Arkansas State’s three-year starting quarterback will play his final season of college football elsewhere.
Jaylen Raynor transferred to Iowa State, as first reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Raynor joins an Iowa State program undergoing its first head coaching change in a decade. With Matt Campbell off to Penn State, Raynor joins a Cyclone squad fronted by head coach Jimmy Rogers, who was hired in December after a year at Washington State. Raynor also follows his offensive coordinator Keith Heckendorf.
Heckendorf served as the OC at Arkansas State from 2019-25 and recently accepted a position of quarterbacks coach at Iowa State.
Raynor spent three years as a starter at Iowa State, producing the following stats:
- 2023: 166/285 (58.2%), 2,550 pass yards, 17 pass TD, 7 INT, 373 rush yards, 5 rush TD
- 2024: 259/420 (61.7%), 2,783 pass yards, 16 pass TD, 10 INT, 387 rush yards, 3 rush TD
- 2025: 333/501 (66.5%), 3,361 pass yards, 19 pass TD, 11 INT, 423 rush yards, 7 rush TD
Raynor attained career-highs in passing yards, rushing yards, and touchdowns in each facet in his most recent 2025 season. The quarterback guided the Red Wolves to three-straight bowl appearances and won two, prevailing in the 2024 68 Ventures Bowl over Bowling Green and the 2025 Xbox Bowl over Missouri State.
Raynor is 20-16 as a starter and leaves Arkansas State as the school’s third-leading passer at 8,694 yards — only trailing Ryan Aplin (10,758 yards from 2009-12) and Justice Hansen (10,133 yards from 2016-18). He is ranked fourth in passing touchdowns, third in completions, 24th in rushing yards, and 16th in rushing touchdowns.
The new Iowa State quarterback possesses familiarity with his new program. Raynor started two games against Iowa State. In 2024 in Ames, the Cyclones had his Red Wolves’ number in a 52-7 shellacking. But in 2025, Arkansas State came excruciatingly close to the upset in Jonesboro, AR. Raynor fired for 222 yards and rushed for a season-high 83 in a 24-16 defeat.
Arkansas State already landed a potential Raynor replacement in Drew Dickey. Dickey arrives from Vanderbilt, where he backed up Heisman finalist Diego Pavia. He has two collegiate passes and one completion for 28 yards, and perhaps Jonesboro is where he finally gets an opportunity to flourish in his final year of eligibility.
