Iowa State Football: Cyclones got a steal in 2022 QB Rocco Becht

Iowa State football landed a big-time steal in 2022 quarterback Rocco Becht and the Cyclones have the perfect replacement for Brock Purdy.

Head coach Matt Campbell has done an incredible job with the Iowa State football program. And one big reason for his success has been his ability to recruit and develop the quarterback position.

Brock Purdy is the prime example of that. Purdy was a former three-star recruit who is now entering his fourth year with the Cyclones. He started as a freshman for Iowa State football and it’s not a coincidence that ISU has three straight winning seasons.

It takes a lot of different things to win. Iowa State football had a really good defense last season, including the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in Mike Rose and a dominant running game behind Breece Hall.

But you still need the quarterback to make it all go and Iowa State was able to win the Fiesta Bowl behind the play of Purdy, who returned to the Cyclones for the 2021 season.

Getting Purdy was huge for Campbell and looking ahead to the 2022 recruiting class, it looks like Iowa State football has landed another gem at the quarterback position in three-star prospect Rocco Becht.

Iowa State finds another sleeper at QB

Purdy was under-ranked and Campbell, who is known for his evaluation skills, took advantage of it. He was also the first to offer J.J. McCarthy in 2021, who eventually signed with Michigan as a five-star quarterback recruit.

Campbell has an eye for talent and he struck again with Becht, who is currently ranked 1,132 in the 2022 class according to the 247 sports composite rankings.

Becht is out of Florida and is 6-foot-1, 190 pounds. He’s also the son of former NFL tight end Anthony Becht. And he showed out recently at the five-star challenge, winning the Bull Market award from Rivals for the recruit who raised his stock the most. Here’s what Adam Gorney wrote about Becht:

"“The Wesley Chapel (Fla.) Wiregrass quarterback is going to be moving up and the only question is how high. Becht plays with poise and confidence, he’s a smart decision-maker and on the field with plenty of four-stars, Becht had a better showing than many of them. The Cyclones are getting a steal, typical for coach Matt Campbell and his staff.”"

Gorney said similar things on Tuesday and even admitted that keeping Purdy as a three-star was a mistake. That should tell you that, at least according to Rivals, Becht could have a chance of moving up into the four-star range.

But even if he doesn’t, does it matter?

All that matters is that Campbell is identifying really good players before anyone else and getting them to commit to Iowa State.

It’s the secret to his success and keeping the QB play successful beyond Purdy will be essential if Iowa State football wants to stick as a yearly Big 12 contender.