to.

If Stanley is able to be a little more consistent this season and shows the same type of progression in his pocket movement as he did a season ago, NFL teams will be salivating at the chance to get him and he will have a tough decision to make of whether or not to leave Iowa City early.

Right now, the spotlight isn’t too bright, but McShay turned up the heat a little bit with his top 25 ranking.