With spring practice beginning this week for the Michigan State football team, msuspartans.com takes a look at the position breakdown on offense for the Spartans.
Michigan State will have a new look at quarterback in 2024 with four new additions to the QB room. Sophomore Aidan Chiles, the No. 2 transfer portal quarterback in the nation and seventh-best player overall in the transfer portal, according to 247Sports, gained valuable experience in a backup role at Oregon State last season, while sixth-year graduate transfer Tommy Schuster comes to East Lansing for his last season of eligibility after starting 42 games at North Dakota. MSU signed two freshmen to NLIs in December – Alessio Milivojevic and Ryland Jessee – and they both arrived on campus in January. Sophomore Aidan Chiles is one of four new Spartan quarterbacks on the spring roster for Michigan State.
Although he played behind DJ Uiagalelei at Oregon State, Chiles still played 100 snaps at quarterback in meaningful situations for the Beavers and completed 68.6 percent (24-for-35) of his passes with four touchdowns and no interceptions. He also had a net gain of 79 yards on the ground on 17 carries, including three TDs. Chiles was a consensus four-star prospect in the Class of 2023 and rated one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the nation coming out of high school by 247Sports.
Schuster played high school at Chippewa Valley in Macomb Township and led the Big Reds to the state title as a senior in 2018 while being named the AP Player of the Year in the state of Michigan. He played five seasons (2019-23) at North Dakota and holds school career records for passing yards (9,075), passing completions (843) and touchdown passes (63). Schuster started the last 42 games of his UND career at quarterback and appeared in a total of 45 games for the Fighting Hawks, completing 67 percent of his passes (843-for-1,252) for 9,075 yards and 63 touchdowns during his time in Grand Forks.
First-year offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren is also coaching the quarterbacks for the Spartans. Nathan Carter returns for the Spartans in 2024 after leading the team in rushing with 798 yards in 2023.
►Letterwinners lost (1):
• Harold Joiner III (3L, 9 games, 6 carries, 4 yards, 0.7 avg., 0.4 ypg)
Michigan State returns its top-three rushers from last season, including redshirt junior Nathan Carter, who ranked eighth in the Big Ten in rushing with a career-high 798 yards (66.5 ypg) while ranking third in the conference with 185 carries. Carter, who started all 12 games, also had a career-high 22 receptions for 103 yards. Playing in his first season for the Spartans, the UConn transfer had three 100-yard rushing games and led the team with four rushing touchdowns. He has rushed for 1,781 yards on 375 carries in his 28-game collegiate career (16 at UConn from 2021-22; 12 at MSU in 2023).
Redshirt senior Jalen Berger, who led the team in 2022 in rushing (648 yards) and carries (148), was limited to five games last season due to an injury. He rushed 25 times for 93 yards while catching five passes for 40 yards in his second year with the Spartans in 2023.
Sixth-year graduate senior Jaren Mangham was also hampered by injuries in his first year with the program last season, sitting out the first six games. In the second half of the season, the Detroit native had 81 rushing yards on 30 attempts and seven receptions for 37 yards. The experienced graduate transfer, who has also played at Colorado (2019-20) and USF (2021-22), has played in 38 collegiate games overall and has rushed for 1,332 yards and 23 TDs on 344 carries.
MSU signed two running backs in the Class of 2024: Makhi Frazier (McKinney, Texas) and early enrollee Brandon Tullis (Frisco, Texas).
Assistant head coach Keith Bhonapha, who is also the team's co-special teams coordinator, is in his first season as the program's running backs coach. Montorie Foster Jr. had a career-best three touchdown receptions last season for MSU, including this 29-yard TD in the win at Indiana.
• #11 Aziah Johnson (R-Fr., 6-0, 175, Richmond, Va./Thomas Jefferson)
• #9 Jaelen Smith (R-Fr., 6-2, 190, Houston, Texas/Klein Cain)
• #31 Jack Yanachik (R-Fr., 6-3, 191, Warren, Mich./De La Salle)
►Incoming freshmen signed to NLIs (3):
• Jaylan Brown (6-3, 185, Nacogdoches, Texas/Nacogdoches)
• Austin Clay (6-1, 170, Cleveland, Ohio/Berea-Midpark)
• #15 Nick Marsh (6-3, 208, River Rouge, Mich./River Rouge) *early enrollee
►Letterwinners lost (5):
• Sebastian Brown (1L, 3 games)
• Christian Fitzpatrick (3L, 12 games/2 starts, 18 catches, 252 yards, 14.0 avg., 21.0 ypg, 1 TD)
• Tyrell Henry (12 games/3 starts, 24 catches, 195 yards, 8.1 avg., 16.3 ypg, 3 TDs)
• Nick Hunter (1L)
• Tre Mosley (4L, 8 games/7 starts, 28 catches, 288 yards, 10.3 avg., 36.0 ypg, 2 TDs)
The Spartans are returning four letterwinners, including three players with multiple games of starting experience, under fifth-year wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins.
