BREAKING: Michigan State football adds 3rd tight end transfer in 4 days
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Who says you can have too many tight ends in football?
It's become positively clear that Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker and TE coach Ted Gilmore looked at their 2023 options at the position and decided they needed to see what was available outside the walls of the Skandalaris Football Center.
On Thursday, the Spartans added their third addition at tight end in the last four days when Boise State transfer Tyneil Hopper gave his verbal pledge to MSU.
Committed 💚 #MSU #GoGreen @Coach_TGilmore @CoachRuffing @CoachCKap @MSU_Football @hopo125 @J_hopper38 pic.twitter.com/5nZKuDOCQb
— Tyneil Hopper (@ty_2_fye) December 15, 2022
This comes after Michigan State also landed commitments from Norfolk State transfer Ademola Faleye and Wisconsin transfer Jaylan Franklin earlier this week.
Hopper appeared in 45 games across five years at Boise State, making 11 starts. A former three-star recruit, the 6-foot-5, 242-pounder finished his Broncos career with 22 receptions for 259 yards and two touchdowns.
Hopper leaves Boise State as a graduate transfer and with one year of eligibility remaining. He took a redshirt year as a true freshman in 2018 and had seven receptions for 132 yards and two scores in 2021, and added 13 catches for 108 yards this season.
This offseason, Michigan State lost a pair of veteran tight ends following the 2022 season in Daniel Barker and Tyler Hunt, who each exhausted their collegiate eligibility. Maliq Carr, who is set to return as a redshirt junior next season, was the only other experienced Spartan tight end left on the roster. Carr had 16 catches for 209 yards and two touchdowns this season, after posting eight catches for 135 yards in 2021.
Behind Carr, Michigan State has mostly unused prospects at tight end — Jackson Morse (redshirt senior in 2023), Evan Morris (R-Sr.), Michael Masunas (R-Fr.) and Jack Nickel (R-Fr.). The Spartans also moved former quarterback Hamp Fay to tight end to finish the 2022 season, after having previously switched the former QB to safety. It's currently unclear what position Fay will play in 2023.
In addition to the three tight ends, Michigan State has added two other players from the transfer portal this offseason — Wisconsin cornerback Semar Melvin and North Carolina kicker Jonathan Kim.
The Spartans have suffered eight departures from their 2022 roster into the portal in wide receivers Germie Bernard and Terry Lockett Jr., defensive linemen Jalen Hunt and Dashaun Mallory, defensive ends Michael Fletcher and Chase Carter, linebacker Carson Casteel, defensive back Kobe Myers and kicker Jack Stone.
