3 offensive breakout candidates for Michigan State football in 2024
The 2024 Michigan State football season is officially one week away and that means that we'll be looking for reasons to drink that green Kool-Aid.
The Spartans are entering a new era under Jonathan Smith which comes just four years after Mel Tucker was hired. If you had told fans a couple of years ago that Michigan State would be running a new head coach out there, they probably would have thought that Tucker took a job elsewhere because he was being pursued by LSU following the 11-2 season.
But the Tucker era came to a crashing end with his firing.
Now, Smith takes the reins and is looking to find success early on but he knows this turnaround may take a little time. If these three guys break out on offense, however, I see the Spartans smashing expectations right away.
3. Jaron Glover, WR
I've been very high on Jaron Glover for the past year and when he hit the transfer portal and received some interest from Georgia, I thought for sure he was a goner.
Thankfully, he's back and Michigan State's receiving corps need him.
Glover had 14 catches for 261 yards and he looked like a budding star in 2023 as a redshirt freshman. He made some fantastic catches and really gave fans something to cheer about during an otherwise dull season in the passing game. But he missed four games. Now that he's back and fully healthy with a fresh system in place, I can see him rising up and becoming an absolute star.
2. Brennan Parachek, TE
It was tough to pick just three breakout candidates on offense because I truly think that the entire offensive line is going to break out with better coaching and the tight end room will be the best that it's been in almost a decade.
That means that Brennan Parachek is going to rise up and become something special while backing up veteran star Jack Velling who came over from Oregon State.
Michael Masunas is getting some hype this offseason as well, but I truly think that Parachek is going to be the next star tight end after Velling leaves and he's going to get plenty of opportunities this season. He had just six catches for 55 yards as a true freshman, but I could see him pushing 200-300 receiving yards and becoming one of the best young tight ends in the Big Ten.
1. Nick Marsh, WR
It would have been cheating if I chose Aidan Chiles here, but picking Nick Marsh feels just as much of a no-brainer. The true freshman receiver has been nicknamed "Megatron" and if he lives up to that, he's going to be a special talent in East Lansing.
It looks like he's already making noise as teammates and coaches have been praising him all offseason and he even broke out during the spring game for over 100 yards.
Marsh is going to be the next great Michigan State receiver and it feels like the lock of the century along with Chiles becoming the best quarterback the program has had in a decade.