The Iowa State Cyclones launched Jimmy Rogers’ tenure in front of their fans two Saturdays ago. However, just over a week after the spring showcase, the program is now dealing with a key offseason departure.

Iowa State running back Jayden Jackson has departed from the program. The redshirt freshman announced his exit from the program on his Instagram story on the evening of May 3, as his name and personal bio page have been removed from the official team roster.

As the story develops, the departure has been reportedly linked to the player’s attitude concerns off the field. The news of his departure has been confirmed by multiple outlets, linking his exit to a social media exchange between him and Bill Seals of Cyclone Report.

Following the spring showcase, Seals had reported on X, formerly Twitter, that “Iowa State was forced to rely on Jayden Jackson” due to the injuries in the Cyclones’ backfield.  In learning this, the 5-foot-11, 190-pounder quoted the tweet and replied, “hm… alright”.

While the exchange itself appeared minor, Cyclones’ head coach pointed to areas of growth off the field as part of Jackson’s development to become a better player. After Jackson’s productive spring showcase outing, Rogers spoke to the media about him:

“He did a solid job (today),” Rogers said of Jackson. “I mean, he hasn’t done much. He’s got to consistently grow and do things off the field that are right and follow through with things and grow mentally in order to continue to get reps.”

Jackson is a redshirt freshman who made no appearance in his freshman season under Matt Campbell, the former Cyclones head coach who left for Penn State. And with the look of things, he was set for more action under Rogers. However, he and the program have now parted ways.

Jackson joined the Cyclones from Franklin  (Texas) High School and chose them over the likes of Boston College and Sam Houston State. As a junior, the former three-star recruit ran for over 2,400 yards and 33 touchdowns, averaging 9.65 yards per carry. Overall, he rushed for over 8,000 yards, making him the 13th  player in Texas high school history to cross that mark, and added 114 rushing touchdowns.

Jayden Jackson in the Iowa State Spring Showcase 

The Iowa State Spring Showcase featured the team’s offense against the defense, with the defense starting with a 14-point lead, due to the fact that “National Championship team and the best defenses in the country held teams at 13.9 points per game.” But the offense overturned the deficit and won 20-14. Jackson did so well that OC Tyler Roehl expressed his delight at how good he was “on the biggest stage.”

“Jackson impressed despite being buried in the Cyclones’ depth chart headed into the showcase,” Iowa State Daily’s Lucas Vollmer wrote on Jackson. “During the simulated game, he broke off a 79-yard run and got more of a workload as the day went on.

“On a drive led by quarterback redshirt sophomore Zane Flores, Jackson proved to be a threat in the backfield, catching three straight passes for gains.”

Following his departure, the Cyclones will now rely on Bowling Green Cameron Pettaway and redshirt sophomore Aiden Flora to fill in, as Oregon State transfer Salahadin Allah and Ryver Peppers recover from their injuries.