Michigan State football stock watch following Western Michigan win

Stock up: Kendell Brooks and Jaden Mangham

These two players will be the final highlights of this article. Both players played well, replacing the injured Xavier Henderson. Kendell Brooks had been a big question, as he transferred into the program last year but mostly played on special teams. I know I had an earlier slide against the pass defense, but these two injury replacements deserve the shoutout.

With Xavier Henderson down, Brooks got his first chance to step up. Brooks finished the night with five total tackles and was never caught in a bad spot or out of place. Overall, this was a good debut and I do feel better about the safety spot with Henderson likely to miss a few weeks.

Jaden Mangham was another question headed into the year. He was one of the higher-rated recruits in Mel Tucker’s 2021 class, but no one was expecting to see him thrust into the spotlight this soon after the defensive leader of the team went down with an injury. Just like Brooks, Mangham performed admirably. He only recorded a single tackle, but the only mistake he made on a would-be Western touchdown was promptly wiped out by a penalty.

Stock analysis

This one we will have to wait and see. The coaching staff will have had a week to practice and game plan without Henderson locked in as the starter, so the team we see against Akron and Washington will be more telling. After next week, I feel that we will have a better picture of both Brooks and Mangham and how they factor in to the 2022 Michigan State football secondary.