Michigan State Football: 3 early signees who’ll have instant impacts in 2021

This one was easy for me because Ma’a Gaoteote is a special talent and Michigan State loses Luke Fulton, Marcel Lewis, Jeslord Boateng and Antjuan Simmons. Returning is Noah Harvey but the depth took a massive hit at the linebacker position following the final game of the regular season against Penn State.

Chase Kline, Cal Haladay and Devin Hightower may be the main guys in the rotation heading into next season but add Gaoteote and we could see a true starter there.

With a 4-2-5 defense, a lot of the guys who Mark Dantonio recruited to play linebacker are opting to enter the transfer portal. There’s one less linebacker position on the field and therefore less opportunities to play. When you bring in a talented linebacker like Gaoteote who’s ranked the No. 155 prospect and 11th-best linebacker in the 2021 class, you have to expect he’s going to play — especially when he’s Mel Tucker’s first big recruit.

The more you see Tucker landing “his guys”, the more you’re going to see the younger players play.

In year two, I expect a lot of freshmen and sophomores on the field and contributing. That, and transfers such as Harold Joiner, Jarrett Horst and Anthony Russo — along with likely a dozen more to come.

But I also expect Gaoteote to compete for a starting job.