Hines: How Iowa State's Ben Brahmer got out of his own head

AMES – Things were just not quite clicking for Ben Brahmer.

But they should have been.

The 6-foot-7, 250-pound tight end had a breakout rookie campaign, earning freshman All-American accolades, and projects to even have a bigger sophomore season. He’s got the size, skill and, now, the experience to perhaps be a true game-changer.

There’s a lot of belief that Brahmer will be very, very good. There are whispers, growing louder, that he might be Charlie Kolar-good. As in one of the best tight ends in school history good.

Which, maybe, was part of the problem earlier this month.

“I was kind of getting in my own head,” the Pierce, Neb., native said.

Such is the burden of expectation.

“Last year he came in and there were no expectations,” Iowa State offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser said. “He just played and understood it and had fun.”

It wasn’t a lot of fun for Brahmer earlier this month, though. He was coming off a minor injury, and he just couldn’t seem to find his footing the way he wanted in Iowa State offense.

“The start of camp was a little slow,” he said.

It was almost as if the dark side of achievement was shadowing Brahmer. Everything he did last year only raised expectations for this year. Which ramps up the pressure to perform. And that pressure can act as fertilizer for self-doubt when things don’t immediately go right.

“It can be easy, especially this time of year, when everybody’s talking about what the expectations are,” Mouser, who is also Iowa State’s tight ends coach, said. “What does that really mean? It doesn’t mean a lot. If all your focus is on what the expectation or potential is, you’re going to lose track of what your process is that got you there to be successful.”

Sometimes players play themselves out of those funks. Sometimes it swallows them whole. Playing against expectations can often be more challenging than whoever is on the other side of the line of scrimmage.

You can slip a linebacker in coverage. You can’t really shake your own expectations.

So Brahmer first had to conquer his own psyche before he again could truly take on defenses.

“I talked to coaches and got my mind right,” he said. “It’s been great since.

“Coming out playing physical, playing free and having fun.”

Brahmer isn’t going to be the most important or dynamic piece of the Iowa State offense. Quarterback Rocco Becht owns that first distinction, and wideouts Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins probably own the second. Running back Abu Sama is probably more critical to the Cyclones’ success than Brahmer, too.

But Brahmer has the ability to operate in the space they create.

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He plays a position that relies on mismatches. And that is only magnified when you’re surrounded by weapons. It’s one thing to be too big for defensive backs and another to be too athletic and agile for linebackers, but it’s something else entirely to be both those things while a defense is focused elsewhere.

That confluence is a big part of why everyone is so high on Brahmer. He’s got all the tools to be great, but he’ll also probably be the third or fourth priority this season for a defensive coordinator.

To be talented, physically imposing and sort of forgotten is a great place to be for a tight end.

And after those early hiccups, Brahmer is centered not on expectations, but something simpler.

“I can’t be happy with where I was at last year,” he said. “I’ve always got to be improving.

“This year, I think with the confidence I have, I can go out and make some big plays and help the team out.”

Iowa State columnist Travis Hines has covered the Cyclones for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune since 2012. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000 . F ollow him on X at @TravisHines21.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Hines: How Iowa State's Ben Brahmer got out of his own head