Michigan State football: 5 freshmen looking to make a splash in Saturday's 1st scrimmage
EAST LANSING — The first week of Michigan State football’s preseason camp is complete. Now comes a chance for young players to make their name.
The first scrimmage.
Already a few Spartan freshmen have jumped onto the radar of coaches, giving them reason to take a deeper look Saturday at the newcomers and how they might fit with the roster to make an immediate impact this season.
Here are a few MSU rookies (listed alphabetically) who coaches will be watching to see how they perform in the first scrimmage, with the Sept. 1 season opener against Central Michigan less than three weeks away:
RB Jaelon Barbarin
The additions of transfers Nathan Carter (UConn) and Jaren Mangham (USF) crowded a running back room already boasting returning starter Jalen Berger and veterans Jordon Simmons and Davion Primm.
Enter Barbarin, rated the No. 66 athlete in the class of 2023 according to 247 Sports' composite rankings. The 5-foot-8, 180-pound former track star from Simi Valley, California, ran for 1,333 yards and 13 touchdowns on just 168 carries over 10 games his senior season. That came after working as a slot receiver as a junior and finishing with 378 receiving yards and 170 rushing yards and tacking on 199 kick return yards — another way he might impact the Spartans this season after the departures of Jayden Reed and Jarek Broussard.
“You'd love that, I think we'd all love that, because his speed is a lot different,” MSU running backs coach Effrem Reed said. “He's probably one of the fastest guys if not the fastest in the Big Ten. He can run, he can fly. … The thing about him is it's going to be about slowing him down.
“Everything is full speed (for Barbarin). And at the running back position, it's all about patience and tempo — we're always talking about, 'Slow to, fast through.' So we've challenged him all summer and even now to slow his tempo down. He didn't have to read things in high school. It was just, 'Give me the ball and just let me go outrun everybody.' Well, this is college football, and everybody's a little faster.”
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DB Sean Brown/Chance Rucker
Nowhere is there more potential for fluctuation in the starting group as there is in MSU’s much maligned secondary.
How will sophomores Jaden Mangham and Malik Spencer — expected to take over for experienced leaders Xavier Henderson and Kendell Brooks — perform at safety in their second seasons? Which cornerbacks will emerge, with Charles Brantley the most experienced returnee, Dillon Tatum potentially the next star and more veteran transfers arriving to compete with a host of other second-year talent? Will veterans Angelo Grose or Chester Kimbrough stick at nickel back, or will the younger players emerge and seize their roles?
MSU defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton pointed to Brown and Rucker as two freshmen who have his attention enough to see first-team defensive reps at cornerback against MSU’s top offensive unit.
“We're trying to mix those guys in with the ones to see who you have,” Hazelton said. “Sometimes they can get stuck going against younger dudes and they look really good, and then you throw them against the ones and it’s, ‘Let's see where they really are.’ ”
LB Jordan Hall
Like Rucker, Hall enrolled in January and got his indoctrination to college and Tucker’s program immediately.
The 6-3, 235-pound four-star prospect impressed coaches throughout spring practice and appears ticketed for playing time immediately, thanks to what he already has learned, his leadership and his ability.
“He already knows the playbook. And he's in shape,” Tucker said of the Virginia native and IMG Academy product. “He knows what to expect from the coaching staff. His teammates know him. He can help the younger guys, the other guys coming in, to help them help them transition. And so he gets the chance to learn the system again over the summer during the meeting time that we do have. So when we start fall camp, he's getting the system, the installation, for the third time.
“(That) gives him a much better chance to be able to compete to play and earn a role out there. … He in particular was not a guy who seemed overwhelmed by the magnitude. It didn’t seem like it was too big for him.”
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DE Bai Jobe
Jobe also enrolled in January, arriving from Oklahoma via Senegal. The former basketball player impressed recruiters from around the country with his upside as a pass rusher, combining elite footwork and speed off the edge with raw power at the point of attack.
Experience playing football, though, is something Jobe lacks.
“With him being from a foreign land and playing football only a couple years, it's just so different for him,” defensive line coach Diron Reynolds said. “He's still learning the game, but his athletic tools are really unmatched. Once we're able to blend both of those deals together, we're gonna have something special.”
At 6-4 and 230 pounds, Jobe could emerge in a designated third-down pass rush role early as he learns Hazelton’s system and speed of high-major college football. Defensive end has been a major need for the Spartans since Tucker arrived in 2020, and Jobe stands out among the three four-star edge rushers in this class — all of whom could become difference-makers.
QB Sam Leavitt
Leavitt did not arrive until June; he's Tucker’s second four-star quarterback in the past two recruiting cycles.
However, the fourth-year coach late last month in Indianapolis made it clear the 6-2, 200-pound Oregon native will get a chance to compete with redshirt freshman Katin Houser and fourth-year junior Noah Kim for the vacant starting QB job.
“He didn't have the spring, so he's got to come in and he's got learn what to do,” Tucker said. “He's got to learn the offense, he's got to gain the trust of his teammates, he's got to be able to execute on a consistent basis better than the other two guys.”
Leavitt knows about competition — he’s the son of a former BYU linebacker, Jared, and brother of a current Green Bay Packers safety, Dallin. As a senior, he threw for 3,065 yards and 36 touchdowns (completing 69.3% of his passes) and added 693 rushing yards with eight TDs on the ground to lead West Linn High to a state title. Leavitt earned a number of Oregon state player of the year honors from national recruiting outlets.
“Sam was a very, very confident guy,” Tucker said. “He's got some high goals, and he was clear in recruiting that he wanted to come in and play as a freshman. And that's his goal.”
Bonus: DL Zion Young
Though he played in MSU's first eight games of 2022, Young slowly built up his snap count before his season ended early.
He emerged as the starter in a home win over Wisconsin before getting suspended after his second start at Michigan for his role in the postgame fight in the tunnel. Despite missing the final four games, the 6-6, 260-pound Atlanta native finished with 21 tackles and a sack in 183 snaps as a true freshman.
Both Hazelton and Reynolds pointed to how improved Young looks in his second season.
“That young man is really learning the game right now. He's learning, all the pieces are starting to come together, and he's able to see things faster and he's playing more freely,” Reynolds said. “Zion is a great talent. He's a long, long guy that can play on the inside and outside. So you'll see him on the edge on first and second down, and you might see him inside on some interior pass rush. His pass rush is getting a whole lot better. For as long as he is, he's really slippery.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football: Freshmen look to make splash in 1st scrimmage
