Where MSU's Milivojevic Stands Among Power 4 Peers Entering Fall
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Michigan State's starting quarterback can certainly be placed under the "unproven" side of things entering the 2026 season.
Zach Koons of Sports Illustrated released a list where he ranked all 68 projected starting quarterbacks in the Power Four conferences this year. The list started at 68th and worked its way up from there. You don't have to scroll long to find MSU's Alessio Milivojevic; he's ranked 62nd.
He was also ranked 15th among Big Ten quarterbacks, ahead of Rutgers' Dylan Lonergan, Purdue's Ryan Browne, and Iowa's two-way race between Hank Brown and Jeremy Hecklinski. Ole Miss' Trinidad Chambliss was at the top of the list, and Ohio State's Julian Sayin's No. 2 ranking was the highest in the Big Ten.
Milivojevic threw for 1,267 yards during his redshirt freshman season with the Spartans, completing 64.2% of his passes with 10 touchdowns through the air to 3 interceptions. Most of those stats were racked up during Milivojevic's four starts at the end of the season, where he completed 65.4% of his passes for 986 yards, seven touchdowns, and two picks.
Thoughts on Milivojevic's Ranking
Personally, I think Milivojevic's mark is a little bit too low. Nearly 250 yards per game across four starts against Big Ten competition is pretty good. Michigan State only won one of his four starts, but the Spartans absolutely should've won two of those games against Minnesota and Iowa.
Milivojevic is also 11 spots behind Aidan Chiles, who is now at Northwestern and 51st on Koons' list. Chiles' potential is still always going to be undeniable, but at the end of the day, Milivojevic still took the starting job from Chiles last year. Perhaps having Chip Kelly as an offensive coordinator will be the change Chiles needs, but Milivojevic was still the better quarterback last November.
I wouldn't put Milivojevic in the top half of the list or anything, but seventh-worst Power Four starter is just not the level he was playing at last year. If he
There is always a chance that the sudden change at quarterback and the lack of film to study made it difficult for Milivojevic to gameplan for --- sometimes backup quarterbacks can get hot for a period of time for those reasons --- but there are a few reasons to believe Milivojevic can keep it up this fall.
Why Milivojevic Can Succeed in 2026
A lot of Milivojevic's success this year will depend on the time the offensive line gives him. MSU had one of the worst units in the Power Four last year. The Spartans gave up 37 sacks during the 2025 season, the ninth-most among the 68 Power Four teams and the second-most in the Big Ten. Milivojevic, despite only starting four games, was sacked as many times (16) as Ohio State's Julian Sayin was across 14 games and 14 starts.
Michigan State's offensive line should (keyword: should) be better this year. The Spartans gained a lot of experience and some depth on the o-line from the portal this offseason, and all five starters in Week 1 could realistically be either fifth- or sixth-year seniors.
Having Nick Sheridan for an offensive coordinator is another thing Milivojevic has going for him. Sheridan has a great track record at identifying and developing NFL quarterbacks. Sheridan has either worked with or recruited Michael Penix Jr., Ty Simpson, Jalen Milroe, Joshua Dobbs, and Mike White at different points in his career as a college coach. Quarterbacks coach John McNulty also has lots of NFL coaching experience.
Michigan State hasn't had a quarterback get drafted since Connor Cook in 2016. Getting that "program" quarterback that Cook was or Kirk Cousins was is one of the first steps Pat Fitzgerald needs to take to bring MSU football back to an acceptable, competitive level. Milivojevic's play last year and his eligibility through the 2028 season make him capable of being that type of figure for the Spartans' long-term future.
Milivojevic is still young, though. Plenty of Power Four programs normally look to the portal every offseason to find the most experienced quarterback possible --- seven of the top 10 players on Koons' list were added to their current teams via the transfer portal. Thirteen of the 18 starting quarterbacks in the Big Ten are former transfers.
The only "homegrown" starters besides Milivojevic are Washington's Demond Williams Jr., Michigan's Bryce Underwood, Minnesota's Drake Lindsey, and Purdue's Browne. All four other non-transfers were also full-time starters last year, further making Milivojevic's earning of the starting job at MSU more of an anomaly in this new age of college sports.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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