Newest Iowa State Cyclones Recruit Has NFL Upside at Wide Receiver

The newest recruit for the Iowa State Cyclones has some major upside.

Iowa State football coach Jimmy Rogers speaks during a timeout in the Cy-Hawk men's basketball game on Dec. 11, 2025, at Hilton Coliseum in Ames. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones have been undergoing some massive changes since the departure of Matt Campbell, but the program is continuing to try to head in the right direction. 

It has certainly been a hectic time for the Cyclones of late. The loss of their head coach to the Penn State Nittany Lions came as a bit of a surprise, and the program was forced to pivot quickly. Fortunately, they were able to bring in Washington State Cougars head coach Jimmy Rogers, and he will be tasked with leading the new era of Iowa State football. 

As expected, the Cyclones have lost a lot of recruits and coaches so far with Campbell leaving. That should come as no surprise, but it will be some of the veterans on the team who will be really important to retain. 

While Iowa State has lost a large chunk of their recruiting class already, Rogers and his coaching staff will undoubtedly be trying to bring over some of the talent that they recruited to the Cougars. So far, there hasn’t been a ton of talent brought over, but the team did add Malcolm Watkins. 

Watkins Has High Upside

***FOOTBALL RECRUITING*** BREAKING: Bakersfield (Calif.) Frontier 3-star ATH @Malcolmwatkins_ becomes #IowaState's first commitment of the Jimmy Rogers era. Watkins has been released from his Washington State LOI & is joining #Cyclones' 2026 class.

➡️https://t.co/3cauRA7ZSj pic.twitter.com/h027trQVGe

— Bill Seals (@williamseals) December 15, 2025

The three-star athlete was a two-way player in high school, playing both wide receiver and cornerback. Furthermore, his athleticism resulted in him also being a factor on special teams. Coming into college, Watkins appears like he will be a wide receiver, and he’s got some good upside thanks to his speed. 

As he showcased in high school, the young prospect has the ability to make would-be tacklers miss because of his speed. For Iowa State, getting him to come over to the program was a significant addition by Jimmy Rogers and has helped soften the blow of so many players leaving. 

If Watkins ends up being a receiver like projected, there is some seriously high upside for him. The type of speed that he has will result in him being a serious problem if he gets the ball in space. Even though the Cyclones might have recently lost their wide receivers coach, this is a program that has developed some good NFL players at that position in recent years. 

With the addition of Watkins to the 2026 class, the unit is starting to head in the right direction for Rogers. Hopefully, he will be able to have some of his recruits from the Cougars come over to the Cyclones and help make the transition easier.