Desmond King held a draft party Thursday night with hopes of being selected in the first round. Many others pictured him as a mid to late second round pick. King a former Thorpe Award winner for the nation’s best cornerback returned to school to improve his draft stock.

Tight end George Kittle caught the eyes of scouts with his combine performance, particularly in the 40-yard dash. He climbed into some expert’s top-five tight ends list. Those lists include three who were selected in the first round.

Both defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson and quarterback CJ Beathard, the only Friday selection, played in the Senior Bowl as an extra opportunity to show their talent. Neither attracted as much hype as the others but still showed potential to get early selection.

The local excitement around the draft built the expectation that Iowa players would go very high. Possibly higher than deserved. Now that the draft has come and gone, those watching got a clear explanation of how the team evaluated the former Hawkeyes.

CJ Beathard, QB, 49ers (Round 3)

Beathard, the highest Hawkeye selection, joins the San Francisco 49ers after they called his name late in the third round. Beathard threw for 17 touchdowns each of the last two years.

He joins a roster that is home to veteran Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley. Having those two leading him on the depth chart creates completely different scenarios.

Option one, Beathard ends up sitting behind and learning from two other quarterbacks. Despite neither having a huge amount of success, they have more experience than Beathard. This leaves him as either a potential starter after learning in a few years or as a career backup.

Option two, he finds himself starting as a rookie. The 49ers 2-14 record a year ago presents endless opportunities for a young quarterback. Any of the third could end up under center when the 49ers play Carolina week one.

Jaleel Johnson, DT, Vikings (Round 4)

Johnson came off the board quickly as Saturday began when the Minnesota Vikings grabbed him with the 109^th pick. He won’t be playing far from Iowa City.

Johnson will fit well into the defense in Minnesota especially since defensive line is one of their biggest needs. They have a good amount of players at the position but none have been extremely impressive.

He leaves Iowa as one of many notable defensive linemen over the years including recent player Adrian Clayborn. Johnson has starter talent and could see action as soon as next season in Minnesota.

Desmond King, DB, Chargers (Round 5)

At the completion of his junior season, King was a lock in the first round. He chose to come back for another year at Iowa.

His explanation for returning revolved around the scout’s interest in him developing his speed. King used the opportunity to graduate from Iowa and continue to develop his overall game.

The change was he dropped from a first round selection, as late as the college seasons final week, to a fifth round selection by the Los Angeles Chargers. King was the 151 overall selection.

Whether or not King will fit into the Chargers secondary remains to be seem. What King does have is versatility. In the NFL, he will be able to shift freely between corner and safety.

His ability to impact the game as a hard hitting safety makes King a valuable pickup. He also plays well in coverage, intercepting eight passes his junior season.

King slipped on draft boards leading up to the draft but falling into the fifth round came as a shock for many.

George Kittle, TE, 49ers (Round 5)

George Kittle will join Iowa teammate CJ Beathard as a member of the San Francisco 49ers.

Kittle, who could’ve gone as high as the third round, found his name picked slightly before King at 146. He climbed many teams draft boards after he ran a 4.52 40-yard dash at the Combine.

It may be too soon for comparisons but Kittle has potential similar to former Hawkeye Dallas Clark. Kittle is slightly taller but possesses similar on field skills to be a receiving tight end that can block when asked.

Kittle showed up less this past season with the Hawkeyes due to injury but the previous year spoke prominently for him.

Left Undrafted

Four notable Hawkeye players went undrafted. Offensive lineman Cole Croston, running back LeShun Daniels, defensive back Greg Mabin, and punter Ron Coluzzi. None were expected to be drafted but all are looking to continue their football careers.

Croston, as an Iowa offensive lineman, led the group as the most likely to hear his name called Saturday.

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In this classic B1G West battle, defense was the focal point for both teams, and the ever-present physicality of the rivalry was on display as the offenses struggled to put up points.

The Hawkeyes had to deal with #10 Wisconsin’s running back Corey Clements, who led all rushers with a career-high 35 rushes for 134 yards and a touchdown. For the most part, the Hawkeyes held Clements in check, as he only averaged 4.8 yards per carry, but he slowly tacked on yards as the game progressed.

On the flip side, Iowa’s rushing attack struggled to get going yet again as Akrum Wadley and LeShun Daniels, Jr. combined to put up just 83 yards on the ground.

“They did an excellent job of getting off blocks and getting to the ball carrier,” said Daniels, Jr. said of the Wisconsin defense. “They had a good game plan and they came out and stopped us.”

The Badger defense held the Hawkeyes to just 236 total yards of offense, which is Iowa’s second-lowest outcome of the season (231 yards in the loss to North Dakota State). Iowa went just 2-for-13 on third-down conversions, and Wisconsin opponents are just 22-for-89 in that category on the season. The Badgers rank sixth in the FBS on third-down defense.

Perhaps the most lopsided statistic of the day was the time of possession battle. Wisconsin had the ball for nearly 14 more minutes than the Hawkeyes, which allowed them to run 13 more offensive plays than Iowa.

“You can’t score points if you’re not on the field,” said Daniels, Jr.

The Iowa receiving core struggled yet again to find a groove as they try to fill holes and get accustomed to new situations. Only one wide receiver had more than one catch, and that was senior Riley McCarron who had six grabs for 47 yards.

“It’s just us growing a little bit more, maybe getting our timing down a little bit better,” said head coach Kirk Ferentz on the Iowa passing game.

Iowa’s leading receiver was Akrum Wadley, who seemed to be everywhere at once when he was on the field. Wadley had 7 catches for 72 yards on the day, both career highs, and he led the team in both rushing and receiving for the first time in his career (44 yards rushing).

In the low scoring affair, it became a waiting game to see which team would come up with a big play to swing momentum, but that play never did come. For Iowa, it was frustrating to be knocking on the door without ever being able to get through it.

“Some plays we left out there today certainly didn’t help our cause or momentum in the game,” said Ferentz. “Certainly the opposition had something to do with that.”

Although the results came up short, Ferentz was happy with his team’s toughness in a game they knew would be physical, as is traditionally the case when these teams meet.

“All in all, I think our effort and our toughness was good,” said Ferentz. “Thought our guys competed really hard.”

The team heads into the bye week at a very opportune time. Some key players, including Boone Myers, George Kittle and Cole Croston, have been battling injuries, and they will have a chance to rest up and try to get healthy before Iowa’s next game in two weeks.

“We’ve got to get those guys to where they can come down the stretch for the last month,” said Ferentz.

#10 Wisconsin moves to 5-2 (2-2 B1G) and will play host to the Big Ten West leading Nebraska Cornhuskers Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium. Iowa falls to 5-3 (3-2 B1G) and will travel to State College, PA on November 5^th to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions.

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