Looks like Mark Gronowski has a legit shot at making an NFL roster
- Thread starter Franisdaman
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His one year at Iowa and exposure to a pro style offense added extra value. GM’s might see him as a hybrid QB which could also give him an edge vs. other UDFAs. High character too. Hope he succeeds.
Wish he had more than one year with the Hawks. He improved as the year went on and seemed like a good representative of the U of I
This man, if his arm is healthy, is the hidden gem of this NFL draft.
might be the best overall qb i've seen at iowa since banks...wish the guy had been functional last year from game 1 instead game 5.
You mean since Banks, but in line after Tate and Beathard right? Beathard has been in the NFL almost a decade. Tate was a Big Ten player of the year by one service, and at least a 1st team all conference player as a sophomore.
Gronowski was good, but I’d take a healthy one of either of those guys ahead of him first.
He was outstanding at Pro Day and with the tape from the last 2 games plus Senior Bowl He will absolutely get taken in the Draft, Teams are aware that the Player they saw early last Year was still not recovered. I will die on this hill that out of this QB class He will be the 2nd most successful in the NFL after Mendoza . Jets and Dolphins would be perfect landing spots . Commanders would be for QB2 .
i did consider both tate and beathard but gron in the clutch has that extra gear and physicality imo that is the great equalizer particularly at the college level. that said i can certainly understand your position
Thing I'm gonna miss most is the Gronowski Plowski.
And he ran a Shanahan offense, too, where he would change protections at the line of scrimmage based on what he saw from the defense.
The guy is very smart--masters in engineering.
And he's healthy now; will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.
No matter what he does in life he's gonna be a success.
The fact that anyone on here is raving about Gronowski demonstrates how bad QB play has been post Beathard. He was great running the ball but he threw some of the most pathetic passes a major college QB has ever thrown
And don't forget; he missed all of spring ball because of his surgery.
Chuck Long went thru every spring ball & he said that he couldn't imagine missing a spring.
His physicality was a great plus. The play against Penn State where he ran over their DB late in the game for a 70 (?) yard run comes to mind.
Banks and Beathard were faster, but Gronowski's combination of power and speed was VERY effective, imo. Gonna miss him.
Well said. Beathard is one of those guys who was seldom healthy in college and who has never been in the right organization in the NFL to establish himself. But when healthy he was awesome at Iowa, and if he'd found the right situation in the NFL, he'd have been at least one of the top 15 QBs. Ask Chuck Long, among dozens and dozens of others, if being in the right place at the right time in the NFL matters.
If the top two QBs don't get hurt, nobody would've ever heard of Kurt Warner. But he got his chance in the perfect offense for him, and that made all the difference.
Grownowski came to Iowa with an injury, missed the spring, and had to run a complicated offense on the fly. In that context, he did a terrific job. And now that he's healthy, he should be able to find a spot in the NFL, and I hope he does.
I have always just loved the SI cover showing Kurt playing with the question "Who Is This Guy?" It makes me both laugh and be happy for his success story.
So I was kinda tickled last week to see he has an oversized framed picture of that SI cover on his office wall. Well done, grocery stocker employee! What a story.
But, there is plenty of tape from SDSU for Pro Scouts to look at.
The last 2-3 games at Iowa, Bowl game, and post season games hardly resembled what we saw through the first half of the 2025 season.
Pro scouts know of his injury situation. If what they see before the injury and after sufficient recovery time differs greatly from the 1st 6 games of 2025. Then the 1st half of 2025 will be deemed the outlier, due to injury.
I would love to have MG suiting up for the 2026 Hawks. Winners win, and that is pretty much all he did during his Collegiate career.
Gronowski carried us to wins that an iowa quarterback has rarely done against very good teams. Beathard never got to play in any big games at Iowa besides the postseason, and those games weren’t great.
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Threw the ball a lot better towards the end of the season.
I do believe that I said that he would be drafted. How many of you pecker heads laughed at me?
