The Michigan State football program is back in action. The Spartans reported to 2023 fall camp on Wednesday, with the team's first practice set to begin on Thursday.

There are many questions Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker needs to answer in 2023. The Spartans will have a new starting quarterback after two-year starter Payton Thorne transferred to Auburn, but there are many other positions where MSU will need to see players take a step forward to have a successful campaign.

Last week at Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis, Tucker was adamant that the roster's depth has greatly improved, and he believes that MSU has its most talented overall team yet.

"We have competition at every single position, and probably no doubt the most talent that we've had top to bottom on our roster," Tucker said.

Later at the Big Ten Media Days event, Tucker went into detail about nearly very position on the team in a 45-minute podium session. While he seems to be optimistic about his team, expectations for the Spartans are low from a national perspective.

"Obviously the goal is to win every game. I don't know why we should apologize for that being the goal," Tucker said. It's everybody else's goal, why can't it be ours?"

Tucker doesn't care about expectations from the national media or anybody outside of the building, though. There is a standard he has set, and the Spartans will always operate with that in mind.

"Anyone that knows me knows that I have a high expectation for the program," Tucker said. "It was that way when I walked in the door. I came in talking about competing for championships, going out and recruiting nationally, going out and getting the best players, competing for the best players and signing the best players. I don't think anybody thought that was (actually) gonna happen, and it's happening.

"No one has a higher expectation than me, and that's communicated to our coaching staff and our team. So what anybody say outside of our program is really irrelevant for me and the staff, but it can affect some (younger) guys who really don't have the experience or understand how to handle it."

Michigan State dealt with an extreme amount of injuries in 2022, having to use 27 different starters on defense, and 43 starters total (fifth-most in FBS, according to Tucker).

Tucker has put an increased emphasis on keeping his guys healthy by modifying practices, limiting hit and not taking guys to the ground, which he says is an NFL-like approach. Better health in 2023 is the goal, and will be a critical part of MSU's endeavors this season.

Outside of staying healthy, there are many positional battles, questions to be answered and storylines to watch as Michigan State opens fall camp. Here are six things to watch out for as camp gets underway.

Let's start with the most obvious question mark. With Thorne leaving, Michigan State will need to find a new starting quarterback. None of the quarterbacks on the 2023 roster — redshirt junior Noah Kim, redshirt freshman Katin Houser, true freshman Sam Leavitt and redshirt junior walk-on Andrew Schorfhaar — have ever started a game.

The lack of experience may be a concern for some Michigan State fans, as there have only been 21 career passes thrown between the group, and 19 of those belong to Kim. With that said, there is no denying the talent in the room.

According to Tucker, the competition is wide open. While the job is largely expected to go to Kim or Houser, Tucker says to keep an eye on Leavitt. However, Leavitt did not enroll early, and recently joined the program this summer, which will make things much more difficult for the true freshman to master the playbook, get comfortable and out-execute the other two scholarship quarterbacks.

"It's a three-guy race," Tucker said last week about the quarterback competition.

Tucker was highly complimentary of Kim at Big Ten Media Days. Kim completed 14 of his 19 pass attempts (73.7%) last season. He compiled 174 passing yards and three touchdowns with zero interceptions, while playing 38 offensive snaps and earning his first letter. He's also considered to be the most mobile quarterback on the roster.

“Noah is a tremendously talented young man,” Tucker said. “He's a winner. He's got a lot of arm talent. He's very poised. He's very athletic. He's one of the fastest players on our team. He's got some experience.

“When he went in games last season, as you remember, he made it look easy. He's got the demeanor we're looking for. He's a guy that knows our offense, and he's going to do what we ask him to do. He's going to execute.”

Tucker also called Leavitt a "very confident guy" with "high goals." Leavitt may have some catching up to do, but he won't let that deter him. And with many days of practice before the season opener on Sept. 1 against Central Michigan, anything could happen.

"We told (Leavitt) that the competition was gonna be open for all of those guys, and so we'll see how it goes. We have 25 practices before the first game."

Tucker didn't get too detailed about Houser during his podium time in Indianapolis, but many fans believe the former four-star prospect and No. 151 overall recruit in the 2022 class has the highest ceiling on the team. Whether or not he is ready to start yet is the question, though.

Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Jay Johnson praised Houser's growth during the spring.

"He definitely has some very good arm talent, throws it very easily, but the rest of his game is starting to follow that suit," Johnson said about Houser in late March. "I see a marked change in just how he handles the huddle, how he calls the play at the line of scrimmage. If you look at his – I don't know if I ever want to use the word ‘comfort level’ in the pocket, but he is more balanced there. He's more under control. And so that just tells me it's all starting to come together."

Houser has played six offensive snaps, completing one of two passes for two yards. He has also recorded a 12-yard rush.

Arguments were made that Houser was lagging behind Thorne and Kim during MSU's spring "game" in April, but there is also a possibility that the coaching staff purposely limited what he showed as to not put additional film out on him for opponents.

Who will step up and take the reins of the Michigan State offense? If it's like 2021, when Thorne won the job, the public may not know until Sept. 1, but the coaches will use fall camp to evaluate and decide on their starter.