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Published Apr 17, 2023
Michigan State Spring Football Kickoff: Observations on the offense
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Paul Fanson  •  Spartans Illustrated
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On the afternoon of April 15, Michigan State held its "Spartan Football Kickoff" event in Spartan Stadium under blue skies and unseasonably warm weather. The format of the event was more of a structured practice than a traditional spring game, complete with stretching and position drills.

In real time, it was possible to gain some insight into the future of the Spartan program. However, a closer look at the Big Ten Network broadcast (with is benefit of the "rewind" button) provided a chance to get a better handle on the various position battles on both sides of the ball. Remember, though, that this is only the spring, and things can and will likely change by the fall.

In today's piece, let's focus on the offensive side of the ball and the status of the five major position groups, starting with the quarterbacks.

Quarterbacks

In the early phases on the event, the top-three quarterbacks on the roster (redshirt senior Payton Thorne, redshirt junior Noah Kim, and redshirt freshman Katin Houser) rotated through the drills evenly, with no one player seeming to have the advantage in reps.

As the event wore on, however, it become increasing clear that Thorne is currently the No. 1 quarterback, Kim is No. 2 and Houser is No. 3, at least based on what was shown on Saturday, which head coach Mel Tucker said was "very indicative of what we've seen out of those guys throughout the spring.” Still, this competition will go into the fall and it is way too early to make any kind of definitive declarations for the 2023 season.

In the final period of the event where the offense attempted to score a touchdown in under a minute of game time, Thorne went first with the No. 1 offense and Kim went second with the No. 2 offense.

In reviewing the broadcast, this priority became even more clear. Thorne did not do much until the final segment of the event, but he was honestly not asked to do much. I only charted him with 10 meaningful snaps prior to the two-minute drill, five of which were run plays.

That said, Thorne was sharp in the final sequence, completing 5-of-6 passes to five different receivers before using his legs to score a 15-yard touchdown. I charted Thorne at an efficient 7-for-10 and approximately 56 yards with only one bad throw, based on the plays shown on the broadcast.

Noah Kim took the most meaningful snaps (22) of the three quarterbacks in the later half of the event. He also generated the most impressive plays of the afternoon, including back-to-back tosses to redshirt freshman receiver Antonio Gates Jr. to close out the afternoon. Kim was the most aggressive quarterback on the field, and I charted a total of six completions of 10 yards or more.

Overall, I credit Kim with 9-for-17 passing and 113 yards, including two drops that could have been catches. That said, I also charted Kim with five bad throws, including two near interceptions, and three passes that missed badly. Kim appears to be a potentially high risk/high reward player at this point in his development.

Regarding Houser, I charted the redshirt freshman with a total of 15 meaningful snaps, seven of which were run plays. As the scrimmage wore on, he was increasingly paired with the second-string or third-string offense. Overall, I credited him with 5-for-8 passing and roughly 70 yards. Houser basically had a few good throws and a few bad ones, and that was about it.

His best play of the day was likely a connection on a crossing route to redshirt senior walk-on tight end Jackson Morse, who ran away from the third- (or fourth-) string defense for roughly 40 yards as they essentially gave up on the play. I am not sure we learned much from that specific play.

Running Backs

While sitting in the press box on Saturday, my initial impression was that redshirt sophomore and UConn transfer Nathan Carter had a good afternoon and might be the favorite to start this fall. But as the scrimmage wore on, it was redshirt junior Jalen Berger who played with the first-string offense in the final period and South Florida redshirt senior transfer Jaren Mangham who took the field with the second-string offense.

Upon reviewing the broadcast, I now believe that what we saw in the final 10 minutes of the event is a more accurate view of the depth chart where Berger is No. 1 and Mangham is No. 2. With that said, it is only the spring, and the MSU coaching staff is likely testing different things out. Come the fall, it would not be surprising to see all three players get meaningful snaps.

In the live scrimmage portion of the event, I only charted a total of 18 total running plays, which were split between Berger (four), Mangham (three), Carter (four), redshirt sophomore Davion Primm (four) and senior Jordon Simmons (two).

This results is a very small sample size, but with the data we do have, Berger (31 yards) and Mangham (17 yards) appeared to have the best days running the football. All four of Berger's runs went for at least six yards. Based on my charting, Primm (13 yards) actually looked slightly better than Carter (eight yards) and Simmons (seven yards).

Carter has received a fair amount of buzz so far this spring. He may well continue to improve and threaten for significant carries this fall as he acclimates to the Michigan State system. But the fact remains that I only charted him with one carry over two yards in the final hour of the event on Saturday.

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