Pat Fitzgerald is not done adding to his big board in the 2027 recruiting class despite summer visits taking place next weekend. The first-year Michigan State coach is still extending offers and scheduling new visits on a daily basis.
Unfortunately, he’s also lost a crucial visit from four-star edge rusher Myles Smith but we won’t get into that right now. We’re focusing on the positives.
Michigan State added another prospect to its recruiting board on Saturday with an offer to three-star tight end Ryan Pankey from Colorado. He’s one of the lower-rated recruits that Fitzgerald and the Spartans are currently after, but the head coach clearly sees something he likes. Not only did he offer Pankey on Saturday, but he locked in an official visit with the Colorado-based prospect.
According to his 247Sports page, Pankey will be visiting East Lansing on June 5 which is his first and only scheduled trip over the next month. He’s also been offered by programs like Oregon State and Washington State but he has yet to plan a visit to either school.
It’s possible that the three-star tight end is waiting for that offer from Colorado but Michigan State has jumped to the lead as his best offer and there’s a decent chance that the Spartans close on him quickly. I’d say the confidence level is high after getting a visit planned hours after receiving an offer.
Pankey is the No. 1,328 prospect in the 2027 class as well as No. 108 athlete but he’s being projected as a tight end at the next level although he could also play defensive end.
Per 247Sports, he had just five receptions for 66 yards in 2025 but on the defensive side of the ball he had 84 tackles, 28 tackles for loss, and three sacks. Those are some video game-like numbers from the 6-foot-6, 230-pound tight end.
It’s time for TE to become a strength again at Michigan State
It’s been years since Michigan State last had a legitimate All-Big Ten caliber tight end. While the Spartans have had some talent there over the past few years, none of them really stood out as NFL players outside of Jack Velling and Michael Masunas, but both are moving on this offseason — Velling to the NFL and Masunas to a transfer.
There was promise with Masunas at tight end but after his abrupt departure, it might be on a guy like Jayden Savoury to turn things around.
Josiah Price may be the last tight end who I believe was going to be an NFL Draft pick and was playing at an All-Big Ten level, and that was in 2016. Since then, it’s been a rough go of things for the past two coaching staffs, We’ve heard for years that tight end was going to become a focal point for the Spartans but they never acted on it.
It’s starting to feel like this staff is taking the tight end position seriously — finally.
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