AMES - Iowa State’s new offense may look different on paper, but the quarterback running it is hardly a stranger to pressure, movement or adapting on the fly.
That quarterback is Jaylen Raynor, the 6-1, 208-pound senior who enters the season with a team-high 36 consecutive starts and arrives at the Power Four level after a three-year run that included 52 passing touchdowns and 15 rushing scores. In his first season under head coach Jimmy Rogers, Raynor is expected to handle the job as the Cyclones’ likely starter while learning a system that’s new to him.
The shift comes with first-year offensive coordinator Tyler Roehl’s pro-style approach, which will put Raynor under center more often than he has been in the past. But Iowa State’s quarterbacks coach Keith Heckendorf made clear that doesn’t mean the offense is being stripped of the things that make Raynor dangerous.
“I think in today’s world, everybody thinks a pro-style offense, a pro-style system, they all think, ‘We’ll, you’re under center all the time,’” said Heckendorf, who served as Raynor’s quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator each of the past three seasons at Arkansas State. “That’s not reality.
When you look across the NFL and you look at those pro-style systems, it is an intermix of shotgun, under center, going from one to another within a series, within a drive, maybe play to play. I think that’s thew off-balance (situation) you can create from an offensive standpoint, that you’re always keeping them guessing.”
For Raynor, the adjustment has been about repetition and comfort. He said every rep matters as he works to get used to protections, pocket movement and the timing needed to get the ball out quickly.
“The reps are - I just take each one and try to cherish each one,” said Raynor, who’s passed for 52 touchdowns and rushed for 15 more as a three-year starter. “The more and more you do it, the more confident you are in it. The more comfortable to get with how people move in the pocket, how the back protects in the pocket, knowing what your hot (routes) are, and when you are gonna be hot to slide away from pressure and stuff like that - I’m just trying my best to be able to get the ball out quickly and eliminate the pressure up front.”
Heckendorf said Raynor’s experience gives him an edge before the snap, because he can process what defenses are trying to do and adjust accordingly. He described the challenge of quarterbacking this system as learning to operate in the middle of the storm.
“We used to say as a quarterback, you’ve gotta push up into the eye of the hurricane,” Heckendorf said. “Well, now we say the eye of the Cyclone.
You’ve gotta push up to the calm in the storm and find that soft spot in the pocket. Where there’s chaos all around you, you’ve gotta learn to operate within the chaos.”
Raynor used a similar phrase earlier in fall camp, saying he needs to be “comfortable being uncomfortable.” That mindset, combined with his experience, has helped him settle into the offense as camp has gone on.
“It gets more and more easy the more I do it,” Raynor reiterated. “The first practice of spring ball, we’ve got shifts and motions, and I’m trying to picture where everybody’s gonna be and it was kind of hard.
It was jumbled up. But as we’ve gone through it multiple times, everything’s clicking.”
Behind him, the quarterback room is also drawing praise. Returning redshirt sophomore Connor Moberly and Oklahoma State transfer sophomore Zane Flores have both impressed, giving Iowa State depth at the position.
“I feel very good about that room in terms of guys going in, leading and directing our offense,” Heckendorf said.
Still, Heckendorf’s confidence in Raynor goes beyond familiarity from their time together at Arkansas State. He pushed back on the idea that Raynor is only a runner and framed him as a quarterback invested in more than his own production.
“He’s invested not just in himself, and having success for himself,” Heckendorf said. “He’s invested in this team.”
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