The point of this series of blog posts is pretty straight forward; to examine what we do and don’t know about each position group on the Michigan State football team.
It may seem hard to believe, but the college football season is–currently–scheduled to kick off in about three months. Time flies when you’re stuck inside. Whether or not Michigan State and the rest of the country play football this fall, or what that football looks like, is a conversation for another day. Today I want to start taking a deeper look at each position group on the team, broken down by what we know and what we don’t know. These will continue throughout the next couple of weeks until all of the positions are covered. Today: Wide receivers
What we know
Jalen Nailor is explosive when healthy. Through two seasons health has been the biggest question mark for Nailor. He has appeared in just ten of a possible 26 games. We know that we he is on the field, he is a difference maker. Nailor average a ridiculous 15.6 yards per touch during his freshman season. His 2019 was mostly over before it began after he broke his foot after the opening night win against Tulsa. Nailor did have five catches for 60 yards in the Pinstripe Bowl, his third game after returning from injury. Also of note, Nailor will be a redshirt sophomore in 2020 as he only appeared in four games as a true sophomore.
Jayden Reed was a freshman All-American at Western Michigan. Reed had a tremendous freshman season for the Broncos before deciding to elevate his competition by transferring to Michigan State. After a year off Reed should step into a starting role at receiver. His film is impressive and the coaching staff has already said they expect big things from him in 2020.
Tre Mosley showed some flashes. Mosley appeared in just six games as a true freshman, coming on late to earn a huge increase in snaps during those games. His standout moment came against Maryland when he had eight catches for 73 yards. Mosley is in line to be the starting X receiver, more capable of lining up outside and winning contested catches on the perimeter. Can he take those flash moments and turn them into sustained success is the question.
The group has some solid and experienced depth. CJ Hayes and Laress Nelson have both had moments of contribution. They are the first two that come to mind. I wouldn’t expect much of Julian Barnett on offense in 2020, but he’s another returner with experience. There will be a few promising young players looking to crack the two deep and that bodes well for the group.
There are multiple freshman that will compete for snaps. Receivers Ricky White and Terry Lockett are two of the better prospects in MSU’s 2020 class. Both could push for snaps as true freshman. Ian Stewart is also a solid prospect that will be in the mix. I’d say Montorie Foster is the only true freshman receiver that is close to a guarantee to redshirt and that’s only because he started playing football less than a year ago. He’s super talented and super raw. Check back for him in a year or two and he might be something special. It’s not just the true freshmen either. After tearing his ACL Tre’Von Morgan should be back at full strength and could very well push for a starting job. Morgan is 6’6 and could give the MSU passing game a huge size advantage they don’t have with the starters right now.
What we don’t know
How will MSU handle two of their best receivers being small slot-type guys? Under the previous regime, MSU would generally use one small, quick receiver in the slot paired with two bigger bodies on the outside. This year their two best receivers could very well be Reed and Nailor who are both on the smaller side. Does Jay Johnson use them together and how does he go about doing that? I think the MSU offense’s best path forward is with those two on the field as much as possible, so I’m intrigued to see how it plays out.
Can Jalen Nailor stay healthy? As mentioned above, Nailor has been in just ten of a possible 26 games during his two years at MSU. His injury in 2018 was of the undisclosed variety so it’s tough to know if he’s just had bad luck or if he’s someone who is more vulnerable to repeat injuries. The broken foot in 2019 seems more like a stroke of bad luck. MSU needs him to be healthy all season.
Can Jayden Reed succeed with increased competition? The step up from the MAC to the Big Ten East is a large one. His results against power five opponents were mixed in 2018 for WMU. Against Syracuse he had 121 yards and a touchdown on seven catches, but against Michigan he had just 17 yards on two catches. There are of course a number of factors that weigh into that, so the jury is still out.
Who emerges on the outside? This was supposed to be Cody White’s spot, but with him departing for the NFL, that job is open. The logical choice would be Tre Mosley given the ability he displayed as a true freshman, but CJ Hayes started a number of games on the outside well and will certainly get some burn this year. Can Javez Alexander crack the rotation? Is Tre’Von Morgan ready for big playing time? MSU has some big questions on the outside, but certainly some good options.
Which freshman play? If I were to bet I’d say Ricky White and Terry Lockett’s redshirts get burn in 2020 with White eventually working his way towards a starting role like Cody White did as a true freshman. Lockett could have a similar path to Tre Mosley where after a couple months he has proven that he’s capable of playing a good number of snaps in important conference games.
Who is throwing them the ball? This really matters and all of the worrying about which receiver is going to play which spot might be for naught if the person eventually throwing them the ball can’t do it very well. MSU will be breaking in a new QB in 2020 and the offensive line is a unit that needs to grow in strides this season as well. If those two parts don’t get together, it won’t matter who the receivers are.
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