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Michigan State Football: 3 biggest concerns ahead of 2022 season

By Connor Muldowney

Michigan State wide receiver Jayden Reed is lifted by offensive lineman J.D. Duplain after scoring a tying two-point conversion against Michigan during the fourth quarter at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021.
Michigan State wide receiver Jayden Reed is lifted by offensive lineman J.D. Duplain after scoring a tying two-point conversion against Michigan during the fourth quarter at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. /
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Michigan State football heads into the 2022 season with some relatively high expectations. But here’s why the Spartans should be concerned.

Michigan State opens the season ranked No. 15 in the first AP Poll and the Spartans are hoping to compete for a Big Ten title after finishing 11-2 and winning the Peach Bowl in 2021.

Mel Tucker has pieced together a really strong roster that may just be better at every single position compared to a season ago. I don’t see the Spartans taking a major step back like some are predicting, but there are some areas of concern.

What are the top three concerns for Michigan State heading into the 2022 season?

Honorable Mention: The kicking game

3. Offensive line depth

This is something that has been worrisome for Mel Tucker and Chris Kapilovic since spring ball and that hasn’t changed. While the starters will be solid, the backups on the line are inexperienced and that’s very concerning considering how many injuries this group suffered last year.

Losing Kevin Jarvis hurts, but the Spartans do return Jarrett Horst, Nick Samac, JD Duplain, Spencer Brown, and Geno VanDeMark, among others. There’s not a ton of experience returning.

I know I’ve mentioned it already, but we can almost always expect injuries here.

The other day, Tucker said that he’s not sure if he’ll be able to rotate offensive linemen regularly due to depth, but Xavier Henderson did admit the group was getting better every day.

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