Michigan State Football: Early look at top 2023 NFL Draft prospects

Did you know that Payton Thorne and Jayden Reed played high school ball together and are childhood friends?

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, we can talk about just how good Reed is.

When Reed transferred to Michigan State after a Freshman All-American season with Western Michigan, everyone expected him to be an immediate star. He sat out in 2019 but got his first taste of Big Ten football in 2020 and kind of struggled early on, suffering ball security issues in his first Spartan game against Rutgers. He settled in and finished with 33 catches for 407 yards and three touchdowns in seven games in 2020.

While that was solid, he bounced back and had an All-Big Ten campaign in 2021, catching 59 passes for 1,026 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was a star in the Peach Bowl and helped take some pressure off Thorne who struggled in that game.

Reed made big catch after big catch and surprised everyone by opting to come back for one final season at Michigan State and he will be a legit Big Ten Receiver of the Year candidate.

I would not be shocked if he played himself into a first-round pick — or at least a Day 2 selection.