Michigan State Football: What to expect from Adam Berghorst in 2019

Adam Berghorst picked Michigan State football and baseball over the MLB. What can we expect from the freshman defensive end in 2019?

Adam Berghorst faced the toughest decision of his life this summer. No, he wasn’t thinking about a de-commitment or a different program, but rather he had to choose if he wanted to go the way of the MLB after being drafted by the Texas Rangers or stay with his pledge to Michigan State for football and baseball.

The freshman defensive end from Zeeland, Mich., chose the latter, and it wasn’t that big of a surprise given what kind of kid he is.

No, it’s not selfish to pursue a dream of playing baseball out of high school, but he knew it’d be a long, uphill battle if he wanted to make the majors. He figured that he might as well go to college, get an education and then eventually go the baseball — or football — route when he’s ready and have some fun in the process.

You only get one chance to be a college kid and Berghorst knew that he’d get other chances to play a professional sport.

So when he decided to head to campus to join the football team this summer, expectations weren’t exactly sky-high for his year one impact, but he still had a college-ready body. What people weren’t sure of were his strength or moves in the trenches.

Then we got a glimpse of him going up against former five-star offensive tackle and fellow freshman Devontae Dobbs.

The two were evenly-matched, size-wise, but it was clear that Dobbs had the upper hand and that’s telling for what we can expect from Berghorst in year one. While this was early in camp, it goes to show he still has plenty of work to do before he can see the field regularly.

We might see Berghorst in spurts — hopefully in four games or less so he can retain his redshirt — but chances are he won’t burn that redshirt and probably will see just a handful of snaps.

The future is bright for this 6-6, 250-pound end, but he needs to learn plenty more from Ron Burton and his teammates. He could be a special player in East Lansing with a little growth and added knowledge of the game.