Michigan State Football: 5 reasons Spartans will be contenders in 2019

2. Brian Lewerke should be healthy

We all saw what Brian Lewerke was capable of when he was healthy in 2017. He passed for over 2,700 yards and 20 touchdowns with a 59 percent completion rate. He also had 559 yards and five touchdowns, showing that he could be one of the more mobile quarterbacks in the conference.

Though he took a step back in 2018 with just over 2,000 yards passing, less yards per attempts, a lower completion percentage and just 184 rushing yards while nursing an injured shoulder, he looked much healthier and accurate during the spring game against a tough Spartan defense.

When healthy, Lewerke is one of the best quarterbacks in the conference — no matter what you hear from opposing fans. He has a fairly accurate arm — completing almost 60 percent of his passes as a sophomore — and isn’t afraid to take shots down the field. He didn’t do any of that last season because of that shoulder leading to a lack of confidence.

The Spartans will benefit from having a solid quarterback who may take advantage of having a true quarterbacks coach (Dave Warner) back in his natural position and a more creative offensive coordinator (Brad Salem).

We’ll learn a lot about Lewerke’s bounce-back in the first few weeks.