Michigan State Football: Midseason report card for 2021 Spartans

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Michigan State’s Jayden Reed, left, stiff arms Western Kentucky’s Miguel Edwards on his way to the end zone on a catch during the first quarter on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.211002 Msu Wku Fb 115a /

Receivers/Tight Ends: A-

This grade might be a little surprising given how good Jalen Nailor, Jayden Reed, Connor Heyward, and Tre Mosley have been this season, but this is mostly because we haven’t seen anything from the tight end group.

In fact, outside of Heyward’s 14 catches for 138 yards, Spartan tight ends have a total of six catches for 39 yards. Maliq Carr and Trenton Gillison have just one catch each and Tyler Hunter has four receptions for 36 yards. Jay Johnson has said that he wants to utilize the tight ends, but that hasn’t come to fruition just yet.

OK, now we can talk about how good the ‘big three’ have been for the Spartans.

Reed leads the way by a whopping two yards, accounting for 492 yards and five touchdowns on 23 receptions. He has been great all year long and his connection with Payton Thorne is quite evident. He has to be in the running for Big Ten Receiver of the Year.

Nailor is right on his heels after two monster games in a row against Western Kentucky and Rutgers. He has 23 catches for 490 yards and six touchdowns and his nickname “Speedy” has held some weight this year. He is a big-play threat.

Mosley has been the surprise of the room thus far with 20 catches for 309 yards and he’s done a really good job in place of Ricky White who still hasn’t been reinstated.

Outside of those guys, the receiving corps has been quiet with Montorie Foster catching two passes for 23 yards and Terry Lockett grabbing three for 18. It’d be nice for a clear fourth receiver to step up.

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