About 15 former Iowa State players are set to open the 2026 NFL season on active rosters after Sunday’s leaguewide deadline to trim teams down. The list of Cyclones headed into the fall with NFL jobs includes OL Julian Good-Jones, DB Anthony Johnson Jr., OL Tyler Miller, TE Tyler Moore, DB Ben Nikkel, OL James Neal, DB Myles Purchase and DL J.R. Singleton.
Back in Ames, Iowa State is settling into a weekly rhythm under Jimmy Rogers that looks a lot like the one fans got used to in recent seasons under Matt Campbell. Mondays are off, then the work starts Tuesday and runs through Friday. This fall, Tuesday mornings will also bring media access, with the school’s communications staff lining up coaches and players each week.
The first group to speak this season is scheduled for today, when Rogers and offensive coordinator Tyler Roehl will take questions. On the player side, quarterback Jaylen Raynor, offensive tackle Jake Taylor, defensive tackle Max Baloun and defensive back David Coffey are set to be available.
After each press conference, video will be available on the Cyclone Alert YouTube channel. Written transcripts of Rogers and Roehl will follow shortly after the sessions, and later in the evening there will be a notebook with the biggest takeaways from the availability.
This week will be different from what Iowa State has done in some other game weeks: Tuesday is the only pregame media session on the schedule, and there will not be an availability report. Those reports are reserved for Big 12 head-to-head matchups.
Saturday’s home opener also doubles as Cyclone Club Day of Honor, a chance for Iowa State Athletics to spotlight members of the club for their support of the program. Randomly selected Cyclone Club members will be recognized at halftime on the field, and Cyclone Club shirts will be tossed into the crowd during the game.
"Our Day of Honor tradition is a great way for our department to publicly recognize the more than 7,800 Cyclone Club members whose generosity helps fuel our student-athletes' academic and athletic achievements," athletic director Jamie Pollard said. "Iowa State fans are incredibly loyal, and their contributions allow our department to provide an outstanding academic and athletic experience for our student-athletes who proudly wear the Cardinal and Gold.
"Annual giving to the Cyclone Club and season ticket purchases are the backbone of our department's annual budget, and it is critical that we continue to grow these resources to ensure that our programs continue to enjoy sustained excellence in future years."
Last year marked the most successful Cyclone Club campaign on record, with Iowa State bringing in $52.7 million in gifts. That included a record $21.1 million in annual fund giving through the Cyclone Club during the completed fiscal year, topping the previous high of $41.7 million set in 2020.
With Iowa State football training camp beginning August 5 and the Jimmy Rogers era set to begin September 5 against Southeast Missouri State, there’s still time to join the Cyclone Alert community. The schedule gets even bigger a week later with the road Cy-Hawk game at Iowa under the lights on NBC.
In Other News...
Iowa States Opener Will Reveal How Set This New-Look Team Really Is
Iowa States season opener against Southeast Missouri State at Jack Trice Stadium arrives with the kind of fresh-start energy that always makes September interesting, but this one carries more uncertainty than usual. Jimmy Rogers is beginning his first year as head coach, and he has a new-look staff around him with Tyler Roehl, Jesse Bobbit and Rob Grande helping shape the early identity of the program.
The bigger question is how quickly all of that can come together once the ball is kicked off. With roughly 80 new players on the roster and only 25 back from last season, the Cyclones are trying to turn a major roster overhaul into something coherent before the schedule starts to tighten. The opener should offer an early glimpse of how settled Iowa State really is, and how much remains a work in progress. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa States Rebuilt Roster Faces An Early Test In Raynors Debut
Jaylen Raynor is about to get his first start for Iowa State, and it comes in a setting that will tell the Cyclones plenty about where their rebuilt offense stands. The transfer quarterback from Arkansas State has spent the lead-up to the opener earning trust in a system being shaped by head coach Jimmy Rogers and offensive coordinator Tyler Roehl, both of whom have stressed preparation and discipline as the foundation for this teams next step.
Southeast Missouri State may not be the kind of opponent that defines a season, but it is the kind that can expose how quickly a roster is coming together. Both sides have changed a lot since last fall, and Iowa State will be looking for clean execution and steady competitiveness as Raynor settles into a new role and the Cyclones begin to show what this version of the team can become. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa States First Jimmy Rogers Test Looks Trickier Than Expected
The Jimmy Rogers era at Iowa State is set to begin in familiar surroundings, with the Cyclones opening the 2026 season against SEMO at Jack Trice Stadium. It is the kind of debut that brings immediate attention to how quickly a new staff can settle in, especially with Iowa State working to blend in 22 new starters before the first snap.
SEMOs defense already offered one early warning sign. Safety DJ Delmore turned heads in the Redhawks opener with a disruptive all-around night against Indiana State, making life harder for the offense from the back end and around the line of scrimmage. For Iowa State, the first test of the Rogers tenure now looks a little less like a tune-up and a little more like a genuine first examination. [Read more 🡒]