The Iowa State defense could end up giving Jimmy Rogers a few early answers in his first season, and a handful of freshmen are already making noise in fall camp.
That matters because Rogers is walking into a major reset. Matt Campbell is gone after taking the Penn State head coaching job this winter, and he didn’t leave lightly - nearly the entire coaching staff and most eligible players followed him. So the Cyclones enter the 2026 season with a new head coach, a new era, and a lot of openings to sort out.
If Iowa State is going to make this work early, the defense is the place to look. Defensive coordinator Jesse Bobbit has some real talent to work with, even if there aren’t many household names in the group. And with competition wide open in camp, there’s room for freshmen to force their way into the conversation.
Landon Kalsbeck is one of the first names to watch. The linebacker has already caught Bobbit’s attention, and after a strong practice over the weekend, the coach sounded confident about his chances to contribute.
“I think that's someone that you could see definitely making some immediate impact on special teams or defense,” Bobbit said, via Alec Busse of Cyclone Alert, part of the 247Sports Network.
The secondary has also produced a couple of freshmen who have stood out. Matthew McClain and Brady Hummel both arrived after originally committing to Washington State to play for Rogers and Bobbit before decommitting and following them to Ames.
“And then you might see when you look at guys like Matthew McClain and Brady Hummel at safety, like those guys are out there, we're double repping everything. So guys are getting a lot of reps,” Bobbit said.
Safety looks especially open after Braden Awls, a transfer from the Toledo Rockets, suffered a season-ending injury during the offseason program. That creates a real path for a freshman to grab snaps if he keeps showing up in camp.
At cornerback, Toe Sanders is another freshman worth tracking. He also had been committed to Washington State before backing off that pledge after the coaching change.
Sanders got to Ames early, enrolling on Jan. 20, 2026, and Bobbit said that extra time has already helped him stack valuable reps.
“When you look at the corner room, Toe Sanders was here as an early enrollee and has gotten a lot of good reps. And so those are just a few of the names specifically that I think will be on the defensive side of the ball showing up in games come this fall,” added Bobbit.
For Iowa State, immediate help from freshmen would be more than a bonus. It would give the new staff a boost now and strengthen the long-term picture at the same time.
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