Michigan State is just over two weeks away from getting its football season kicked off under first-year head coach Jonathan Smith.
The Spartans are about halfway through fall camp and there has been some competition at several position groups, especially at inside linebacker and wide receiver.
At wide receiver, veteran wide receiver Montorie Foster Jr. suffered an undisclosed injury and is taking a couple of days off to heal. The injury is not expected have long term impact.
With how competitive the position group has been, Foster Jr. being out of practice has allowed for others to get more opportunities.
“That’s been awesome for more receivers to get opportunities and that position group’s been pretty competitive,” Smith said on Monday.
The likes of Cal Haladay, Jordan Hall, Wayne Matthews III, Jordan Turner and others make up the inside linebackers group.
While those two position groups are among the most competitive on the team, there are some spots in the starting lineup that seem to be locked in at this stage of fall camp.
“We definitely got some guys that are going to start, but (we don't have that) at every position,” he said. “This thing is competitive, and we talked even last night as a team, we want to be a squad that we’ve got multiple guys that can go in the game. We want to be playing full speed with great effort, and once in a while you’re going to get gassed and feel confident with the next guy going into the game and that’s what these next couple weeks are about.”
MSU's offensive line depth was a question mark going into fall camp but Smith thinks that they have been progressing under offensive line coach/run game coordinator Jim Michalczik.
“They’re progressing,” Smith said about the offensive line. “They are. Brandon (Baldwin), Stanton (Ramil) at left tackle getting some quality work there. Luke Newman’s doing a nice job at guard. That was a nice addition we didn’t have in the spring, so they’re working. Rakeem Johnson, true freshman, he’s had a bunch of good snaps. (It’s a) typical Jim Michalczik O-line, we got multiple guys playing multiple spots. They aren’t just staying at one spot, so we’re working through that to create some depth.”
The secondary is another position group that had some questions due to the four additions made in the spring via the transfer portal – Ed Woods, Lejond Cavazos, Jeremiah Hughes, and Nikai Martinez.
“It’s been competitive,” Smith noted about the defensive backs. “Those guys are pushing. I do think they’re pretty unified in that group. They’re talking, pushing each other, communication back there is vitally important.”
Overall, Smith thinks that his squad has made progress and met his expectation of being in a “constant state of improvement.”
“I feel good about where we’re at and, really, the progress we’re making,” he said.
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