The group is headlined by fifth-year graduate senior Montorie Foster Jr., who led the team in receptions (43), receiving yards (576) and touchdown catches (3) last season, all of which were career highs for the Cleveland, Ohio, native. Foster has 62 career catches for 838 yards and five TDs in 42 games.
Fifth-year senior Alante Brown, who earned his first Spartan letter in 2023 after transferring from Nebraska, started three games last season while catching three passes for 27 yards. Redshirt sophomore Jaron Glover started five of the first eight games before getting sidelined the last month of the season with an injury; he had 14 grabs for 261 yards for an average of 18.6 yards per catch as a redshirt freshman. Promising redshirt sophomore Antonio Gates Jr. (five catches for 82 yards) also returns for the Spartans.
The Spartans welcomed early enrollee and consensus four-star prospect Nick Marsh to the room in January, who looks to provide an immediate impact. Austin Clay signed an NLI in December and Jaylan Brown signed an NLI in February; both will join the program over the summer.
►Incoming transfers (1):
• #61 Tanner Miller (Gr.-6, 6-2, 297, Valencia, Calif./Oregon State, 13 games/10 starts at RG, 3 at C)
►Incoming freshmen signed to NLIs (5):
• Rakeem Johnson (6-3, 265, Boise, Idaho/Bishop Kelly)
• #75 Charlton Luniewski (6-5, 289, Cincinnati, Ohio/Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy) *early enrollee
• #79 Mercer Luniewski (6-6, 320, Cincinnati, Ohio/Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy) *early enrollee
• Payton Stewart (6-7, 270, Kelso, Wash./Kelso)
• Rustin Young (6-5, 275, Honolulu, Hawai'i (St. Louis)
►Letterwinners lost (4):
• Spencer Brown (3L, 12 games/9 starts at RT, 2 starts at LT)
• J.D. Duplain (5L, 12 games/12 starts at LG)
• Nick Samac (5L, 11 games/10 starts at C)
• Kevin Wigenton II (2L, 12 games/6 starts at RG)
First-year offensive line coach Jim Michalczik inherits an offensive line with 14 players returning, including four players with starting experience, in addition to an All-American transfer Tanner Miller and a strong recruiting class of five signees.
Fifth-year senior Brandon Baldwin started 10 games at left tackle last fall and has started 15 games at the position the past two seasons for the Spartans. At right tackle, redshirt junior Ethan Boyd earned three starting assignments and gained valuable experience with 313 snaps in 2023.
Along the interior, the Spartans lost multi-year starters J.D. Duplain (left guard; 47 career starts) and Nick Samac (center; 32 career starts) to graduation. Fifth-year senior Dallas Fincher did start twice at center last season and has earned letters the past two years, while redshirt junior Geno VanDeMark also has starting experience with eight career starts at right guard, including six in 2023.
Miller, who played for Michalczik at Oregon State, earned second-team All-America honors from ESPN.com and first-team All-Pac-12 accolades at guard for the Beavers in 2023. He started 10 games at right guard and three at center for an offensive line that was named one of 12 semifinalists for the Joe Moore Award. Miller spent five seasons at Oregon State (2019-23), playing in a total of 40 career games with 14 starts.
The Spartans are also welcoming in five signees to the offensive line, including twins Charlton and Mercer Luniewski, who enrolled for the spring semester. Rakeem Johnson (Boise, Idaho), Payton Stewart (Kelso, Washington) and Rustin Young (Honolulu, Hawai'i) will join the program in the summer.
Michigan State brings back five players and welcomes transfer Jack Velling to the tight end group in 2024 under first-year coach Brian Wozniak.
A second-team All-Pac-12 honoree at Oregon State last season, Velling set an OSU single-season record for most touchdowns by a tight end with eight, a total that also tied for the most by a tight end in the FBS in 2023. He had 29 catches for 438 yards overall in 12 games, including 11 starts.
Sophomore Brennan Parachek saw his playing time increase throughout the season last fall and he finished with six receptions for 55 yards as a true freshman. Redshirt sophomores Michael Masunas and Jack Nickel both earned their first letters last year and will compete for additional playing time during spring practice. Redshirt junior Ademola Faleye redshirted in 2023 after transferring from Norfolk State.
Tyneil Hopper also returns for the Spartans after getting a seventh year of eligibility from the NCAA. Hopper transferred to MSU from Boise State last year, but suffered a season-ending injury in Week 3 against Washington.
Wyatt Hook signed a National Letter of Intent with Michigan State in December and will arrive on campus during the summer.
