Is it smart for Jonathan Smith to burn 3 key redshirts?

Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith announced that three members of the freshman class will burn their redshirts and play as true freshmen for the rest of the season as the team continues to navigate Big Ten play.

Defensive back Aydan West, longsnapper Jack Wills, and tight end Jayden Savoury will continue to be active members of the football team, while the team considers doing the same for defensive lineman Derrick Simmons.

But is Smith making the right decision? That answer might be better served case-by-case.

How Aydan West can make an impact

West is the headliner for me in this group because you're adding some juice to what has been the weakest part of the defense. The Spartans' secondary has been torched through the air to the tune of 263.5 yards per game and nine total touchdowns (115th out of 134 FBS teams).

The problem has been going on for years, and it's good to see the staff try to do something about it instead of hoping someone in the rotation will come along and save the day. That's smart and shows potential progress on the part of the staff.

According to 247 Sports, West was the third-best freshman in Michigan State's 2025 recruiting class as the No. 55 cornerback recruit nationally and the No. 18 player in the state of Maryland. At just under 6-feet and 190 pounds, he's around the same size as everyone else in that secondary, so might as well give him a shot.

He also has a bit of a ball-hawking aspect to his game, leaving high school as his program's all-time leader in interceptions. This team could use plenty of that after coming up with just two picks in the first four games, but we also don't know how much playing time West will actually get.

Not redshirting Jack Wills is a sensible decision

It's difficult to explain the importance of the longsnapper, especially when Kaden Schickel has done such a good job since he got to East Lansing (when healthy). Unfortunately, he wasn't able to remain healthy last season, suffering a torn ACL that ended his year in October and from which he is still working his way back.

That made this an easy and obvious decision. Teams don't carry many longsnappers on the roster, so Wills needs to play.

If Schickel is able to return at all, MSU will have depth at longsnapper with at least two players with experience at the FBS level and in Big Ten play. Considering the special teams issues this team has had over the years, that will be a welcome change in that department -- even though it doesn't have much effect on the offense or defense.

While it might not be as exciting as some other freshmen that fans want to see on the field, like Jace Clariizio and Braylon Collier, allowing Wills to burn the redshirt was a smart and pretty much unavoidable move.

Jayden Savoury, TE3?

Jack Velling and Michael Masunas have the top two tight end positions locked down, and Masunas has been a particularly vital part of this offense with two touchdowns and career-high numbers across the board already this season.

With the top two roles claimed, it's tough for the rest of the group to get on the field. But Savoury appears to be that next guy as the only other tight end to catch a pass this season. It was an impressive catch, too -- going up and snagging a bit of a high throw from Aidan Chiles with both arms stretched out as far as physically possible.

We'll see how much of chance he gets since the Spartans haven't made as much use of their tight ends in the passing game as they should, but this also says plenty of what the staff thinks of Savoury. By removing his redshirt, they appear to be putting him in that third tight end role, ahead of guys like Wyatt Hook and Brennan Parachek.