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Michigan State Football: Who will be the Spartans’ No. 1 receiver in 2017?

By Connor Muldowney

Oct 29, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans wide receiver Trishton Jackson (8) makes a catch inbounds during the second half of a game against the Michigan Wolverines at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 29, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans wide receiver Trishton Jackson (8) makes a catch inbounds during the second half of a game against the Michigan Wolverines at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports /
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With the spring game in the rearview mirror, who will be Michigan State football’s No. 1 receiver in 2017?

Michigan State football enters the 2017 season in unfamiliar territory. The Spartans are coming off a 3-9 season and no bowl bid, something that had never happened in Mark Dantonio’s 10-year career. However, there are some young players to get excited about.

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While the team might be in unfamiliar territory, expectation-wise, the Spartans are in a familiar place when it comes to replacing the No. 1 receiver from the previous season. In fact, over the past four years, Michigan State has had a different No. 1 receiver.

It started with Tony Lippett in 2014 who won the Big Ten Receiver of the Year and then Aaron Burbridge in 2015, winning the same award. R.J. Shelton was the Spartans’ top receiver in 2016, but he didn’t take home any hardware. Still, he was a reliable target for Tyler O’Connor and Michigan State.

So who comes in this year and replaces Shelton? The easy answer would be Donnie Corley, but he was absent from the spring game, so it’s hard to tell what kind of impact he will have in 2017. He certainly has the talent and potential.

The favorite right now has to be Trishton Jackson who had a breakout spring game with eight catches for over 100 yards. He became Brian Lewerke’s favorite target and showed flashes of explosiveness. He would be my bet to be the team’s No. 1 receiver next season.

Related Story: MSU Football: 5 takeaways from spring game

Don’t sleep on guys like Justin Layne (who can play both ways), Cam Chambers and early enrollee Hunter Rison. All of those guys had impressive spring game performances and will be a big part of the offense next season.

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