Gridiron Heroics partners with Draft Scout to give each school’s Top 5 NFL Draft prospects in the Big 12. Welcome to a list of the Iowa State Top 5 NFL Draft prospects for 2023, as seen by Draft Scout.
Each week brings us closer and closer to one of the most anticipated days on the sports calendar — the NFL Draft. This year’s draft will be held in Kansas City, Mo. from April 27-29. We take a look at the Big 12 seniors, (the class of 2023). Since we don’t know yet which underclassmen will declare, we’ll reconfigure the rankings when that happens, so be sure to revisit us.
Our Big 12 Draft prospect series will run beginning soon and will run for the next week, with three schools running per day in alphabetical order. A master conference list of the Big 12’s Top 20 NFL draft prospects will wrap things up afterwards. Please check the team links below frequently so you can check out the other schools’ top prospects as the week progresses.
BIG 12 TOP 20 PROSPECTS: Overall Big 12 Top Prospect List
BIG 12 PROSPECTS: Baylor | BYU | Iowa St. | Kansas | Kansas State | TCU | Texas | Texas Tech | Oklahoma| Oklahoma St. | West Virginia
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We all know that not every team in the country has five surefire draft picks on it. Some programs do, especially in some of the more elite conferences. But the vast majority don’t have that many top-flight prospects. We also know that the definition “top-flight” doesn’t always pan out and that strong undrafted free agent everybody forgot ends up making the NFL and flourishing.
Below is a look at the Iowa State Top 5 Draft Prospects and how they project in the eyes of Draft Scout. Again, for now, we’ll go strictly with seniors (c/o 2023), as no underclassmen have been allowed to declare earlier yet. When they do, we will update the list below
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IOWA STATE TOP 5 NFL DRAFT PROSPECTS
NO. 1 PROSPECT
NAME: Will McDonald IV (DE)
DRAFTSCOUT PROJECTION: Round 1
CAREER STATISTICS: 123 TOT, 78 solo, 45 AST
THE TRUTH: Draft Scout put McDonald as a first-round draft pick and ranked him 28 out of the top 350. At 6’3″ and 236 pounds, McDonald is considered a top five senior DE by over twenty teams. This DE on the Iowa State Top 5 NFL Draft Prospects list should at least go by round three.
NO. 2 PROSPECT
NAME: Xavier Hutchinson (WR)
DRAFTSCOUT PROJECTION: Round 2
CAREER STATISTICS: 254 REC, 2,929 YDS, 11.5 AVG
THE TRUTH: Hutchinson is ranked at 55 out of the top 350. While he was in the top 350 in 2021, Draft Scout moved his projected round up from a previous projection of rounds four through seven. They also note that he is a “top ten returning senior WR back for 2022.”
NO. 3 PROSPECT
NAME: Trevor Downing (C)
DRAFTSCOUT PROJECTION: 4th or 5th round
CAREER STATISTICS: /
THE TRUTH: Downing is ranked 147 out of the top 350. He is 6’4″ and 304 pounds. Over twenty teams say that he is a “top five senior center.” There’s not a lot of information out there about Downing, so I’m interested to see what happens.
NO. 4 PROSPECT
NAME: Colby Reeder (OLB)
DRAFTSCOUT PROJECTION: HPFA
CAREER STATISTICS: 50 TOT, 24 SOLO, 26 AST
THE TRUTH: Draft Scout puts Reeder as a HPFA on the Iowa State Top 5 NFL Draft Prospects list. He is a transfer from Deleware that Draft Scout considers “transfering up.” They also say that it’s possible for him to move into a projected 4th-7th round pick.
NO. 5 PROSPECT
NAME: Jared Rus (FB)
DRAFTSCOUT PROJECTION: HPFA
CAREER STATISTICS: 14 REC, 112 YDS, 8.0 AVG
THE TRUTH: Draft Scout make note that he is a “recheck” and mention his eight-pound weight gain. This puts him at 242 pounds, with a height of 6’2″. While there aren’t a lot of notes, Draft Scout did notice him by putting him on the Iowa State Top 5 NFL Draft Prospects list.
