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Michigan State Football: 5 signees who’ll have instant impacts in 2019

By Connor Muldowney

TEMPE, AZ - SEPTEMBER 08: Head coach Mark Dantonio of the Michigan State Spartans reacts during warm ups to the college football game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Tempe, Arizona. The Sun Devils defeated the Spartans 16-13. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
TEMPE, AZ - SEPTEMBER 08: Head coach Mark Dantonio of the Michigan State Spartans reacts during warm ups to the college football game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Tempe, Arizona. The Sun Devils defeated the Spartans 16-13. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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Michigan State needs a running back and Anthony Williams Jr. could be that guy. He has decent size at 6-foot-0 and 190 pounds and has speed, but he’s not the speed-back the Spartans were hoping — Aaron Young flipped to Rutgers.

Losing LJ Scott is going to hurt the run game mostly because the returning backs don’t seem to have ‘feature’ potential. Connor Heyward may lead the way for the starting job but there are plenty of doubts surrounding his style of running and believe he should be moved to a slot receiver-type position.

Michigan State places an emphasis on the run game and new offensive coordinator Brad Salem is going to need a back who can carry the workload and while Williams may not slide into that starting role right away, having him as an early enrollee will be huge for the playbook’s sake.

Don’t expect to see him pass up guys like Heyward, La’Darius Jefferson, Weston Bridges or even Eli Collins right away, but with a strong spring, he could enter the fold.

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