Jaylen Raynor Has Work To Prove Himself Against Peers at Iowa State

The Iowa State Cyclones underwent massive changes to their roster this offseason following head coach Matt Campbell’s departure from the program.

He elected to accept the head coaching position with the Penn State Nittany Lions, and a mass exodus from the roster occurred. More than 50 players entered the transfer portal, and a large portion of them followed to Penn State, including starting quarterback Rocco Becht.

That left new head coach Jimmy Rogers seeking out a replacement under center for the 2026 season. He came away with a very talented option, securing a commitment from Jaylen Raynor in the transfer portal.

He was a starter the last three seasons with the Arkansas State Red Wolves and will now be making a jump in competition from the Sun Belt to the Big 12. That is one of the major reasons why Raynor landed in the middle of the pack of the FBS quarterback situation rankings done by David Hale of ESPN.

Jaylen Raynor is viewed as middle-of-the-pack FBS quarterback

Arkansas State Red Wolves quarterback Jaylen Raynor (1) warms up. — Arkansas State Red Wolves quarterback Jaylen Raynor (1) warms up before Arkansas State Red Wolves take on the Northern Illinois Huskies during the Camellia Bowl at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala., on Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Cyclones new signal caller landed in the Tier 18 titled “Free Fallin’” along with seven other players at four different schools: Walker Eget and Dan Mahan with the Duke Blue Devils, Alessio Milivojevic of the Michigan State Spartans, Ryan Browne of the Purdue Boilermakers and Davis Warren, Dylan Rizk and Michael Mitchell Jr. of the Stanford Cardinal.

There are 50 more teams and 99 players ranked behind Raynor and the other quarterbacks in the Free Fallin’ tier, putting them about middle of the pack.

“Just because the sun comes up each morning doesn't guarantee it will again tomorrow. Which is to say that, just because there's very little evidence that these guys will turn in a strong season of QB play at the Power 4 level in 2026 doesn't mean it can't happen,” Hale wrote.

All eyes will be on Raynor to see how he adjusts to the level of competition. With Arkansas State, he was a dynamic dual-threat, getting the job done as much with his right arm as he did with his legs.

former Arkansas State/current Iowa State QB Jaylen Raynor is a delightfully shifty scrambler pic.twitter.com/yDD1jmULiS
— Mike Golic Jr (@mikegolicjr) June 10, 2026

The transition to the Cyclones will be made a little easier because he isn’t joining the program alone. Tight end Tyler Fortenberry also committed to Iowa State in the transfer portal, and the team hired Keith Heckendorf to take over as quarterbacks coach.

He was the offensive coordinator with the Red Wolves and will certainly help bring Raynor along under head coach Jimmy Rogers and offensive coordinator Tyler Roehl.

In each of the last two years, Raynor has led the Sun Belt in pass attempts with 420 in 2024 and 501 in 2025. As a freshman in 2023, he led the conference in yards gained per attempt with 8.9 and yards gained per pass completion with 15.4.

Last season, Raynor also led the Sun Belt with 333 completions, 3,361 passing yards, 11 interceptions and 258.5 yards per game.

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