Michigan State’s 2021 recruiting campaign endured a significant loss on Friday when former verbal pledge Audric Estime de-committed from the Spartans and signed with Notre Dame.

Estime, of Montvale (N.J.) St. Joseph’s, is ranked the No. 7 running back in the nation and No. 132 overall by Rivals.com. He was the second highest-ranked recruit among MSU’s 20 verbal commitments and signees as of yesterday. However, he decided not to sign with Michigan State on Wednesday as he mulled over the option of signing with Notre Dame, which offered him a scholarship on Monday.

With Estime, MSU’s class rose to No. 22 in the Rivals.com team recruiting rankings. This loss will likely drop Michigan State out of the Top 30.

Michigan State had five four-star commitments as of Thursday. Without Estime, Michigan State is down to four four-star recruits. MSU is awaiting a signature from four-star defensive lineman Rayshaun Benny of Oak Park. Four-star offensive lineman Geno VanDerMark of Montvale (N.J.) St. Joseph’s signed with Michigan State today.

Estime was expected to be an immediate-impact contributor at Michigan State next year, likely as a bookend tag team partner for Jordon Simmons. Without Estime in the mix, Michigan State has the potential of returning all of its running backs from the 2020 roster, but that’s considered unlikely.

Michigan State had six running backs on scholarship at the outset of the season, all of them holdovers from the Mark Dantonio regime. One of them, Anthony Williams, entered the transfer portal on Nov. 16. More are likely to follow.

Michigan State will be adding Auburn transfer Harold Joiner to the scholarship list when he enrolls in January. Joiner announced on Thursday that was transferring to Michigan State.

Joiner was listed at 6-4, 215 in the Auburn media guide this season as a redshirt freshman. The former four-star recruit and Army High School All-American Game participant saw action in two games this season and didn’t have a carry while serving as a third- or fourth-string running back. He entered the transfer portal on Oct. 6.

Last year as a redshirt freshman, Joiner had 12 rushes for 94 yards with one touchdown. He averaged 7.8 yards per carry, including a 32-yarder. He also had six receptions for 128 yards, including a 78-yard deep catch-and-run against Mississippi.

As a true freshman in 2018, Joiner saw action in two games. He had three carries for nine yards, including one touchdown.

Freshman Jordon Simmons led Michigan State in rushing this season with 219 yards in five games (3.9 yards per carry, 43.8 yards per game).

Sophomore Connor Heyward ranked second on the team with 200 yards rushing (3.1 per carry) and spent most of the season as the first-string running back.

Sophomore Elijah Collins had a disappointing season, rushing for just 90 yards on 41 carries as a third-string option. This coming a year after he rushed for a team-high 996 yards on 224 carries in 2019.

Collins was voted third-team All-Big Ten last year by media and honorable mention All-Big Ten by the coaches. However, in one of the biggest surprises of the season, he was unable to carve out a regular role with the Spartans this year.

Collins’ most productive game of the season was a 13-carry, 34-yard performance against Northwestern while Simmons sat with an undisclosed injury.

However, Collins’ workload was reduced back down to only one carry in the final game of the season at Penn State.

Sophomore Brandon Wright (6-2, 240, Euclid, Ohio) saw action in six games this year, mostly on special teams. He had six carries for 13 yards.

True freshman Donovan Eaglin (5-11, 230, Manvel, Texas) did not make the dress or travel squad for any game this season.

Head coach Mel Tucker has indicated that major changes are coming to the roster for the 2021 calendar year. It’s unlikely that Michigan State will enter next season with six scholarship running backs. Attrition was expected this off-season, with or without Estime in the mix. With Estime out of the picture, and Joiner on the way in, attrition is almost a certainty at the running back position.