Michigan State adds 3 in-state PWOs on eve of February Signing Day
The second National Signing Day is here, and Michigan State football has been hard at work on the recruiting trail. Coming to East Lansing without prior midwestern ties, head coach Jonathan Smith has nonetheless prioritized Michigan and the surrounding states since his arrival.
College football programs are allowed 85 scholarships per season, but programs can supplement their rosters with preferred walk-ons, players who have scholarship offers from smaller schools but want to play at a big program like Michigan State. These players are important for various reasons. They play a large role in practice by filling up scout teams and help with overall roster development. Oftentimes, especially special teams players, the best of a program’s walk-ons will eventually earn a scholarship.
Smith has an intimate understanding of the value walk-ons bring to a program, as he himself was a walk-on at Oregon State before winning the Beavers’ starting quarterback job. Now, in his first recruiting cycle at MSU, Smith and his staff added three preferred walk-ons the day prior to the February signing period.
The first addition was in Michigan State’s own backyard, with East Lansing (Mich.) tight end Charlie Baker. At 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds, Baker played both wide receiver and tight end during his senior year, amassed over 900 receiving yards and was named to the Lansing State Journal’s area “Dream Team”. The East Lansing native held an FCS offer from Valporasio but chose to stay home and add to the Spartans tight end room.
Continuing on offense, Michigan State also added Traverse City (Mich.) West offensive lineman Kyler Brunan. The 6-foot-4, 275-pound tackle was a MHSFCA Dream Team and All-State selection across all divisions, and was previously committed to play at Army. Holding FBS, FCS and Division II offers, Brunan decided to stay in state and join the Spartans. Michigan State has added quality walk-ons on the offensive line in the past and, with time to develop, Brunan could give the program some needed depth at the line of scrimmage.
Defensively, the Spartans added Midland (Mich.) Dow defensive lineman Mason Nickel. At 6-foot-2 and 265 pounds, Nickel was named first team All-Defense in the Saginaw Valley League. He held offers from Division II programs such as Ferris State, Saginaw Valley State, and Michigan Tech. If Nickel was two inches taller, he would likely hold offers from Division I programs. The Spartans have been thin on the edge the last two seasons and adding a quality walk-on could be beneficial for depth.
Preferred walk-ons often check several boxes of a potential Division I player, but usually need more development. They may lack certain physical characteristics such as height, frame, speed, technique that major programs look for, but sometimes these prospects just flying under the radar during their high school careers.
Choosing to walk-on for the spartans over scholarships from other schools shows how much these players want to be part of this program. Many walk-ons grew up fans of their school and followed their dream of playing for Michigan State. That appears to be the case with Baker, Brunan and Nickel. They won’t be on campus until this summer, but they could be names to look out for in the upcoming years given time in MSU’s strength and conditioning program.
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