MSU Makes Top Eight for NFL Legacy, 2026 OL

Michigan State football is once again on the brink of landing an offensive lineman from the class of 2026.

Quinn Buckey of Liberty High School (Bakersfield, California) trimmed his list down to eight schools, and the Spartans made the cut. He announced his top eight on social media on Monday.

UCLA, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Arizona State, Oklahoma State and Cal are the other finalists. It would seem UCLA and Stanford have an advantage, as he has family ties to both programs.

Commitment loading ⏳ pic.twitter.com/d0FWZbQOVM
— Quinn Buckey (@Quinnbuckey) May 12, 2025

Buckey's father, Jeff, played at Stanford from 1992 to 1995 and went on to have a four-year career in the NFL. His older brother, Zach, is currently a defensive lineman at Stanford, and his other older brother, Grant, is a defensive lineman at UCLA.

Jeff was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round of the 1996 NFL Draft. He would play 15 games as a rookie, making one start, before starting 12 of 16 contests for Miami the following season. He would only see action in seven games in his third season with the club before playing in seven contests for the San Francisco 49ers in his final season in the league.

Quinn is rated a three-star offensive tackle by 247Sports, which has him ranked the No. 85 class of 2026 prospect in California and the No. 74 offensive tackle in his class.

Less than a month after Michigan State made Quinn's top 12, he visited East Lansing for an official the weekend of April 11. Clearly, the Spartans made a good impression.

Quinn will announce his commitment on June 13. He also has official visits set with UCLA (Thursday), Arizona (May 30) and Vanderbilt (June 5).

The Spartans haven't had luck finishing the job during their pursuit of class of 2026 offensive linemen this offseason. They lost out on in-state four-star offensive tackle Gregory Patrick and four-star offensive tackle Kelvin Obot.

Perhaps their luck will change with Quinn, but seeing as Michigan State is kind of the outlier as his lone Midwest finalist, while also considering the family connections to Stanford and UCLA, it may be wise not to hold your breath.

Then again, Michigan State offensive line coach Jim Michalczik has an impressive track record that should appeal to any offensive line prospect.

Don't miss any of our Spartan athletics coverage when you follow the official Spartan Nation page on Facebook, Spartan Nation, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be sure to share your thoughts when you join our community group, Go Green Go White, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.