Michigan State football: Tre Mosley set for breakout sophomore season

Tre Mosley stepped up last season for Michigan State football. With a year under his belt, can he step up even more in his sophomore campaign?

It wasn’t the best year for Michigan State last season, going a mere 7-6 while barely being bowl eligible. Some of their struggles was due to injury, more specifically, at the wide receiver position.

Jalen Nailor suffered a lower-leg injury after Michigan State’s 28-7 win over Tulsa in Week 1. At first, it didn’t seem like he’d be out for the whole season. But once the Spartans’ season took a turn for the worse, it was in the teams best interest to not risk any more harm to the young sophomore.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, redshirt senior Darrell Stewart Jr. also suffered a leg injury in the first half of MSU’s 28-7 loss to Penn State. The injury kept him out until the Spartans’ bowl game against Wake Forest.

Those injuries at wideout forced other guys to step up like junior Laress Nelson, as well as true freshmen Julian Barnett, and more specifically, Tre Mosley.

The former West Bloomfield High School star was on redshirt to begin the season but due to other guys going down, the Spartan coaching staff was forced to burn it. In five games last season, Mosley hauled in 21 catches for 216 yards and one touchdown.

His best performance came in Michigan State’s 19-16 win over Maryland where he had eight receptions for 73 yards, setting a career high in both stats. Mosley had the best stats out of him, Barnett, and Nelson last season.

Being a 2019 Lake Orion High School graduate and four-year football player myself, I’m no stranger to Mosley’s ability. His route running is superb to most, and he has extreme breakaway speed. His agility allows him to be a real threat at the receiver position.

Mosley showed everyone last season that he can hold his own. I was worried on how he would do getting forced into the game midway through the season. But he didn’t seem phased by D1 college football, and exceeded expectations.

With receivers Cody White and Stewart Jr. gone to the NFL, this opens up the door for Mosley to have a breakout year in 2020. There’s no one in the MSU receiving corps that really jumps out as the guy.

I fully expect the soon-to-be sophomore to be more integrated in the Spartans offense next season. Look for him to be used more in the rushing game as well with jet sweeps (hopefully not to the short side), and maybe some reverse action. It’s not farfetched to see him in the return game as well at some point this upcoming season.

The hiring of head coach Mel Tucker couldn’t have come at a better time for Mosley. He’s still young, and with veterans moving out of the program, Tucker doesn’t have any other option but to give all the receivers a clean slate.

With that being said, Tre Mosley can turn some heads in this upcoming season.