Top underclassmen yet to declare for 2020 NFL Draft

Iowa Hawkeyes defensive end A.J. Epenesa has yet to make his intentions known ahead of the 2020 NFL Draft, but the all-Big Ten first team defender HAS to go pro, right?

Epenesa entered the 2019 season on the watch list for most major defensive awards, largely in part to his 10.5 sacks in 2018. Yet, while facing constant double teams and being schemed against in every game, Epenesa still found a way to improve his numbers, getting 11.5 sacks and forcing 4 fumbles in his junior season.

Epenesa is the best pure defensive end should he enter the NFL Draft. He doesn’t rely on speed to beat his blocker, instead focusing on using his hands and power to bull rush right through them. When you watch game film on him, it’s easy to see why college coaches tried to block him with two guys at most times, as he’s almost unblockable in one-on-one pass rushing situations.

His one weakness may be his lack of agility. While he is a punisher when moving towards the opposing team’s backfield, he can be slowed by forcing him to move laterally to make plays. He has made significant strides, however, in filling the gaps on run plays and helping blow up more of those plays in the backfield, an area of his game that was a little bit of a weak point prior to 2019.

While is uncertain exactly what Epenesa will do, his dominance in 2019 as an Iowa Hawkeye makes it an almost no-brainer that he will enter his name for the 2020 NFL Draft. With nothing really left to prove at the college level, Epenesa should take the money and go make NFL offensive coordinators squirm just as much as he did the college offensive coordinators the last two seasons.