Michigan State Football: 3 freshmen who could start in 2022

Michigan State returns pretty much everyone to its defensive backfield but it’s a unit that could use plenty of help. The Spartans were last in passing yards allowed last season although they did see the most passes of any team in college football.

Xavier Henderson and Angelo Grose return at safety but I could see Jaden Mangham cracking into that two-deep behind the latter at free safety.

If Mangham can crack that two-deep, I think he could push for some starting snaps, especially if there are as many injuries in the secondary this year as there were a year ago. He’s good enough to see the field extensively early on and the former four-star athlete prospect should at least force Grose to be on his game so he doesn’t lose that job with the No. 1s.

Honestly, I wouldn’t count Dillon Tatum (safety) or Caleb Coley (cornerback) out as potential starting options this season in the defensive backfield either.