2027 In-State Offensive Lineman to Visit Michigan State

Coach Jonathan Smith has offered another player in a future recruiting class to chance to visit Michigan State, while also staying true to the state of Michigan, inviting in-state OL Braden Chaffin to East Lansing.

Michigan State's Rakeem Johnson, right, and Jacob Merritt run a drill during camp on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, at the indoor practice facility in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

After filling most of their 2025 recruiting class, Michigan State and Coach Jonathan Smith are determined to fill Michigan State’s talent pipeline years into the future.

Along with continuing to recruit at a fast pace, Coach Smith also continues to express interest in players nationwide, with little to no concerns about potential players’ rankings. 

Michigan State football has begun offering scholarships to players in the 2025 recruiting class. They have also begun inviting players in future recruiting classes to various home games this upcoming season. Since Smith’s arrival, he has increased Michigan State’s focus on in-state recruits. He has added another recruit to the long list of Michigan natives as he invited an in-state offensive line prospect, Braden Chaffin to attend Michigan State’s season-opener vs. Florida Atlantic.

Chaffin, a native of Detroit, recently announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Michigan State formally extended the invite.  The offensive lineman is an interior offensive lineman prospect in the 2027 recruiting class. Chaffin enters his second season in high school unranked by 247Sports. However, that will likely quickly change for the 6-foot-5, 270-pound offensive lineman as he continues to develop on the high school level.

According to 247Sports, in addition to Michigan State, Chaffin has received interest from multiple other schools nationwide. He currently holds scholarship offers from Central Michigan, Marshall and Kent State. Similar to Michigan State, Northwestern has expressed interest but has yet to officially extend Chaffin a scholarship offer. 

Smith continues to plan for Michigan State’s long-term future by planning ahead and being one of the first major programs to express interest in many talented but currently unranked high school underclassmen. By expressing interest early, Smith continues to make a positive impression on recruits, which is critical when dealing with teenagers with plenty of schools on their heels. 

As Smith begins to lay the foundation of a new era of Michigan State football, being ahead of the curve will go a long way for Smith on the recruiting trail. He seems to understand that, aside from the transfer portal, the recruiting trail is where college football programs are made.

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