With the Michigan State Spartans’ football season over, there has already been a lot attrition from the 2020 roster. The Spartans have also signed several 2021 recruits, and brought in many transfers from the portal. Additionally, a few players entered the 2021 NFL Draft.
For ease of reading, we have compiled all of the notable moves into a single post. There will likely be more roster news throughout the offseason, and while we may still do individual posts, we will update this “living” post as the news comes in as well.
Michigan State players who have entered the transfer portal (27):
- Rocky Lombardi, quarterback — career stats: 22 games played, 159 completions on 332 attempts (47.9 percent), 1,902 passing yards, 11 touchdown passes, 14 interceptions, 74 rushing attempts for 166 yards, one punt for 32 yards. Lombardi will transfer to Northern Illinois University and play in the MAC.
- Devontae Dobbs, offensive lineman — career stats: four games played, 57 snaps played. Dobbs recently announced he will continue his college career at the University of Memphis.
- Anthony Williams Jr., running back — career stats: 14 games played, 42 attempts for 123 yards (2.9 yards per carry), one touchdown, seven catches for 82 yards, five kick returns for 93 yards (18.6 yards per return). Williams will join Jeslord Boateng at Akron.
- Julian Barnett, cornerback/wide receiver — career stats: 19 games played, 13 catches for 182 yards (14 yards per catch), zero touchdowns, two rushing attempts for 19 yards, five total tackles, four kick returns for 53 yards (13.3 yards per return). Barnett will be joining his high school teammate, Dobbs, in Memphis.
- Davion Williams, cornerback — career stats: 23 games, 14 total tackles, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries. Williams is transferring to Western Kentucky.
- Jeslord Boateng, linebacker — career stats: 18 games played, 10 total tackles, one tackle for loss. Boateng will play at Akron next season.
- Marcel Lewis, linebacker — career stats: three games played, no statistics recorded. Lewis will be taking his talents to Mt. Pleasant to play for Central Michigan University.
- Luke Fulton, linebacker — career stats: zero games played, no statistics recorded (Fulton, a three-star recruit in 2019, was suspended from the team throughout the 2020 season). Fulton is heading to Kentucky.
- Charles Willekes, linebacker — career stats: one game played, no statistics recorded (Willekes, a walk-on in 2019, and the brother of Kenny Willekes, was suspended from the team throughout the 2020 season). Willekes is heading to Arkansas State.
- Max Rosenthal, fullback/tight end/H-Back — career stats: 21 career games played, two receptions for four yards, one receiving touchdown, one fumble recovery touchdown, three total tackles. Rosenthal will return to his home state to play for the Illinois Fighting Illini.
- Andre Welch, running back/wide receiver — career stats: 11 games played, two rushing attempts for seven yards, four kickoff returns for 73 yards (walk-on in 2018)
- Jude Pedrozo, long snapper: — career stats: 20 games played, five career tackles, served as starting long snapper for all seven games in 2020 and 12 games in 2019 (walk-on in 2019). Pedrozo is transferring to Ohio State (but may not be focusing on football).
- Chris Jackson, cornerback — career stats: nine games played, 10 total tackles, two tackles for loss, one pass defended. Jackson is heading to Washington State.
- Tre’Von Morgan, wide receiver — career stats: four games played, two catches, 46 yards, one touchdown. Morgan will join Luke Fulton at Kentucky.
- Javez Alexander, wide receiver — career stats: one game played, no statistics recorded
- Dominique Long, safety/cornerback — career stats: 44 games played, 51 total tackles, two passes defended, one blocked punt. Long will play at Duke for the 2021 season.
- Eli McLean, quarterback — career stats: zero games played, no statistics recorded (former walk-on)
- Justin Stevens, offensive tackle — career stats: zero games played, no statistics recorded (opted out of true freshman season in 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns). After originally committing to Central Michigan, Stevens flipped his decision and will play for South Alabama in 2021.
- Jack Olsen, kicker — career stats: zero games played, no statistics recorded (redshirted in 2020). Olsen is heading to Northwestern.
- Tommy Guajardo, tight end — career stats: zero games played, no statistics recorded (redshirted in 2020). Guajardo moves on to Bowling Green for the 2021 season.
- Damon Kaylor, offensive lineman — career stats: zero games played, no statistics recorded (redshirted in 2019, did not see game action in 2020). Kaylor will play for the Ball State in 2021 and compete in the MAC.
- DeAri Todd, defensive end — career stats: zero games played, no statistics recorded. Todd is heading to Montana.
- Bryce Eimer, long snapper — career stats: zero games played, no statistics recorded
- Chris Mayfield, defensive tackle — career stats: zero games played, no statistics recorded (redshirted in 2020). Mayfield is going to play at Ohio.
- Jasiyah Robinson, defensive end — career stats: zero games played, no statistics recorded (redshirted in 2020). Robinson joined East Carolina.
- Theo Day, quarterback — career stats: two career games played (zero starts), two pass completions on three passing attempts (67 percent), 12 passing yards, zero touchdowns, zero interceptions. Day is heading to Northern Iowa.
- Devin Hightower, linebacker — career stats: one game played, no statistics recorded (redshirted in 2020). Hightower’s next stop is at Cincinnati.
Note: Punter Jack Bouwmeester is also listed in the transfer portal, according to 247Sports, but Bouwmeester was not part of the 2020 team after deciding to go back home to Australia during the offseason.
Note: Just because a player enters the transfer portal, does not necessarily mean that player is leaving Michigan State.
