Epenesa staying busy leading up to NFL Draft
If these were normal times, A.J. Epenesa would be flying around the country in the weeks leading up to the NFL Draft meeting with NFL coaches and executives.
Instead the All American defensive end is essentially quarantined with his family in Edwardsville, IL, taking Zoom meetings and phone calls from NFL teams, working out with his younger brother, Eric Epenesa, who will join the Iowa program this fall, and watching Netflix shows like Tiger King.
“It not great being quarantined, but overall this has been a fun process for me,” Epenesa said.
Once the Hawkeye standout declared for the draft shortly after Iowa defeated USC in the Holiday Bowl, where he earned defensive MVP honors, he was full speed ahead with the traditional NFL Draft process. That included signing with an agent and training under the watchful eye of Iowa strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle.
He admits that the NFL Combine wasn’t his best performance and was looking forward to Iowa’s Pro Day on March 23rd when the country essentially came to a standstill due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I definitely would have performed better at Iowa’s Pro Day than I did at the NFL Combine,” he said. “At the end of the day it was disappointing, but coaches are going to pick me based on my film. That’s my resume and that’s how it should be and they know they are going to be getting a good football player.”
Epenesa is right, his film and resume speak for itself. He was simply one of the best rush defensive ends in college football. In the past two years he has record 31 tackles for loss, including 22 quarterback sacks. He was as disruptive of a player as you will find in the college game and all of that is on film and as coaches will tell you, film doesn’t lie.
Instead of meeting with NFL teams at their facilities or improving his combine numbers, Epenesa says he has had about seven or eight video conference meetings with NFL personnel and a number of phone calls as well.
In normal times, Epenesa would have been one of the NFL Draft prospects who would be flying to Las Vegas next week for the NFL Draft. His family had planned to have a massive gathering there where he would be joined by aunts, uncles, and cousins to celebrate a dream coming true.
“I have a lot of family that would have been coming to Las Vegas. We have family out there and we would have had a great time being together and it really stinks that we won’t be able to do that.”
Now he and his immediate family will celebrate at home and try to make the best of a tough situation. The Epenesas plan to get dressed up like they would have been if they were in Las Vegas at the draft and have their own red carpet type event. He is one of 58 NFL prospects who participate in a virtual draft green room, so we will be able to see him enjoying the moment, but it won’t be the same.
There won’t be the hug moment with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, but you can bet there will be a long and even more meaningful embrace between A.J. and his father Epenesa Epenesa.
While he waits for draft day to arrive, Epenesa has been staying in the best shape possible. He works out every morning with his brother, Eric, at a gym on the property of a good friend from his high school days. The workouts are designed by Doyle and they have been helpful to both members of the Epenesa family.
One thing Epenesa isn’t doing is paying attention to NFL mock drafts. It’s not something that interests him at all. Most still consider him to be a first round prospect, but he won’t get caught up in those projections. Instead he’s watching Netflix or HBO catching up the Tiger King craze and watching Westworld and Game of Thrones.
“We are just spending time together as a family,” he said. “We are keeping ourselves busy watching some TV series and playing games. It’s been good to be with my family.”