Iowa State football: 3 key position battles heading into 2024 season for Cyclones

The summer is typically a time of self-discovery for college football programs, but Iowa State already has a lot figured out.

Nearly all of the Cyclones' starters return (20 in all). Iowa State also has non-starters returning with large numbers of snaps in previous seasons, such as junior linebacker Caleb Bacon. Iowa State is returning 90% of its statistical production on offense, second-most in the country. Iowa State's defense returns 80% of its production, fifth-best in the country.

Still, there are a few places where the Cyclones will need to find some folks to step up and produce this fall, and several suitors are poised to do so. Here are three spots we are watching ahead of the 2024 season:

Cornerback No. 2

Senior Myles Purchase will be stepping into the shoes of TJ Tampa as the top cornerback on this defense. His team-high 15 pass breakups were the fourth-most in the nation, and he was third on the team with 56 tackles. If he continues this trajectory, he'll soon be playing on Sundays just like his former teammate.

The bigger question is, who starts opposite of Purchase? The three guys most likely to do so, in no particular order, are Darien Porter, Jontez Williams and Jamison Patton.

We'll start with the experienced Porter, a former wide receiver turned defensive back who has been a steady contributor for the Cyclones on special teams and on the back end of the defense in stints. Porter is a great athlete, standing at 6-foot-4 with elite speed as a former track star at Bettendorf. Pair all of that with his expertise as a former wide receiver, it's an easy sell as to how Porter could be a factor here.

"My general football knowledge has grown immensely playing both sides of the football," Porter said. "It slows the game down. You can pick up on the things the offense or the receivers might be doing so you get an idea of what's coming."

Williams started the final two games last year, against Kansas State and Memphis. He's similar in size (5-11, 200) to Purchase (5-11, 205) and brings elite athleticism as a former high school wide receiver and quarterback.

Go ahead and stop us if you're heard this before, but Patton was also a high school quarterback at Ankeny. He was thrown into the fire a bit as a freshman, playing in 11 games and starting in one. At 6-2, he's not quite the physical presence that Porter is, but is every bit the athlete. The biggest growth he says he has to take is continuing to learn the defense to be able to see the field more often. If he can, he's confident the rest will follow.

"I feel very good about myself coming into this next season, and I'm excited to see what I can do," Patton said.

This is one of those situations where there really isn't a wrong answer as to which guy gets the nod, and there is likely to be some shifting through the season between these three based on matchups, injuries and other factors. However, we're going to go with Porter to be the headline guy and get the lion's share of starts opposite Purchase by season's end.

Wide receiver No. 3

Iowa State likes its two-tight-end sets on offense, meaning the Cyclones are not always going to have a third wide receiver on the field. When you have Ben Brahmer and Stevo Klotz coming back to the fold at tight end, that's a good reason not to.

Yet the Cyclones will still have plenty of snaps with three wide receivers on the field alongside Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel, so who will that third guy be? It likely depends on the given situation on offense, as three players behind Higgins and Noel bring unique skillsets to the fold. Those three are Isaiah Alston, Eli Green and Daniel Jackson.

Alston, an Army transfer, played in just four games last year but still led the Black Knights in yards (266) and had two touchdowns. Army believed in this guy enough that it broke away a bit from its traditional flexbone triple-option offense and started to throw the ball around before his injury derailed that plan. Yet his 29.6 yards per reception in those four games showed how dynamic of a playmaker he can be when healthy. At 6-4, he's a big-play threat downfield waiting to happen.

North Dakota State transfer Eli Green is a do-it-all utility guy, The former Bison has 877 receiving yards (most on team) and 320 rushing yards. He's the type of player that you put the ball in his hands in space and watch the magic happen. Even if he is not the starter, expect Iowa State to dial up some plays for the speedster.

Then there's the returning Jackson, who started two games and had 260 receiving yards a year ago. His stats aren't eye-popping, but read what Noel says about his teammate:

"He's one of the most gifted wide receivers we have on the team, honestly," Noel said. "He's a physical, bigger receiver that could do pretty much anything you ask him to do. He's real smooth with his route-running, great at the catch point, and can make stuff happen after the catch.

"He's gonna be a very important piece to our success this year."

That's high praise from one of the most critical cogs on this roster.

If there's anything to be learned from this, it's that the Cyclones have some legitimate depth here. Not only in talent, but in skillsets as well, something that Iowa State has lacked at times the last few years.

Coach Matt Campbell said: "From a receiver standpoint, we’ve seen here at times – look back to 2017 when you had Hakeem (Butler) and Allen (Lazard) at the same time, and Deshaunte Jones – it allowed us to be a different offense in some different ways. We were similar in 2018 when (quarterback Brock Purdy) took over and we still had Hakeem. We’ve probably been our most complete offensively when we had that receiving corps to match a strong running game. We kind of lost our way a little bit. We’ve really worked hard to get ourselves back to where we want to be from a receiving standpoint."

Higgins and Noel will be your every-down guys at receiver, but expect there to be a rotation and designed plays for these three backups with unique skillsets in specific situations. Green should be a great option, along with Noel, in the screen game and out in the flat to attempt to make guys miss and keep the chains moving. Alston should be a stellar big-play threat down the field, while Jackson might be someone to watch as a breakout candidate should Higgins or Noel go down with injury.

Running back No. 2

Sophomore Abu Sama is the headliner at running back. His efforts against Kansas State made that obvious enough. Yet it's always important to have another back in that room who can bring a change of pace and a breather for the top guy.

Sophomore Carson Hansen and true freshman Dylan Lee look to be the favorites to fill that role. Lee's spring-game efforts caught the eyes of many after enrolling early in the program and growing as the spring went on.

“He’s awesome,” quarterback Rocco Becht said. “What he’s been able to do as an early-comer, coming into spring, not a lot of guys can do that and produce good football. He’s progressed every single day, every single week, and he’s just going to get better until the fall and throughout the summer with the coaches that we have.”

Iowa State isn't afraid to give opportunities to true freshmen. Lee's 80 yards on the ground and one catch in the spring game showed that he has the versatility to be a great ball carrier and a third-down option in the passing game when needed.

Hansen arrives in Ames with Sama and was successful when given opportunities, including a five-carry, 25-yard outing against Cincinnati. His footwork and shiftiness to make defenders miss combined with his physicality at 6-1 make for an intriguing running back prospect. He averaged 10.5 yards per reception last season on 11 catches, flashing the ability to do it all in relief of Sama.

As many running back rotations go, much of this is likely to come down to who has the hot hand on a given day, but the Cyclones should see some growth in the run game behind this trio of running backs and their five returning starters on the offensive line.

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com . Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State football: 3 key position battles heading into 2024 season for Cyclones