Players from the transfer portal coming to Michigan State (19, including four walk-ons):
- Anthony Russo, quarterback, Temple — career stats: 536 completions on 899 attempts (59.6 percent), 6,292 yards, 44 touchdown passes, 32 interceptions, 30 rushing yards, seven rushing touchdowns
- Harold Joiner III, running back, Auburn — career stats: 15 carries, 103 rushing yards (6.9 yards per carry), two rushing touchdowns, six catches 128 yards (21.3 yards per catch) and one receiving touchdown
- Jarrett Horst, offensive tackle, Arkansas State — career stats/accolades: 19 games played, third team All-Sun Belt Conference in 2019, 2020 Outland Trophy Watch List, member of Phil Steel’s preseason first team All-Sun Belt Conference (2020) and a selection to Athlon Sports’ preseason second team All-Sun Belt (2020).
- Drew Jordan, defensive end, Duke — career stats: 48 games played, 102 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, one fumbled forced, four fumble recoveries
- Kenneth Walker, running back, Wake Forest — career stats: 21 games played, 1,158 rushing yards, 17 rushing touchdowns, six receptions, 47 receiving yards, seven kick returns for 139 yards
- Kendell Brooks, cornerback/safety, North Greenville University (Division II) — career stats: 19 games played, 78 total tackles, two tackles for loss, one pass breakup and one fumble recovery
- Chester Kimbrough, cornerback, Florida — career stats: 17 games played, 15 tackles, three passes defended
- Ben VanSumeren, linebacker, Michigan: — career stats: 15 games played, nine rushes, 20 rushing yards, one touchdown, seven total tackles
- Marqui Lowery Jr., cornerback, Louisville — career stats: no stats recorded, did not see game action as a true freshman at Louisville
- Khary Crump, cornerback, Arizona — career stats: no stats recorded, did not see game action as a true freshman at Arizona
- Itayvion “Tank” Brown, linebacker, Minnesota — career stats: no stats recorded, did not see game action as a true freshman at Minnesota
- Christian Fitzpatrick, wide receiver, Louisville — career stats: one game played (one game started), no stats recorded
- Maliq Carr, wide receiver/tight end, Purdue — career stats: three games played, one catch, 15 yards, zero touchdowns
- Quavaris Crouch, linebacker, Tennessee — career stats: 23 games played (11 starts), 85 total tackles, three tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, three passes defended, two forced fumbles, seven rushing attempts, nine rushing yards, two touchdowns
- Ronald Williams Jr., cornerback, Alabama — career stats: three games played at Alabama with one tackle recorded; 20 games played at Hutchinson Community College (Kansas), with 49 tackles, eight pass break-ups, and four interceptions in two seasons
- Cody Waddell, punter, Texas Tech, walk-on: — career stats: no stats recorded, did not see game action at Texas Tech, but had 111 punts, 36.7 yards per punt average, career long of 70 yards, 21 punts inside 20-yard-line and was a kickoff specialist at Division II Lincoln University
Preferred Walk-Ons: Michigan State also added Division III defensive back Spencer Rowland from Wheaton College, linebacker Samih Beydown from Army Prep and tight end Powers Warren from Mississippi State as PWOs. Waddell is also expected to be a walk-on.
Michigan State players who have declared for the NFL Draft (three):
- Shakur Brown, cornerback — career stats: 26 games played, 54 total tackles, two tackles for loss, two sacks, seven interceptions, 16 passes defended, one touchdown, one punt return for 14 yards
- Naquan Jones, defensive tackle — career stats: 46 career games, 78 total tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, three passes defended, one forced fumble, one fumble recovered
- Antjuan Simmons, linebacker — career stats: 231 total tackles, 26 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, two interceptions, seven passes defended, one forced fumble, three fumble recoveries
Seniors who have announced plans to return in 2021 with an extra year of eligibility (multiple):
It appears that several seniors will be taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19 — offensive lineman Matt Allen, defensive ends Jacub Panasiuk and Drew Beesley, kicker Matt Coghlin and others.
Panasiuk’s announcement:
Still got some unfinished business to take care of... ➡️ Oct. 16th.https://t.co/5meQ6HqJ0O pic.twitter.com/M5a2QBJpNq
— Jacub Panasiuk (@JacubPanasiuk) December 19, 2020
Grateful to wear the green and white... for one more season! 2021 loading... #GoGreen pic.twitter.com/n519eMAjNr
— Drew Beesley (@drew_beesley85) December 27, 2020
Year 6... The Show Goes On @MSU_Football pic.twitter.com/Kx47k80Zo8
— Matthew Coghlin (@MatthewCoghlin) January 13, 2021
Tucker said center Matt Allen will be coming back for a sixth year after an injury-shortened 2020. Tucker said Allen has become one of his favorite players.
— Matt Wenzel (@mwenzel2) January 21, 2021
Mel Tucker on Feb. 3 on players who are returning for the extra year of eligibility, including tight end Matt Dotson (please ignore the typos on the names of Jacub Panasiuk and Drew Beesley in the below tweets):
Tucker confirms Jacob Panasiuk, Matt Coghlin, Drew Beesly and Matt Dotson will return to MSU in 2021.
— The Only Colors (@TheOnlyColors) February 3, 2021
Along with center Matt Allen as well, and possibly some others.
— The Only Colors (@TheOnlyColors) February 3, 2021
Update: Matt Dotson is not part of Michigan State’s 2021 spring roster. Meanwhile, offensive tackle AJ Arcuri, offensive tackle Luke Campbell, defensive end Drew Beesley, defensive end Jacub Panasiuk, center Matt Allen and kicker Matt Coglin are all on the spring roster, and are returning for an extra year of eligibility.
This post will be updated as more news comes in.