Michigan State football passing game could get a boost from this one spot
EAST LANSING – On the side of the ball where Michigan State football bid farewell to its starting quarterback and top two receivers, Maliq Carr insists everything looks pretty much the same.
“The only difference,” the MSU tight end said, “is we throw less fades.”
It’s hard to believe that is the only change to materialize, and Carr’s comment captured the nonchalance he exhibited when he was asked about the look of an offense that no longer has Payton Thorne at its helm or Keon Coleman and Jayden Reed expanding its dimensions down the field.
“We moved on,” he said. “We’re perfectly fine.”
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To take him at his word means the Spartans must have identified at least one new bountiful source of output elsewhere. Before Reed left for the NFL and Coleman transferred to Florida State, they were targeted on a combined 45% of MSU’s throws, reeled in 44% of its completions and netted almost half of its receiving yards. They supplied horsepower in a passing game driven by Thorne, who handled 774 of the 818 snaps last fall — all but 44 — when the Spartans sputtered and coughed before drifting across the finish line at 5-7.
“Whenever you lose good players, it’s hard,” receiver Tre Mosley said last month. “But we have other guys on the team who are capable and have been waiting patiently for the opportunity. It’s not always one guy who fills in the shoes for someone who departs.”
Sometimes it takes multiple players to fill a void and perhaps even an underutilized sector of the team.
Cue the tight ends.
At times, they got lost in the shuffle last season, providing little impact within an offense that lacked oomph. The one-year experiment with Illinois grad transfer Daniel Barker didn’t yield much but disappointment for both parties. Barker finished with only 21 receptions, which ranked 42nd among Power Five players at his position and 12th among his Big Ten peers.
“It wasn’t what everybody wanted to see,” Barker acknowledged in March, six weeks before he went undrafted.
Yet Barker remained a key cog from beginning to end as he and former walk-on Tyler Hunt, a converted specialist, received the bulk of the snaps. Both players were seen as more well-rounded players than Carr, who was by far the more intriguing athlete.
Listed at 6 feet 6 and 260 pounds, he resembles a forward on the basketball court because he once was one, moonlighting for a bit on Tom Izzo’s Spartans. At times, Carr has shown his physical gifts. Last October, he torched Wisconsin for a 72-yard reception, beating a safety in the slot, sprinting into open space, then sloughing off a defensive back before finally being knocked down short of the goal line. The breathtaking catch-and-run was the longest play MSU manufactured from scrimmage that fall and showed why Carr has been billed as a secret weapon ever since he transferred from Purdue prior to the 2021 season.
It also served as a reminder that Carr has yet to realize his full potential, which has befuddled some and frustrated others.
As position coach Ted Gilmore said, “He just wasn't ready, in my opinion, the last couple years for certain situations.”
Gilmore elaborated by saying Carr wasn’t a trusted blocker, a no-no in a ground-based scheme.
Those shortcomings appear to have been resolved, so much so that Gilmore is optimistic Carr is at a point “where hopefully he doesn't leave the field too much.”
Should he stay out there on an every-down basis, Carr could become quite useful for MSU’s next quarterback, whether that is fourth-year player Noah Kim or redshirt freshman Katin Houser. With a unique blend of size and speed, Carr is a versatile option that can pose challenges for linebackers and secondary personnel alike. To take advantage of his physical gifts, offensive coordinator Jay Johnson moved him around MSU’s various formations last fall. Although he was slotted in an inline position 64% of the time, Carr also spent plays in the slot and out wide.
“I’ll get in the backfield if I need to,” he joked.
It was a moment of levity. But his potential significance to the offense is no laughing matter, considering Mosley is the only returning skill player who contributed more receiving yards than the 209 Carr did last season. Carr, of course, seems to understand how much he means to MSU, telling reporters he is cognizant not to add to the pressure he already feels from the outside.
Still, it is unavoidable. He leads a position group comprised of unproven players and new faces — from transfers like Boise State’s Tyneil Hopper to true freshman Brennan Parachek. Beyond Carr, Gilmore is unsure of what he has, which only adds to the mystery of an offense full of unknowns.
That could be cause for concern. But that is not how Carr sees it. He plans to carry the load as much as possible to mitigate the lost production provided by Reed and Coleman.
“I was already going to be a big part of the passing game,” he said. “So, nothing really changes.”
It doesn’t sound the same, however. After all, a tight end becoming a preferred target in this offense would qualify as a big difference knowing that a pair of wideouts often dominated MSU’s box scores last fall.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: MSU football could rely on Maliq Carr in drive for passing success
