Michigan State first year under Pat Fitzgerald is going to be for rebuilding and while the new head coach won’t admit to that label, he knows that it’s going to take a near-perfect effort from everyone just to make a bowl game.
The Spartans also can’t afford to take many hits, depth-wise.
So Wednesday’s announcement of a suspended freshman wide receiver wasn’t exactly something that fans wanted to hear.
According to reports, Michigan State has suspended promising true freshman wide receiver Rai’Shawn Elmore, a three-star from North Carolina.
Michigan State football freshman WR Rai’Shawn Elmore is not listed on the online roster and a program spokesperson confirmed he is suspended indefinitely.
— Emmett Matasovsky (@E_Matasovsky57) September 2, 2026
Elmore’s indefinite suspension is a hit to the depth of the receiver room ahead of the season which isn’t the best news, but he wasn’t expected to have an immediate impact anyways. While he is an intriguing talent at 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, he was set to be buried on the depth chart behind guys like Chrishon McCray, Rod Bullard Jr., Charles Taplin, Fredrick Moore, KK Smith, Braylon Collier, Bryson Williams, and fellow freshmen Zach Washington and Samson Gash.
There is still plenty of talent left over, but an injury or two could deplete the receiver room’s depth.
Elmore was the No. 218 receiver in the class, but he’s much better than that ranking. He was receiving some praise early in fall camp and he was definitely going to have a future role after enrolling early and getting comfortable with the offense.
Nothing has been made public about his suspension, but it can’t be good if his profile has been completely removed from Michigan State’s 2026 roster page.
Michigan State’s WR room should be fine
While losing a depth piece isn’t ideal, especially when the receiver room is fairly unproven as it is, Michigan State is going to have about 6-7 guys who could really step in and catch passes right away.
Alessio Milivojevic even praised the receiver room earlier this week when speaking to the media, saying that they’ll be able to rotate a few guys in with the starters. There are going to be some legit weapons in the receiving game and while some of us were bullish on Elmore, losing him won’t be the end of the world.
McCray is going to be the team’s WR1 and the rest will be up for grabs, but my breakout candidates have to be Williams and Taplin. Bullard, too, could surprise some people this year now that he can play a little more freely after getting that extra year of eligibility granted last week.
The receiver room should be fine, but Courtney Hawkins can’t be too thrilled about losing a young, promising wideout like Elmore this early in his career.
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