With Michigan State football's first scrimmage Saturday, Aug. 9, here are a few younger Spartans working to play their way into big roles this fall.
EAST LANSING – Aidan Chiles, Nick Marsh, Jordan Hall and Jalen Thompson are known commodities Jonathan Smith and his coaches hope can take the next step toward stardom.
But college football isn’t a two-on-two sport. And Michigan State’s second-year football staff knew, coming out of last season’s 5-7 debut, that more depth was needed to return to a bowl for the first time since 2021, let alone start competing for Big Ten championships again.
So the Spartans hit the portal. They worked from within to get younger players progressing toward becoming contributors. And they will find out more about who can make an impact when the first scrimmage of preseason camp arrives Saturday, Aug. 8, at Spartan Stadium.
“This is gonna be the closest we’re gonna get – these next two scrimmages – to the game day, getting ready for the season,” assistant head coach and running backs coach Keith Bhonapha said Thursday, Aug. 7. “So this is huge. … Who can collect that going into this first scrimmage and be able to operate at a high level?”
The Spartans will have another scrimmage the following week before going into full game-prep mode for the Aug. 29 season opener at home against Western Michigan (7 p.m., FS1). But Saturday will go a long way to determining position battles and depth charts, as well as identifying who took leaps from last season and spring practices.
Here are some younger players to keep an eye on coming out of the first scrimmage and heading toward next week’s midpoint of camp.
LB Brady Pretzlaff
When Joe Rossi accepted Smith’s offer to become MSU’s defensive coordinator, he prioritized flipping the Gaylord native to follow him from his commitment to Minnesota. Last season, Pretzlaff played 21 defensive snaps in four games and preserved his redshirt; he appears primed to assume a key reserve role at the start, with a chance for more as the season progresses. “He’s gonna be a guy,” senior linebacker Wayne Matthews III said.
RB Jace Clarizio
While second-year sophomores Brandon Tullis and Makhi Frazier will be battling with transfer Elijah Tau-Tolliver for the starting role, Clarizio, a true freshman and East Lansing alumnus, could usurp carries with his big-play ability. “He’s just got that ability to make a guy miss and put his foot in the ground and go get some explosive runs,” offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren said, “which is something we’re really excited about with him.”
QB Alessio Milivojevic
Chiles remained healthy all last season to start 12 games, allowing North Dakota transfer Tommy Schuster to watch as an insurance policy. With Schuster’s departure, no other quarterback on MSU’s roster has experience beyond the two snaps in the season finale Milivojevic took as a true freshman in his redshirt year. However, coaches love the potential of the young quarterback to serve as Chiles’ understudy. “I thought Alessio had a great spring,” Smith said at the outset of camp. “He's our backup quarterback, we have a lot of confidence in him. … He's really taken the step that he'd be the next man up.”
WRs Braylon Collier & Charles Taplin
MSU prioritized adding talent at wideout to help deflect attention from Marsh and landed transfers Omari Kelly (Middle Tennessee State), Crishon McCray (Kent State), Rodney Bullard Jr. (Valdosta State) and Evan Boyd (Central Michigan). “I feel like we hit on all four,” Lindgren said, “and I don't think you can always say that.” That leaves room for a true freshman to show play-making ability to stretch the field vertically. Lindgren pointed to Taplin standing out through the first few preseason practices, and both he and Collier also could emerge as potential special teams contributors early in their career. “(Taplin) can really run,” Lindgren said. “We've been able to connect with him on a couple of explosive plays, so I feel really like we've upgraded the personnel in that room.”
OLs Rakeem Johnson & Rustin Young
Injuries and attrition limited the bodies offensive line coach Jim Michalczik could use for depth last season, and the Spartans’ pass protection and run blocking suffered from it. Though MSU’s 2024 class added talent up front, the youngsters had to bide their time. However, the 6-3, 294-pound Johnson preserved a redshirt while getting a valuable baptism at college football’s highest level by starting at left tackle and getting 44 snaps against Ohio State. (He also played Oregon and Illinois among his four games.) Young also got 19 snaps against the Buckeyes at left tackle in his only action, an in-the-fire indoctrination that should help both make inroads for more playing time in their second season.
OLs Kristian “Big Dooley” Phillips, Gavin Broscious, Cole Dellinger
All three veteran offensive linemen were part of Mel Tucker’s strong 2022 class that rebuilt the trenches but endured a number of defections following the coaching change. Dellinger was a four-star recruit who has battled a variety of injuries that limited his early MSU career. Meantime, Phillips emerged as a promising starter last fall before an injury in the opener ended his season, and then Broscious went down for the year in the third game with a knee injury of his own after taking over as starter. Getting production from that trio, along with transfer additions Matt Gulbin, Luka Vincic and Conner Moore, will go a long way to improving the depth on the O-line the Spartans lacked in 2024.
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football: Younger Spartans seek roles via 1st scrimmage
Category: General Sports
