Jan 30, 2025; Mobile, AL, USA; National team wide receiver Jaylin Noel of Iowa State (12) and National team wide receiver Jayden Higgins of Iowa State (9) work through drills during Senior Bowl practice for the National team at Hancock Whitney Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images
AMES — Iowa State’s 2024 football team left behind a legacy littered with historical landmarks; program firsts that will be hard to match or surpass this season and beyond.
Now the Cyclones’ 2025 NFL Draft class is following a similar script.
Four ISU players, led by wide receiver Jayden Higgins, were selected by NFL teams within the first four rounds of the seven-round event. That had never happened before — and that never-had-been, or it’s-been-a-long time acknowledgement proved to be a theme for the Cyclones as the draft rolled through Green Bay.
Higgins, the second pick in the second round (34th overall) by the Houston Texans, nearly became ISU’s second first-round pick in three years (Will McDonald was tabbed by the New York Jets with the No. 15 pick in 2023) after going 50 years without a single one.
So let’s start with the tall and talented former Eastern Kentucky transfer, who blossomed into a top-10 receiver In Cyclone history, despite playing just two seasons in cardinal and gold.
**On Jayden Higgins …
“We’ve been seeing a lot of comments in here saying, ‘Hey, this is my sleeper, (Higgins) is my sleeper,’” five-time Pro Bowler Steve Smith Sr. said about Higgins on his Underdog Fantasy YouTube channel. “This isn’t my sleeper because I’m wide awake watching his film. He is not underrated. He is not a sleeper.”
Higgins — who stands 6-4 and weighs 215 pounds — notched one of the best seasons ever as an ISU receiver in 2024, compiling top-three single-season numbers in catches (87, second all-time); receiving yards (1,183, third); and touchdowns (nine, tied for second).
“He’s a guy that can do a lot more than just be a big outside receiver,” former Cyclone offensive coordinator and current Los Angeles Rams assistant Nate Scheelhaase said of Higgins in 2023. “We’re able to put him in the slot. He’s been good in the run-blocking game. I think anytime you have a guy like that, you feel like the sky’s the limit and he can grow each week.”
Prophetic words. And now Higgins can reunite with fellow former ISU star Jaylin Noel because as fate would have it, the Texans selected him in the third round.
**On Jaylin Noel …
“Jaylin Noel is Julian Edelman with a sub 4.4 40 and will be the best WR in this class not named Travis Hunter,” veteran CBS sportswriter Tom Fornelli posted on ‘X’ before the draft.
Edelman, of course, shined as a slot receiver for quarterback Tom Brady in multiple Super Bowl wins at New England. Noel’s similarly well-rounded and can immediately make an impact on special teams as a punt and/or kickoff returner. The 5-10, 200-pounder and two-time captain from Kansas City also caught seven passes spanning 50 or more yards — the most by a Cyclone since at least 1971.
“I think where you see the growth happening is him being able to make full-speed decisions and when he’s able to do that, he can put a lot of pressure on people fast,” Scheelhaase said of Noel in 2023.
More prophetic words, which brings us to another Cyclone picked in the third round: Darien Porter, one of head coach Matt Campbell’s greatest success stories.
**On Darien Porter (third-round selection by the Las Vegas Raiders)…
“(He) is gonna be a top draft pick,” Campbell said of Porter late last season.
That’s because the 6-3 wide receiver-turned-cornerback from Bettendorf put in the hard work on special teams, then seized the moment when he found a home in the secondary and wowed scouts at the NFL Combine.
“I’m very grateful,” Porter said as his senior seasonal ISU wound down. “Grateful for my teammates and my coaches for never giving up on me.”
Porter spent six years in the Cyclones’ program. Offensive tackle Jalen Travis spent just one in it — but greatly enhanced his NFL Draft stock during his relatively brief stay.
**On Jalen Travis (fourth-round pick by the Indianapolis Colts) …
“I don’t know if there’s a lot that guy can’t do,” ISU offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser said last season of the 6-8, 339-pound Princeton graduate transfer. “He’s so smart and so athletic, and he’s like a zombie out there. He wants to eat everybody’s heart right out of their chest.”
Enough said. Travis became the first Cyclone offensive lineman drafted in the past 12 years.
“He certainly made a huge impression,” Campbell said.
