Michigan State Football: 5 early signees who’ll have instant impacts in 2022

Jay Johnson has been waiting to get some of his tight ends to campus. He said a couple of years ago when he was hired as the offensive coordinator that he wanted the tight end to be the MVP of the offense. That hasn’t happened quite yet, but it looks like Jack Nickel could help change things.

Moving forward, I see a phenomenal tight end room led by Kameron Allen, Maliq Carr, and Nickel and with Trenton Gillison transferring out and Tyler Hunt graduating, it looks like there are going to be snaps up for grabs for the true freshman. Like the rest of the guys on this list, Nickel is going to be an early enrollee, and that’s only going to help here.

Nickel was once a Notre Dame commit and if you know anything about tight ends in South Bend, that just goes to show he’s highly regarded at the position. Notre Dame has an argument for Tight End U and Nickel was about to be part of that.

Luckily for Mel Tucker and Ted Gilmore, he reopened his recruitment and the Spartans swooped right in. He’s listed as the No. 27 tight end in the class, according to the composite, which I feel may actually be too low.

Nickel is going to come to campus in January and arguably be the best blocking tight end immediately. His hands are just an added bonus. I see him playing a ton early on.