Can Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs become a top-five pick?
By Seth Steere
Iowa offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs has the kind of elite potential to challenge for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft.
We don’t often talk about right tackles being valued as much as left tackles, but in today’s NFL, the league’s top pass rushers move up and down the line of scrimmage and are even lining up against right tackles just as much as their left tackle counterpart.
The importance of the right tackle is increasing, which is why Wirfs deserves to be considered a legitimate top-pick candidate.
Coming out of high school Wirfs wasn’t just a star on the football field. He was an Iowa state champion wrestler. Wirfs matched his one wrestling title with three discus and two shot put state championships.
As a Freshman, Wirfs didn’t see the field immediately, but he eventually emerged as a starter. In total, he started seven games with six of those starts coming at right tackle.
Last year as a Sophomore, Wirfs started all but one game he played for the Hawkeyes. He missed one game due to an OWI — operating while intoxicated. Wirfs wasn’t behind the wheel of a car, but instead a motorized scooter. Consequently, he missed Iowa’s debut versus Northern Illinois but was able to finish the season without issue.
Wirfs is the best right tackle in the potential class of players for the 2020 NFL draft. He gets out of his stance quicker than most, consistently beating his opponents to the point of attack. He drives defenders off their mark in the run game and has a finisher’s mean and nasty mentality.
The only real weakness in his game right now is his feet; he isn’t the fleetest of foot, and that impacts his ability as a pass protector right now. Growth in that area should come this season, and assuming it does, he has a chance to be the first offensive lineman taken.