Do you not know what recovery from a shoulder injury is and how it affects passing ? Wake up and smell the coffee Bluehair
Beatherd probably had better receivers, but no question, he outperformed Gronowski
You have to love the optimism in this thread regarding Gron. I hope he gets drafted, but he won't. Most likely he'll be a sign and stash UDFA, if that.
For Gronowski to make a team, it will be in a role similar to Taysom Hill, but Hill was a speed demon which Grono is not.
We'll see what happens, but again I just don't see him anything more than UDFA and as a TE/QB/Blocking back which is a highly specialized position.
For Gronowski to make a team, it will be in a role similar to Taysom Hill, but Hill was a speed demon which Grono is not.
We'll see what happens, but again I just don't see him anything more than UDFA and as a TE/QB/Blocking back which is a highly specialized position.
Which NFL team do you work for? I’’ll bookmark this. Mark G has a shot, he played wounded most of his time at Iowa.
Gronowski is going to be fine no matter where he lands in life. He seems like a man of high character and he probably got a solid education. 2025 was a fun season and he made some great plays, mostly with his feet. I just don't see him taking a snap in the NFL.
Please do, and I'll gladly eat crow if proven wrong. How many years do you want to see if anything I say is wrong?
Also, I scout for the Minnesota Vikings.
I saw Chuck in a practice spring 1982. He was battling Tom Grogan for the starting QB job. CSB.And don't forget; he missed all of spring ball because of his surgery.
Chuck Long went thru every spring ball & he said that he couldn't imagine missing a spring.
The quarterbacks were wearing red pullovers. On one play a DL charging through ran into Chuck and knocked him down. Boy did Hayden scream at that guy, everybody on the field just looked down at their shoes.
He's not a very good scout if he scouted the QB position when they drafted JJ. Maybe the Vikings should take a shot at drafting MG. He couldn't do any worse.
I'm not rooting against him but the reality is it's a longshot. Keep in mind most Iowa quarterbacks of the last 30 years were picked up as undrafted free agents and then got cut or made practice squads. The only guy that's actually 'played' in the NFL since Vlasic in '91 is Beathard. 2 if you count the handful of snaps Rudock managed to take in Detroit in one series when Stafford came out when they were getting blown out like 10 years ago.
Banks, Tate, Stanzi, Stanley are 4 examples of guys that had huge careers and never played. Even McCann and Vandenberg got chances as well. Major conference starting quarterbacks don't grow on trees. I'd guess at least a third to half of them get scouted by the NFL after college to some degree. Sadly, Iowa has just been that bad at the position in the Biff Ferentz era that finally having ANY team show interest in an Iowa QB seems like an anomaly.
Banks, Tate, Stanzi, Stanley are 4 examples of guys that had huge careers and never played. Even McCann and Vandenberg got chances as well. Major conference starting quarterbacks don't grow on trees. I'd guess at least a third to half of them get scouted by the NFL after college to some degree. Sadly, Iowa has just been that bad at the position in the Biff Ferentz era that finally having ANY team show interest in an Iowa QB seems like an anomaly.
In addition to his football talent, Grono is one helluva' of a team player that will be great in the locker room. Hope he gets a shot.
I hope he gets a look on a practice squad and maybe builds himself up to be a backup like Beathard.
Mark will make a team when they cut it down to 55. Book it. That dude is a winner, and he's healthy.
And for the record, I think he will get drafted.
And for the record, I think he will get drafted.
Absolutely agree… dude was GREAT.. I just wish he had a few more years left at Iowa
No ****.
Remember after game 1, when fans literally thought Mark couldn't throw? They refused to listen to any type of logic.
Love how draft night proves the idiots wrong. Remember when Jones had, "no chance to ever make it at center"?
Remember when Barnett was clueless? How many will he have taken in this draft?
Remember after game 1, when fans literally thought Mark couldn't throw? They refused to listen to any type of logic.
Love how draft night proves the idiots wrong. Remember when Jones had, "no chance to ever make it at center"?
Remember when Barnett was clueless? How many will he have taken in this draft?
So free agents never make rosters ? Another blue hair special
Signing as an UDFA is in many ways better than being drafted in the 7th round.