Iowa Senior Put On Prestigious Maxwell Award Watch List

The expectations are sky-high for Iowa senior quarterback Mark Gronowski in 2025. In fact, there could be expectations that he'll be one of the best players in college football.

At the very least, Gronowski has found himself on a prestigious watch list heading into the 2025 season. According to the Iowa athletic department, the South Dakota State transfer has been named to the 2025 Maxwell Award Watch List.

The award goes annually to the best overall player in college football. It's not the Heisman Trophy, but it's basically college football's MVP award.

🏆 @mgronowski11 ➡️ 𝐌𝐚𝐱𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭@MaxwellFootball x #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/hlNoQOfc5d
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) July 28, 2025

Gronowski checks in as a 6-foot-3, 230-pound quarterback, and he has a ton of potential as Iowa's likely 2025 starter. He was a star for South Dakota State and a winner as well. Gronowski led the Jackrabbits to two FCS National Championship wins (in 2022 and 2023) and was given the Walter Payton Award in 2023, which goes to the Most Outstanding Player in FCS football.

A native of Naperville, Illinois, Gronowski threw for 10,330 yards and 93 touchdowns in four seasons at South Dakota State. He's also a bit of a dual-threat quarterback, as he rushed 385 times for 1,767 yards and 37 touchdowns in that same time frame.

There are only two question marks surrounding Gronowski's final collegiate season.

1) Will he be able to transition to playing against Big Ten competition?

He was a high level FCS quarterback but playing against Youngstown State and Southern Illinois is a lot different than lining up across Penn State or Oregon.

2) Can he stay healthy?

Gronowski should be coming into the season as close to 100-percent is possible, but he is coming off a shoulder surgery on his throwing arm that he underwent early in the offseason so clean up some lingering issues he had in 2024.

If he can compete in the Big Ten and remains healthy, though, there's no reason to think that Gronowski won't be one of the better players in college football when all is said and done.