Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht named to Davey O’Brien Award Preseason Watch List 

Tony Adame

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Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht named to Davey O’Brien Award Preseason Watch List  image

While Iowa State returns almost every starter from 2023, one starter in particular was always bound to draw a little more attention. 

Sophomore quarterback Rocco Becht might be built to handle it. 

Becht, 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, was named to the Davey O’Brien Award Preseason Watch List on Thursday. Becht started all 13 games in 2023, going 7-6 while throwing for 3,210 yards, 23 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. 

Becht is the son of former NFL tight end Anthony Becht, a first-round pick in the 2000 NFL Draft out of West Virginia who played 12 seasons in the pros. 

Becht was one of eight quarterbacks from the Big 12 Conference to make the watch list along with Kansas’ Jalon Daniels, Arizona’s Noah Fifita, Baylor’s Dequan Finn, West Virginia’s Garrett Greene, UCF’s KJ Jefferson, Utah’s Cameron Rising and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders.

Tony Adame

Tony Adame Photo

Tony Adame covers the Big 12 Conference for The Sporting News. He is a graduate of Southern Oregon University and has been a sports journalist for 20 years. He has won APSE Awards for breaking news, games stories and feature writing. He is also the writer and host of the Florida Society of News Editors Award-winning podcast The Sheriff: Murder, Lies & Revenge in Okaloosa County for USA Today/Gannett.