Michigan State's Jayden Reed and Bryce Baringer participate in NFL Combine

Michigan State had two players invited to the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis: wide receiver Jayden Reed and punter Bryce Baringer. Players reported to the combine last week, and testing — broken up into positional groups each day — began this past Thursday and runs through the weekend.

Both Reed and Baringer competed in several aspects of the event, although Baringer did not test in the 40-yard dash, vertical jump, broad jump, 20-yard shuffle, three-cone drill or bench press. Reed tested in every one of those expect for the bench press and three-cone drill.

Reed and Baringer will most likely participate in MSU's pro day later this month as well, along with several other Spartans.

Despite dealing with a severe eye infection, Reed decided to still go through with his full workout at the combine. This is no surprise for a player who played through many injuries during his time at Michigan State.

“They’ll never have to question effort," Reed said about the NFL team that drafts him, via MLive. "I’ll always be there. I’ll always give 110 percent every day. I just believe I’m going to be a very coachable player that’s going to play hard for my team and do whatever it takes to win.”

Reed clocked an impressive 4.45-second 40-yard dash, including a 10-yard split of 1.57 seconds. Reed's 40-yard dash time ranked 16th out of 43 participants. He also recorded a 20-yard shuttle of 4.29 seconds, a vertical jump of 33.5 inches and a broad jump of 10-feet-1-inch.

Additionally, Reed competed in an on-field drills. He did not drop a single ball in the "gauntlet" drill, and looked smooth and fluid while running it.

After impressing during Senior Bowl practices in Mobile, Alabama in early February, Reed undoubtedly helped improve his draft stock. With a solid combine showing, he likely solidified himself as a Day Two (second and third rounds) or early Day Three (rounds four through seven) NFL Draft pick.

At the combine, Reed measured in at 5-foot-11 and 187 pounds, with 30.5-inch arms and 9-1/8-inch hands.

The Naperville, Illinois native put together a strong career as a Spartan. Due to NCAA transfer rules at the time, Reed was forced to sit out of competition in 2019 after transferring to Michigan State from Western Michigan, although he practiced with MSU that season. He played in games for the Spartans in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

In 31 career games, Reed recorded 147 receptions for 2,069 yards (14.1 yards per catch) and 18 receiving touchdowns. He also scored two punt return touchdowns and a rushing touchdown.

Reed was named a 2021 All-American by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) as an all-purpose player. He also earned All-Big Ten honors from the both the coaches and media in both 2021 and 2022.

While competing at the combine, Reed honored the three Michigan State students who lost their lives due to the tragedy on campus on Feb. 13 — Arielle Anderson, Brian Fraser and Alexandria Verner.

As for Baringer, he seemed to impress at the combine despite not participating in the traditional drills. According to Twitter account @kickerupdate, Baringer dominated the competition.

Baringer had the highest punt-distance average and longest hang-time out of any of the five punters listed — including Adam Korsak, the 2022 Ray Guy Award winner from Rutgers — in both open-field punts and directional punts.

On open-field punts, Baringer averaged 49.5 yards per punt, and 4.92 seconds of hang-time. The next closest in distance was Oklahoma's Michael Turk (47 yards), and the next closest in hang-time was Tennessee's Paxton Brooks (4.59 seconds).

In directional punting, Baringer had an average of 51.5 yards per punt, while recording an average hang-time of 5.20 seconds. No other punter who participated came close to these numbers, with Michigan's Brad Robbins coming in second in average per punt (45 yards) and hang-time (4.67 seconds).

Baringer also had the highest hang-time on pooch/pin punts (4.92 seconds).

Baringer, a Waterford, Michigan native, measured in at 6-foot-2 and 216 pounds. His arms measured at 30.5 inches, while his hands were 9.0 inches.

Baringer led the country in punting in 2022 with an average of 49.0 yards per punt. He was a 2022 consensus All-American and the Big Ten Punter of the Year this past season. Baringer owns the MSU program record for career punting average (46.0) and single-season average (49.0).

It is quite possible, if not likely, that Baringer will be the first punter selected in the 2023 NFL Draft after his performance in Indianapolis.

Shayne Graham, the CEO of Elite Winning Solutions LLC, former NFL kicker and former Michigan State special teams analyst, tweeted that many are calling Baringer's workout "the best punter performance at the combine in recent memory."

Discuss this article in our premium forums by clicking here.

You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

For video content, including our Red Cedar Radar podcast, find us on YouTube and consider subscribing.