The Iowa State football program picked up a reinforcement for next year’s offensive line on Wednesday, when Jon Caspers, a 6-foot-5, 285-pound tackle out of North Dakota College of Sciences signed on the dotted line to become a Cyclone. Caspers will be a junior next season for Iowa State.
Caspers has had an interesting football career. When he arrived at North Dakota College of Sciences two years ago, he weighed a whopping 235-pounds. At the time, Caspers was an athletic defensive lineman, who lacked aggression according to head coach Chuck Parsons.
“When you’re looking for a defensive lineman, you’re looking for a guy who just straight gets after it. He kind of played defensive line like an offensive lineman would. It is kind of hard to say but when you see him play, he wasn’t as aggressive,” Parsons told CycloneFanatic.com. “He was getting the job done but he looked like he was uncomfortable. I thought that he was more suited to be on the offensive side of the ball. “
Parsons’ first thought was to make Caspers a tight end. That’s when Caspers went on what Parsons calls, a “growth spurt.”
“That was part of the deal. When he first came in here, I didn’t remember him being this tall,” Parsons said. “He works hard. He takes working out seriously. He is kind of picky about what he eats. He is at 285-pounds right now but he doesn’t have a gut on him or anything like that.”
There’s no doubt that Caspers projects to be an offensive tackle at Iowa State. Parsons said that Caspers currently weighs around 285-pounds, but with Iowa State’s weight lifting program, expect the big man to be near 300 by the time August rolls around.
“He might get quicker when he is there. It is a situation where, in the hands of those guys down there, he will show a lot more improvement than he did in one year playing offensive line here,” Parsons said. “He used to be into wrestling, boxing and all of that stuff. The kid has a lot of natural athletic ability. You’re getting a kid who has the ability to do a lot of different things. He is just starting to hit his prime. He is only going to get better. He did a great job for us.”
Caspers plans on attending Iowa State during the second semester and participating in spring football.
