Michigan State football lands RB of future in 4-star Audric Estime

Michigan State football found its next big-time running back in four-star Audric Estime from New Jersey as he committed on Sunday evening.

There was a point in time when Michigan State was one of the running back factories in the Big Ten, producing NFL talent on a regular basis. Under Mark Dantonio, he made the run game a priority with guys like Le’Veon Bell, Edwin Baker, Javon Ringer, Jeremy Langford and LJ Scott making names for themselves.

This ground success helped him recruit running backs and after a short down-period at the position, things picked back up in 2019 despite having a poor offensive line with Elijah Collins nearly touching 1,000 yards.

Michigan State is hoping to maintain some newfound momentum in the ground game under new head coach Mel Tucker and that will begin in the recruiting ranks.

It’s not easy for a coach to sell the ground game when he’s new to the program, but Tucker was able to do it anyways with four-star Audric Estime who committed to the green and white on Sunday night, following a couple other New Jersey natives to East Lansing.

With the commitment, Michigan State’s 2021 class has grown to 15 and he becomes the second four-star recruit, ranked the No. 214 overall prospect in the nation and 10th-best running back, according to Rivals.

Estime held 21 offers, but fell in love with what Tucker had to offer in East Lansing and having teammate Geno VanDeMark also committed had to help matters.

Michigan State may have Collins, Anthony Williams Jr., Brandon Wright and Jordon Simmons on the roster for the upcoming season, but Estime is the running back of the future in East Lansing. It may not happen in his first year, but he has the potential to be a star early on.

Just how good is he? Besides having a strong 6-foot-1.5, 215-pound frame, he has been compared to Jordan Howard by Brian Dohn of 247Sports who was a star at Indiana before getting drafted by the Chicago Bears.

This kid has future NFL talent written all over him.