Iowa Star's NFL Draft Comparison Raises Massive Red Flags

This Iowa Hawkeyes star has landed a very questionable NFL Draft comparison.

Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins speaks to reporters after a spring NCAA football practice, Thursday, March 30, 2023, at the University of Iowa Indoor Practice Facility in Iowa City, Iowa. / Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Iowa Hawkeyes will be placing several players into the NFL in 2025, and while running back Kaleb Johnson will surely be first off the draft board in April, the second-most intriguing Iowa player making the jump to the pros is linebacker Jay Higgins.

Higgins is coming off of a fantastic final season with the Hawkeyes, having rattled off 124 tackles, a sack, four interceptions, a couple of forced fumbles and five passes defended en route to winning the Butzus-Fitzgerald award for the Big Ten's best linebacker.

As a result, Higgins has rocketed up some draft lists and could find himself getting selected much earlier than originally expected.

However, Alex Kozora of Steelers Depot recently published a scouting report on the Iowa star, and his NFL comparison for him is a bit concerning.

After going through Higgins' strengths and weaknesses and analyzing how he would translate onto the professional level, Kozora ultimately likened the 22-year-old to Indianapolis Colts linebacker Grant Stuard.

Unless you live in Indianapolis, your first reaction was probably, "Who?"

It's an understandable response, given that Stuard entered the NFL as a seventh-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021 and joined the Colts following a trade that ensuing offseason.

Since then, Stuard has played a very small role in Indianapolis, most recently logging 40 tackles this past year. Overall, the Houston Cougars product has totaled 73 tackles across four NFL seasons.

Higgins was a tackling machine at Iowa and definitely posted better collegiate numbers than Stuard, so hopefully, his NFL career follows a much more successful trajectory.

If not, it would be a major disappointment.

Read More Iowa Hawkeyes Coverage

READ MORE: Iowa Hawkeyes Receive Grim Outlook About 2026 QB Target

READ MORE: Iowa Hawkeyes Fans Should Be Fired Up Instead of Frustrated

READ MORE: One Concern NFL Teams May Hold Against Iowa Superstar

READ MORE: Chicago Bears Again Connected to Iowa Star

READ MORE: 49ers Discussing Huge Contract Move with Former Iowa Star