Will Michigan State football finally have 1,000-yard receiver in 2021?

It’s been a while since Michigan State football had a 1,000-yard receiver.

No receiver really approached that number last season because of the pandemic-shortened schedule and Cody White came close in 2019 with 922 yards. Even the great Felton Davis III didn’t reach that mark and his final season was cut short with an injury so he didn’t get a fair shot after a breakout year in 2017.

The last receiver to reach 1,000 yards was Aaron Burbridge back in 2015 before “3-9” was even a thing. His 1,258 yards led Michigan State and he helped the Spartans make the College Football Playoff while also winning the Big Ten Receiver of the Year award.

Before him, Tony Lippett racked up 1,198 yards in 2014 and won the same conference receiver of the year award. It seemed like Michigan State was becoming the new ‘WRU’ in the Big Ten.

A five-year drought of 1,000-yard receivers later and the Spartans are just looking for any semblance of a passing game. It’s struggled for years and with Payton Thorne and Anthony Russo looking like capable passers and a likely full 12-game season approaching, the 1,000-yard drought for receivers will likely end sooner than people think.

Who’ll end Michigan State football’s 1,000-yard WR drought?

There are a number of top candidates to end Michigan State’s 1,000-yard receiver drought and the top one has to be Jayden Reed who had a decent first season in East Lansing, catching 33 balls for 407 yards and three touchdowns.

Plus, he’s the first No. 1 at Michigan State since the late Charles Rogers and that’s enough to show that the staff has complete faith in him to honor the number in a big way.

Next, there’s Jalen Nailor who led the team with 515 yards and four touchdowns on 26 catches last season which is impressive considering he only played in seven games. If he had played a full season, he would have reached 1,000 yards and he averaged an impressive 19.8 yards per catch which showed that he can be a consistent deep threat.

A couple of other candidates include Ricky White (just ask Michigan) if he can make a return to the team after missing spring for undisclosed reasons and Maliq Carr who transferred in from Purdue.

My best guess would be either Nailor or Reed with my money on the latter.

Heck, the Spartans could have a couple of 1,000-yard receivers and just shock the Big Ten. Doubtful, but both Reed and Nailor have the potential to reach that mark.