David Pollack identifies Aaron Graves as Iowa's player to watch in 2025

David Pollack has Aaron Graves penciled in as the player to keep an eye on for Iowa in 2025. He is among the many analysts high on the senior defensive lineman after his impressive campaign from a year ago.

Graves broke into the starting lineup for the first time in his career, putting up 33 tackles, six sacks, three forced fumbles and three passes defended. That’s earned him preseason first team All-Big Ten honors from Phil Steele and a spot on the Lott Trophy watch list.

The Hawkeyes have been known for their defense under Kirk Ferentz and Phil Parker, and this year should be no different. Pollack expects Graves to once again be a key part of that, perhaps taking an even bigger leap.

“You watch Iowa and you watch 95, Aaron Graves, he can impact the game,” the former Georgia linebacker said on his podcast, See Ball Get Ball. “He’ll be on watch lists. He’s a guy that a lot of people know about. I don’t know that he’s even fully developed yet. You watch him, he’s causing sacks and fumbles in games and just has the ability to get off of people. You can tell he’s a wrastler. He’s got good hands and he just sifts his way through things and stuff.”

Graves is a local product from Dayton, Iowa, where he was a four-star recruit. He ranked as the No. 170 overall player and No. 23 defensive lineman in the 2022 cycle according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

As Pollack mentioned, Graves was also a wrestler at Southeast Valley High School, finishing fourth in the state tournament as a junior. Recruiting players who also wrestled has been a trend for Iowa during Ferentz’s tenure.

It looks like he may have found another such gem in Graves. The defensive lineman will look to continue to build upon his impressive performance a year ago and help Iowa compete in a tough Big Ten.

“He’s a guy that could dominate games and wreck your game plans and you could be watching these really good games against elite competition in this conference and you’re like, ‘How is this guy still getting to my quarterback. How is he getting in the backfield? Why is 95 not on my team?'” Pollack said. “I could see a lot of people saying that when you watch Iowa games this year.”