EAST LANSING, Mich. – Three Michigan State Spartans – punter Ryan Eckley, safety Nikai Martinez and tight end Jack Velling – have been named to the inaugural Senior Bowl Top 300 List.
The Senior Bowl Top 300 features only players eligible for the 2026 NFL Draft.
For the second consecutive year, Eckley was named to the preseason Ray Guy Award Watch List. Named a second-team preseason All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation and The Associated Press, Eckley led the Big Ten and ranked among the national leaders last season with his 47.9-yard average, which tied for the third-best average in MSU single-season history. The Lithia, Florida, native has earned second-team All-Big Ten honors the past two seasons. He also ranked second in the Big Ten with 20 punts of 50-plus yards. Redshirt junior punter Ryan Eckley has been named a preseason All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation and The Associated Press.
As a redshirt freshman in 2023, Eckley garnered Freshman All-America accolades after ranking second in the Big Ten and eighth in the FBS with his 46.8-yard punting average. In addition, he ranked second in the Big Ten in 50-plus yard punts (24) and fourth in punts inside the 20 (23). He was added to the midseason Ray Guy Award Watch List in 2023 during his first season as a starter.
A two-year letterwinner, Eckley has a career punting average of 47.2 yards per punt (99 punts for 4,677 yards), which would rank No. 1 in school history (current record: Bryce Baringer, 46.0 avg.). Eckley has booted 44 punts 50-plus yards (44 percent) and also has five career punts of 60-plus yards. Nikai Martinez enters his second season in East Lansing in 2025.
Martinez started all 12 games at safety in his first year for the Spartans in 2024 after playing his first two seasons (2022-23) at UCF. He ranked third on the team with 51 tackles and tied for second with two interceptions while leading the team with 724 defensive snaps.
A native of Apopka, Florida, Martinez has played in 39 collegiate games the past three seasons (27 at UCF in 2022-23; 12 at MSU in 2024) and has collected 126 tackles in his career, including 5.5 tackles for loss (18 yards) and one sack (7 yards). He also has five career pass break-ups and five interceptions (156 yards).
Velling was named to the Mackey Award Watch List for the second year in a row earlier this month. He caught a career-high 36 passes for 411 yards and one TD in his first season as a Spartan in 2024 after transferring from Oregon State.
A second-team All-Pac-12 honoree at Oregon State as a sophomore in 2023, 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.
For his career, the Seattle native has 81 receptions for 1,130 yards and 12 touchdowns in 35 collegiate games, including 28 starts.
Michigan State opens the 2025 season on Friday, Aug. 29 against Western Michigan at 7 p.m.
