Iowa State kicks off spring football practice on Tuesday, March 25th, the 10th session for head coach Matt Campbell in Ames. The Cyclones are coming off of an 11-3 season in 2024, one in which they advanced to the conference championship game after posting a 7-2 mark in league play. In the first of nine spring football practice previews, let's take a look at the Iowa State quarterbacks.
Iowa State's top two signal callers on last season's depth chart return for this spring, and this position should be one of strength once again for the team.
Rocco Becht just wrapped up his second season as Iowa State's starting quarterback and has already thrown for nearly 6,700 yards during his career. The redshirt sophomore completed 272-of-462 passes for 3,510 yards and a 25:9 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
The Florida native threw for 390 more yards while getting an additional game under his belt as the Cyclones made a run to the conference championship game. His completion percentage dropped from 62.6 to 58.9 this season and he drew one more interception but two additional touchdowns.
His numbers from season one to season two are pretty comparable, when looking at PFF grades. His 76.6 offensive mark was identical to the one posted in 2023. His passing grade fell from 78.4 to 69.0, but his rush mark climbed from 53.0 to 82.2 as the quarterback added another dimension to his game with 318 yards and eight touchdowns. Becht notched 13 rushes of 10 or more yards, compared to just two during his first season as a starter.
As for his marks according to PFF, Becht's passing grade of 69.0 placed him 74th in the FBS among quarterbacks that took at least 50 percent of their team's snaps.
There was movement in the depth chart behind Becht, as true freshman Connor Moberly beat out former four-star JJ Kohl, a redshirt freshman early in the season.
The former two-time state champion at Southeast Polk went on to play in four games and complete 5-of-10 passes for 49 yards with one interception. He also rushed eight times for 51 yards.
On the other hand, relegated to third-string during his second year with the Cyclones, Kohl opted to enter the transfer portal and will spend next season at Appalachian State.
Iowa State appears poised to roll with three scholarship quarterbacks for the upcoming season, as it lost Kohl and Tanner Hughes to graduation and added true freshman Alex Manske.
The Algona (Iowa) product, who finished with a 5.7 Rivals Rating and #2 overall ranking in the 2025 in-state rankings, had his senior season cut short following a UCL elbow injury during a game. Manske finished with 1,456 passing yards on 76-of-111 completions and a splendid 18:0 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He added 61 rushes for 319 yards and another eight scores.
He had surgery and missed the rest of his senior season, but has been cleared to resume throwing. It's likely Manske will be limited throughout spring ball as he ramps up his activity throughout the offseason.
That means many of the third-team reps throughout spring ball will be shared by walk-ons Major Cantrell and Wyatt Bohm.
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