Antonio Gates Jr.'s return is important for Michigan State football

Earlier this week, Antonio Gates Jr. entered his name into the transfer portal, leaving Michigan State football fans in shock. He seemingly had a strong spring, but maybe Nick Marsh's performance in the Spring Showcase was enough to make him think twice about his spot on the depth chart.

Like most fans, I was trying to justify why this departure wouldn't be a bad thing for the Spartans, but I had a hard time because I thought he showed a lot of promise.

Although he had just five catches for 82 yards and a touchdown last season as a redshirt freshman, I expected him to crack the playing rotation this year and put up some career numbers. I expected a breakout season from the former four-star receiver and son of NFL legend Antonio Gates.

So when he decided to withdraw his name from the portal on Friday, I was both surprised and ecstatic. He brings not only depth to the receiver room, but also size and talent.

Michigan State's receiving corps can use all the help it can get and now with Gates Jr. back, it feels like there's a good core of young players. Marsh, Jaron Glover, Aziah Johnson, and Gates Jr. should all play major roles next year and I wouldn't be surprised to see each of them in the two-deep at some point. They're too talented to be sititng on the bench.

The receiving corps got a huge shot in the arm with Gates Jr.'s return and that just makes the offense that much scarier moving forward. And they could still add Ja'Varrius Johnson from Auburn.

This was huge news.