What the future holds for Jacob Park and Joel Lanning at Iowa State

AMES — Barring any unforeseen occurrences, Jacob Park will be starting at quarterback for the Iowa State football team next season.

In Park's last five games combined, he had 92 completions for 1,322 yards and eight touchdowns. His emergence was clear, so it begs the question about how Joel Lanning earns his way onto the field as a senior.

As Iowa State coach Matt Campbell sees it, not only will Lanning see the field, the offense can't afford to not use him in some way.

'He's got the ability to be one of your top 11 players on offense,' Campbell said. 'Joel is a threat and he's got great ability and great skill and we saw that. We had great production from Joel Lanning all season and we were able to put him in situations to be extremely productive.'

What gave a clear wrinkle to Iowa State's offense in the latter half of the season was Lanning's running ability. He ended the year with 121 carries for 518 yards and 11 touchdowns as a quarterback-running back hybrid while throwing for nine touchdowns.

Lanning's immediate football future is likely to see him used as a H-back runner, but don't be surprised if he lines up at tight end in some packages. There could eventually be a scenario that sees Lanning and Park on the field at the same time.

'You really look at all 12 games, Jacob Park did some really great things, Joel Lanning did some really great things, and I think it steps to the point of, 'Man, are there ways to get both of these football players on the field at the same time because there's a good deal of production,'' Campbell said. 'And can we double our production when they're on the field at the same time.'

Campbell also handed out team awards Sunday afternoon, with wide receiver Allen Lazard taking home team MVP honors. Lazard announced Friday he would return to Iowa State for his senior season after recording 69 catches, 1,018 receiving yards and seven touchdowns as a junior.

Senior cornerback Jomal Wiltz was team's defensive skill player of the year with 49 tackles, two tackles for loss, nine pass breakups and two interceptions. Among the several award categories was the Consideration Award, which was given to Alburnett native Mitchell Harger. Kennedy alum Josh Jahlas was named an Outstanding Special Teams Player.

Wiltz, Harger and Jahlas are three of the 22 graduating seniors and while Iowa State continues to round out its 2017 recruiting class — which sits at 19 verbal commitments — Campbell said he doesn't foresee any changes in his coaching staff. That continuity, Lazard said, will be crucial to further the progress Iowa State saw in winning two of its last three games.

'Early in the season people were messing up assignments and not playing very comfortable,' Lazard said. 'Going into the spring now, we have a pretty good basis of what we're going to be doing offensively.

'It should become second nature of what we can do in different situations and be able to adjust on the fly.'

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