Iowa State Cyclones quarterback Hunter Dekkers (12) runs the ball for a touchdown as Iowa State hosts Kansas at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021.
When Matt Campbell looks at Hunter Dekkers, he sees all the talent and ability needed to be a Power Five starting quarterback.
The thing Campbell and his staff are still looking for is the intangibles that come with being a starting quarterback at college football’s highest level.
Can you lift up your teammates? Can you handle the pressure of critics? Do you bask in your success and then shrink in your failure?
Those are the things that set quarterbacks apart at this level. Most of them can make all the throws. Most of them can make the reads in the classroom or even on the practice field.
But, not all of them are able to keep a unit together when the going gets tough and the bullets are flying.
“Superstar quality is when things get really hard, and (the media) is writing nice things about you, and then (the media) is not writing nice things about you, and can you handle those things,” Campbell said after Iowa State’s final 2022 spring practice last Friday. “True superstar is can you handle what being the starting quarterback at a Power Five school looks like? We’ll see what that looks like, but I think what Hunter does have is competitive excellence, and that’s a great trait to have as a quarterback. You certainly see talent and ability. Those are great traits, but, man, quarterback is a different animal.”
Putting Dekkers, a native of Hawarden, Iowa, into situations that test those traits was one of the biggest keys for the Cyclones throughout their entire 15-practice run through the spring.
There is no more sitting around and waiting behind Brock Purdy. One of the most prolific prep quarterbacks in Iowa high school history has to step into the spotlight and perform for his team.
He has to lead his team through good situations and bad because he’s going to face both once the Cyclones reconvene to start their march towards the 2022 season.
“I think when you have such turnover, especially at the quarterback position, I think every day the checklist of what we’re trying to get accomplished starts at the quarterback spot,” Campbell said. “Man, how many adverse situations can you put him in? How many different players can you put around him to see can he bring those guys up with him? Then how many you know how many situations, man, coming outside and playing in this environment, man, some two minutes situations throughout spring and putting them in some tough spots and forcing him to work through those things. Man, I’d rather him have tough, tough days and work through hard right now than I want to see him have to work through hard come to fall.”
There is no doubt Dekkers has the arm talent needed to be Iowa State’s quarterback of the present and the future. He proved that in short stretches last season, completing 20-of-36 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.
Those moments came largely when the pressure was off and the bullets weren’t flying quite as fast, though.
Now, it is time to figure out if he can handle all the other things that come with being a starting quarterback in the Big 12.
“It ain’t about talent, and it’s not about anything,” Campbell said. “Can you handle the grind of playing Power Five quarterback and handle the success and failures that come with it? Time will tell.”
