2017 Michigan State Recruiting: Can the Spartans Reload?

This is a recurring feature leading up to National Signing Day where we will preview each Big Ten teams recruiting class and who each team’s best recruit is and who can make an immediate impact. We’ll go in order from worst to first from the 2016 standings. All recruiting information is taken from the 247 Sports Composite Rankings for both individual and team.

Where does the class stand?

Michigan State currently sits 32nd in the nation with their recruiting class and 6th in the Big Ten. In the East they are in 5th with only Indiana and Rutgers trailing. There are three Early Enrollees in the class at WR, CB, and TE. The TE early enrollee will be key as the position will mostly be relying on true freshmen or redshirt freshmen for the majority of the production.

How does the class breakdown?

There are four 4 star players in the class, 15 3 star players, and 1 two star in the class as it stands. This comes out to a .8550 class average or pretty damn close to an average 3 star (.80 - .8999). Mark Dantonio has taken 12 guys on offense and 8 on defense so far but the focus for the remainder is on the defensive side. There are still spots left so it could end up a balanced class. Dantonio has snagged the following positional breakdowns:

• WR: 3 (technically 2 with one athlete presumed to WR)
• RB: 2
• QB: 1
• TE: 2
• OL: 4 (3 Guards, 1 Tackle)
• DL: 4
• LB: 1
• DB: 3

Here is the full class, via 247:

Is the talent any good?

Yep. The Spartans have taken four 4 star talents and a lot of high end three stars that should see playing time on special teams if they don’t redshirt this year. If they do redshirt, I’d presume a ton of this class is competing for spots in the two deep as RS Freshmen and starting on special teams.

Who are they still targeting?

In short, the Spartans are still after another safety and cornerback in the class and they’d prefer another DT if they can find one of quality. They are targeting Florida prospect Naytron Culpepper and are currently in his presumed Top 2-3 along with Maryland, who had put him on the back burner due to class size limitations but now it would appear that recruitment is back on. They are still after Willie Rogers and Koby Cumberlander on the DL as well as they look to fill at least 3 more spots in the class.

Who can make an immediate impact?

Both TEs and the Guards in the class could see themselves in the two deep with solid summer practices but in particular getting Jake Camper on campus as an early enrollee at tight end will allow him to get ahead of competition. He played at IMG Academy in Florida and is no stranger to high end competition.

Up Next: Illinois