Michigan State Football: Ranking the position groups heading into 2020

Oct 26, 2019; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Rocky Lombardi (12) and Michigan State Spartans quarterback Brian Lewerke (14) take the field prior to a game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports /

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Matt Coghlin, Michigan State football (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images) /

7. Special Teams

Jake Hartbarger’s seemingly endless collegiate career finally came to a conclusion after the 2019 season and that puts Michigan State in a tough place. We all saw just how stressful it is not having a sure starter at punter (just look at the 2018 season) but luckily the Spartans have UTEP grad transfer Mitchell Crawford coming in.

Along with the UTEP transfer, and Australian native, Michigan State also returns Bryce Baringer who will be a junior and could push for the starting job.

Matt Coghlin is back for his senior year as the kicker and he’s coming off his worst season yet with the green and white. He was looked at as one of the Big Ten’s best kickers after 2018 when he converted 82 percent of his tries, including 13-of-15 from 30-50 yards. He struggled mightily in 2019, converting on 22-of-32 kicks and he was only 8-of-14 from 40-49 yards.

The return game is a major question mark as well with some options like Jayden Reed, Javez Alexander, Laress and Julian Barnett potentially getting shots to return punts and kicks, but until we see some production, this will be a non-factor for MSU.

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