Iowa State’s Rocco Becht Earning Respect on National Stage Ahead of 2025

There’s a lot of excitement in Ames about the 2025 Iowa State Cyclones. After nearly capturing the program’s first Big 12 championship a season ago, head coach Matt Campbell’s squad isn’t without its question marks. But one aspect of the team fans are confident in is the quarterback, as Rocco Becht enters his third season as the full-time starter.

Becht has received mixed praise throughout the 2025 offseason. Some outlets like his experience, while others are worried about his size. Some give him a solid shot at making noise as an NFL draft prospect; others don’t consider him at all. Still, after leading the program to its first 11-win season and a notable Pop-Tarts Bowl victory over College Football Playoff hopeful Miami last season, Becht comes in with plenty of momentum.

Becht Enters 2025 Among College Football’s Most Trusted Quarterbacks

The Athletic recently ranked all 134 projected starting quarterbacks across the college football landscape. Becht checked in on that list at No. 14 in the country.

The surroundings for Becht aren’t quite as promising this season after losing top wideouts Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel to the NFL. However, he proved last year that he has some scrambling chops when things break down.

Last season, Becht threw for 3,505 yards while completing 59.4% of his passes with 25 touchdowns to nine interceptions. He also added 318 yards and eight scores on the ground.

“He plays his nuts off,” a Power 4 personnel director said of Becht, via The Athletic.

Becht was ranked in the second tier of the list, landing higher than similarly undersized but gritty gamers like Diego Pavia at Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech’s Haynes King. However, Becht was pegged as the third-best quarterback in the conference. Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt ranked No. 7 in the country while Baylor’s Sawyer Robinson was just a few spots ahead of the Iowa State QB in the second tier at No. 11.

Heading into the new season, Becht will look to quickly grow his chemistry with transfer wideouts Chase Sowell out of East Carolina and Xavier Townsend from UCF. In-house, the Cyclones will also be looking for senior Daniel Jackson to step up as a playmaker out wide. Becht will need all the help he can get from his weapons as Iowa State sets its sights on finishing what they started in 2024 by winning the Big 12 and punching their ticket to the College Football Playoff.

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