Michigan State football will continue to be active in transfer portal

When the 2020 season concluded, Mel Tucker realized one main thing: he needed to make up the talent gap faster. Nowadays, program rebuilds are given a short leash and fans expect new coaching staffs to have success within the first 2-3 years, or else they’re immediately on the hot seat.

For Tucker, a 2-5 season during a COVID-19 year was disappointing, but no one really expected much more because of the circumstances and the lack of overall talent on the roster.

Michigan State did have some decent pieces, but not enough to even have a heartbeat in the Big Ten East race. Tucker knew he had to make some changes, so he padded the roster for 2021 with 15 incoming players from the transfer portal. He flipped the roster upside down, swapping MAC and Conference USA talent with ACC and SEC players.

Guys like Quavaris Crouch, Maliq Carr, Ronald Williams Jr., Chester Kimbrough, Christian Fitzpatrick, Kenneth Walker III, Anthony Russo, and Itayvion Brown, among others, highlighted the crop of incoming transfers, and it’s pretty clear that the talent pool improved drastically.

Fans now wonder how hard the staff will hit the transfer portal each offseason despite Tucker finally getting “his guys” via recruiting classes.

The head coach had an answer for that.

That’s actually refreshing to hear because while improved recruiting — which is expected under Tucker — will go a long way, hitting the portal is always going to be important because you could bring in proven players to act as veterans, replacing departing transfers.

It looks like Tucker is serious about the transfer portal and that’s not going to change any time soon.

How would you like your job to be sitting at a computer and refreshing the portal every 30 minutes?

Incoming Michigan State football transfers will have major impact

If you look at the roster for the upcoming season, there’s a good chance there will be a transfer starting in almost every position group.

At running back, Walker III is the projected starter. At quarterback, you have Anthony Russo. Jarrett Horst is a projected starter on the offensive line and Carr could make some noise at tight end. The same could be said for Christian Fitzpatrick at receiver.

On defense, Crouch, Williams Jr., Kimbrough, Ben VanSumeren, Brown, and Drew Jordan should push for starting snaps. The defense could have a completely new look.

The transfer portal could just be the reason Michigan State pushes for a bowl berth in 2021.