Despite strong freshman season, Aziah Johnson is leaving Michigan State football

Michigan State football has lost another player to the transfer portal and this time it comes in the form of a promising freshman receiver who put up decent numbers in 2024.

Aziah Johnson announced that he would be entering the transfer portal on Friday, joining teammate Jaron Glover who made that announcement earlier this week. The Spartans will now be losing two wideouts to the portal (at least) along with Montorie Foster Jr. to graduation.

According to Spartan Tailgate, this was an "expected" departure and there will undoubtedly be more coming, but it's a bit surprising to those who watched the Spartans this year.

While Johnson wasn't exactly the best player on the field, he was a reliable target for Aidan Chiles as a true freshman and he played quite a bit in his first season on campus. He caught 16 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns this year, making him the team's fourth-leading receiver. And the second and fifth-leading receivers are both moving on.

Johnson leaving with his role expected to increase is a little surprising, but that could mean that the coaching staff is high on the young guys like Jaelen Smith or the incoming freshman or Jonathan Smith is going to reach into the portal to find some key contributors at the position.

Or both.

It feels like Michigan State's running back room and receiver room have taken some hits this offseason and they will be thin at both positions unless Smith lives in the portal.

And that's exactly what I'm expecting him to do.