A look at who will represent Michigan State football at Big Ten Media Days

The 2022 Big Ten Football Media Days event is set to kick off next week in Indianapolis.

Ahead of the annual event, the Michigan State Spartans unveiled who will be attending with head coach Mel Tucker to represent the program when MSU is up on the second day of Media Days on July 27.

No surprise that redshirt junior quarterback Payton Thorne will be attending. He will be joined by redshirt senior wide receiver Jayden Reed and fifth-year senior safety Xavier Henderson.

Mel Tucker will be the third coach to speak at the podium on Wednesday, July 27, following Jeff Brohm of Purdue and Bret Bielema of Illinois. Four other head coaches, all of whom MSU plays this fall, will follow. Tucker is scheduled to speak from 11:30 am to 11:45 am and fans can watch live on the Big Ten Network or stream via the FOX Sports App.

In addition, two staff members from The Only Colors will be attending in person and providing extensive coverage for readers as well. In the meantime, the full schedule of commissioner Kevin Warren and head coaches opening statements along with the list of players for each program can be found here.

Thorne earned starting quarterback job in 2021 as a redshirt sophomore and went on to break the Michigan State program record for single-season touchdown passes with 27. He completed 234 passes on 388 attempts (60.3 percent) and threw for 3,233 yards. Additionally, he compiled 181 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground. Thorne earned All-Big Ten honorable mention recognition by both the coaches and media.

Reed led the Spartans in receiving with 59 catches for 1,026 yards in 2021. While he was second on the team in receiving yards per catch (17.4), he did also lead the team in touchdown catches with 10. He earned first-team All-American honors as an all-purpose player by the American Football Coaches Association last season. In addition to his receiving numbers, Reed also ranked first in the Big Ten for punt returns with (19.8 yards per return average), and was tied for the FBS lead with two punt returns for touchdowns. Reed was a third-team All-Big Ten selection by both the coaches and media as well.

Henderson, who is returning for a fifth year in 2022, was tied for first on the team in solo tackles (61) with Darius Snow and tied with Cal Haladay for most total tackles (96) last season. He also added 3.0 sacks and 10.0 tackles for loss to go along with one interception.