5 Toughest Players to Replace for Michigan State Football

Lots of roster shuffling is going to happen in the next couple of weeks and months.

Michigan State is under new management after a 4-8 season, and that means recently hired Pat Fitzgerald is going to have to make some moves in the transfer portal in order to get the Spartans back to a bowl game next year.

Even though MSU definitely did not live up to fans' expectations this fall, there are still some players who will be difficult to replace. Here is a list of five of them, in no particular order:

C Matt Gulbin

Offensive line was definitely not a strength of the Spartans this year, but center Matt Gulbin was definitely the best member of that unit this year. He's out of eligibility and is a candidate to be selected in the 2026 NFL Draft after being the highest-graded member of Michigan State's offense (min. 100 snaps), according to Pro Football Focus, netting an 82.1.

The natural progression would have Cooper Terpstra take his spot, who filled in for Gulbin in the season finale against Maryland due to injury. Terpstra played well and was MSU's highest-graded offensive lineman for that game (74.8).

WR Nick Marsh

The biggest transfer portal loss is definitely wide receiver Nick Marsh, who was Michigan State's top pass-catcher in both 2024 and 2025. He'll likely only be at his next school for one season, since he'll be eligible for the NFL Draft following his junior year. Marsh had 662 receiving yards and six touchdowns this past season.

MSU's leading returning receiver is Chrishon McCray, who was fourth on the team in receiving at 330 yards during his first year with the program after transferring in from Kent State. McCray has one year of eligibility remaining.

TE Jack Velling

The Spartans also have to replace top tight end Jack Velling, whose 359 receiving yards this past fall were the third-most on the team, behind Marsh and also-departing receiver Omari Kelly. Velling is one of the players who followed former head coach Jonathan Smith to MSU from Oregon State, and is now out of college eligibility.

Next up on the depth chart is Michael Masunas, who had 232 receiving yards and three touchdowns this past year. It'll be interesting to see how Michigan State's next offense utilizes the tight ends, since Brian Lindgren liked to have multiple on the field at the same time.

CB Malcolm Bell

Malcolm Bell was the Spartans' best cornerback this season after transferring in from UConn. He was actually the team's highest-graded defender, per PFF (79.3). He's also out of eligibility.

Next up could be Aydan West, who just completed his true freshman season that featured more and more playing time as the season progressed, and four total starts.

P Ryan Eckley

It's easy to giggle at a punter being here, but Ryan Eckley was extremely valuable to this team and was the Spartans' only first-team all-Big Ten selection. He's also likely NFL-bound.

Another reason is that the obvious successor is... nobody. The only other punter, Carson Voss, is out of eligibility. Fitzgerald will have to dip into the portal, and chances are that he won't find somebody as good as Eckley.

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