AMES — Iowa State football has crossed the halfway point of spring practice and there’s still plenty of intrigue surrounding this new-look roster.
The Cyclones have completed eight of 15 spring practices and there’s still much to learn and room for growth as the team comes together under head coach Jimmy Rogers. They’ll conclude spring football with a practice open to the public on Saturday, April 25.
Until that first public glimpse, here are five position groups Rogers said have stood out through the spring.
Quarterback
The race for QB1 is well underway. Arkansas State transfer Jaylen Raynor, Oklahoma State transfer Zane Flores and holdover Connor Moberly were the top three names to watch entering spring practice.
While there was plenty of speculation that Raynor would be a clear front-runner for the starting job, especially after following former Arkansas State quarterbacks coach Keith Heckendorf’s addition to the staff, there appears to be some heated competition under center — at least, early on.
Raynor and Flores have separated themselves. Rogers said he and his staff will start to narrow things down, but the main focus this spring has been centered around reps and putting players through different situations.
Raynor has one season of eligibility remaining. He passed for 3,361 yards, 19 touchdowns and 11 interceptions last year. He also ran for 423 yards and seven touchdowns.
He started 36 games for the Red Wolves and accumulated 9,877 yards of total offense and accounted for 67 total touchdowns.
As for Flores, he played in nine games and made eight starts as a redshirt freshman at Oklahoma State last season. He comes with familiarity with the Big 12 after completing 59.8% of his passes for 1,490 yards, three touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also ran for 117 yards and two scores.
“It’s been a pretty solid match between Raynor and Flores so far, throughout spring ball,” Rogers said. “They’re both learning a new system and, at times, one does better in a certain situation and one does better in the other situation, so we’ve been kind of mixing, matching who goes with each group.”
Running backs
The days of the Carson Hansen-Abu Sama III one-two punch are over, but there have been positive signs out of this new-look position group through the spring.
Adel native Aiden Flora, who was one of 44 Iowa State holdovers from last season, aims to have an expanded role in the backfield after making a splash as a punt returner last season.
Bowling Green transfer Cameron Pettaway provides promise. He was the MAC Freshman of the Year last season, after recording 900 all-purpose yards. Oregon State transfer Salahdin Allah is another newcomer to know. He saw limited action over the last two years with the Beavers, appearing in 19 games for a total of 74 carries, 329 yards and a touchdown.
Both Rogers and offensive coordinator Tyler Roehl have discussed the importance of the run game, so familiarize yourself with those names.
“I would say the running back room, there’s been some splash plays,” Rogers said, regarding standout offensive position groups. “Aiden Flora has done a great job. Cam Pettaway has done a great job. We moved Wyatt Archer over to running back, he was working initially at safety. He went in there (at running back) and that looks like a position he should play.
“Then, Salahdin (Allah), his body, size and speed, he’s just had some flashes too, so surely that group, too.”
Offensive line
Even before the coaching change and player exodus, this group was already going to take a big hit from graduation, as 2025 starters James Neal, Jim Bonifas and Tyler Miller all exhausted their eligibility.
With the intent to run the ball and the emphasis on physicality, Rogers and his staff made rebuilding the offensive line one of the main priorities when searching through the transfer portal.
As a result, the Cyclones brought in 10 transfers to the offensive line.
Some arrive with power-conference experience, like DeAndre Carter (Auburn), Jake Taylor (Oklahoma) and Gavin Broscious (Michigan State).
Others excelled at the FCS level and have been competitive in camp like Colin Amick (Montana), Braden Smith (Tarleton State) and Gavin Proudfoot (UNI) — and others are proving they belong after moving up from the Division II level, such as Caden Maas (Sioux Falls) and Cade Myer (Colorado School of Mines).
Returning players Austin Barrett, Gabriel Greenlee and Garret Rutledge have been recurring mentions throughout spring football and will compete for playing time.
“The O-Line is a melting pot and it will be meshing for a while,” Rogers said. “I think that takes time. It’s not just 15 practices, that’s continuity, players and mixing and matching who’s in with who and allowing that to develop. Hopefully, that’s much closer to what we want to be by fall and hopefully, we get better consistently throughout the season.”
Defensive line
On the defensive side of the ball, Rogers wanted plenty of reinforcements in the trenches, declaring early on that the switch from a three-man front to a four-man scheme would require more depth on the line.
Zaimir Hawk is a returner that the new Cyclones’ coaching staff is excited for. They also brought in 10 new defensive linemen from the transfer portal, six of whom followed their coaches to Ames from Washington State.
The six ex-Cougars — Max Baloun, Donovan Fitzmaurice, Jack Janikowski, Bryson Lamb, Malaki Ta’ase and Isaac Terrell — combined for 14 sacks last season, with each having at least one. Terrell led the Cougars with seven sacks last year.
Non-FBS transfers Jareb Ramos (Montana), Caden Crawford (South Dakota) and Blake Hawkins (Iowa Western) were also standouts at their former schools.
Iowa State’s struggles to generate sacks and consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks in recent years were well-documented. The Cyclones will look to change those shortcomings this season.
In addition to their value in the trenches, the six Washington State transfers have also been a valued resource in guiding their teammates and helping various members of the defense understand the new schemes.
“You have guys like Bryson Lamb and Max Baloun keeping the interior of the D-Line there together and they’re acting as coaches,” Rogers said. “Putting guys on cans and giving them the calls, and teaching them. We’re going to do it until we can’t do it wrong and that’s the goal.
“… The buy-in overall, not just at the D-Line, but collectively on the team, understanding that we’re going to be as great as the sum of our parts. We need to make sure that we have physical people and do the routine things better than everybody else. That’s really been bought into from the overall team and I think the D-Line, having more guys that have been around us as coaches sure helps for that group in itself.”
Cornerbacks
With the season-ending injury to safety Braden Awls, Rogers had some high praise for this group’s progress through spring camp. He may need to lean on them even more following the injury news.
Arkansas transfer Jaheim Singletary brings in power-conference experience. A former five-star recruit who started his career at Georgia in 2022, the 6-foot-2 cornerback saw more action when he joined the Razorbacks. He had 12 tackles in an injury-affected 2025 season, but he played in 29 games, including 12 starts, over the last three years at Arkansas.
Tyrone Cotton III and Trillion Sorrell each redshirted at Washington State last season and will need to gain in-game experience, while redshirt sophomore transfers Seth Johnson (Montana State) and Keyon Washington (Bowling Green) each saw solid playing time at their former schools.
Holdovers David Coffey and Beni Ngoyi also garnered playing experience for the Cyclones last season, as injuries started to pile up in the secondary.
“Probably the corners, I feel like we got a good rotational group there that can sub package at safety if need be,” Rogers said. “But, the length of that group, the speed of that group. We need to continue to work on the basic fundamentals of tackling with that group. Overall, that may be one of our deepest groups on the field, for sure.”
Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at erapay@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 5 positions to watch at halfway mark of Iowa State football spring practice
Reporting by Eugene Rapay, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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