Commitment of 4-star QB JJ Kohl is huge for Iowa State Football

Iowa State football has recruited better and better under Matt Campbell and the Cyclones just added a key piece in 2023 in four-star quarterback JJ Kohl. 

There is no sugarcoating the fact that quarterback is the most important position on the football field and if you want to have a chance to win in college football nowadays, you need to be really good at that position.

Over the past few years, Iowa State football has been really good at quarterback. Brock Purdy started for the last four years for the Cyclones and did a stellar job, even leading them to a top-10 finish in 2020 and a Fiesta Bowl victory.

However, Purdy is headed to the NFL and the Cyclones will have a new signal-caller in 2022. Four-star 2020 quarterback commitment Hunter Dekkers, looks to get the first shot at the starting job, with Rocco Becht, a three-star commitment from last year ranked in the top 600, among the others in the competition.

Depth at the quarterback position is vital and on Monday, Iowa State football added another four-star signal-caller giving them another in a strong line of recent commitments — all ranking in the top 550 overall of the 247 sports composite.

Dekkers ranked 292nd overall when he signed with Iowa State football and JJ Kohl, the Cyclones’ newest commitment is ranked No. 324 in the 2023 class according to the 247 sports composite rankings.

While Iowa State will never recruit with the big boys, Campbell is an excellent evaluator of talent, and the 6-foot-6, 227-pound Kohl, who is the third-ranked player in the state of Iowa in the 2023 recruiting class, caught his eye.

Then, it was all about winning Kohl’s recruitment which Iowa State did over other contenders such as Iowa, Boston College, Florida State, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and a slew of other offers.

Here’s his scouting report from Allen Trieu of 247 sports:

"“Has a big frame and will enter a college program physically ready to compete. Multi-year high school starter who led his team to the state title game as a junior, so he has played on big stages and in pressure situations. Strong arm, generates good velocity and power on his passes. Can also throw on the move without losing pace on the ball. Throws with good touch and gives his receivers chances to make plays on the ball. A multi-sport athlete who moves around well for a big guy. It is not likely that running will be the focal point of his game in college but he can get outside of the pocket and occasionally make some plays with his feet.”"

What the addition means for Iowa State football

It’s easily the most important commitment of the 2023 recruiting class for Iowa State, which has six pledges so far. All of them are three-star recruits ranked in the top 1,000, but Kohl is the first four-star to join the class (verbally).

Since the 2020 recruiting class, Iowa State football has signed just a total of three four-star prospects with Dekkers that year and two last recruiting cycle.

So getting a commitment from the top quarterback in the state is huge and Campbell continues to do some of his best work on the trail at the game’s most important position.