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Michigan State Football: Way-too-early offensive position groups preview

By Scott Tolonen

STATE COLLEGE, PA - NOVEMBER 26: Head coach Mel Tucker of the Michigan State Spartans reacts before the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium on November 26, 2022 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
STATE COLLEGE, PA - NOVEMBER 26: Head coach Mel Tucker of the Michigan State Spartans reacts before the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium on November 26, 2022 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /
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Out with the old, in with the new. Spring is technically here and before we know it, summer will be winding down, beginning my favorite time of year, Michigan State football season.

This might be Mel Tucker’s turning point season. He has shown his finesse with the transfer portal and is close to having one full recruiting cycle. He knows last year was extremely disappointing and looks to bounce back.

Let’s take a way-too-early look at each offensive position group.

Quarterback

This one is nowhere near as clear as it was at this time last year.

Despite a slightly higher completion percentage, all other passing numbers were down across the board. Yards, down. Touchdowns, down. Interceptions, up.

I understand that having Kenneth Walker makes things incredibly easy as a quarterback but more than ever, this team needed a big play and Payton Thorne failed to come through, with the team converting only 39 percent of third downs. While there were plenty of calls from Thorne to transfer, he returns to the Spartans for his redshirt senior campaign.

We also saw a lot of Noah Kim this year and, for the most part, not for good reasons. Kim made appearances in three games, completing 73 percent of passes and three touchdowns. Sure these sound all well and fine but they were mostly against Big Ten backups and a bad MAC team. While I do think Kim has talent, a lot of the “Kimsanity” excitement stemmed from frustrations with Thorne and team overall. I do expect him to compete but at the end of the day, he could turn out to be QB3 on the depth chart, but that just means he can easily step in to the role in an emergency.

Then there’s Katin Houser. The shiny new toy all the fans want to break out and let fly.

The four-star California Kid has all the makings of the next great quarterback; he’s the tallest and heaviest quarterback on the team. His highlight tape is filled with arm strength, accuracy, and great footwork. Spartan fans haven’t seen a lot from him in actual game action but after last year’s struggles, we are eager to take the big leap and risk letting the young gun make some mistakes in exchange for those clutch plays we were looking for last season.

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