5 Most Impactful Portal Adds for Michigan State So Far
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Michigan State's transfer portal class, which is expected to be massive, is beginning to take shape.
As of Thursday night, the Spartans have 20 publicly known commitments from the portal. The actual number of players in the class is actually greater than that. Head coach Pat Fitzgerald has tweeted out a "Pat Signal," a video of a neon green Spartan helmet, for every player MSU has landed. The number of times he's sent that identical post is a little greater than the number of public commits.
Transfer portal classes for teams going through a coaching change are generally going to be pretty large. That's largely out of necessity, because so many players leave. Forty-three players from the 2025 team are in the portal, and the number of athletes Michigan State picks up probably won't be much fewer than that.
With the class probably about halfway finished, here are five players the Spartans added who will have the largest impact in 2026.
CB Charles Brantley (Miami)
The glitziest move MSU has made so far is the re-acquisition of cornerback Charles Brantley from Miami (FL). Brantley had spent four years in East Lansing before joining the Hurricanes last offseason.
After only appearing in three games this fall, Brantley appears to have been granted one more year of eligibility from the NCAA. He'll use it at the school where he became a star defender. On3 ranks Brantley 137th overall in the portal and 10th among cornerbacks.
LT Ben Murawski (UConn)
MSU's best offensive line get has been former UConn left tackle Ben Murawski. He has one year of eligibility left as well, and he'll be projected to be the one protecting quarterback Alessio Milivojevic's blind side. Murawski is ranked 215th overall in the portal by On3 and 15th among offensive tackles.
Murawski's best attribute is that he is a mauler in the run game. His run blocking graded out to an 86.4 grade on Pro Football Focus, one of the highest marks in the FBS among offensive tackles.
RB Cam Edwards (UConn)
Speaking of UConn, Michigan State also picked up the Huskies' star running back, Cam Edwards. He was one of the most productive ball carriers in the transfer portal, rushing for 1,240 yards and getting 15 touchdowns on the ground. He also had 187 additional yards this fall as a receiver, along with one more score.
Edwards finished 15th nationally in rushing yards this season, pending the conclusion of the CFP. On3 ranked him 407th overall in the portal and 44th among running backs.
C Trent Fraley (North Dakota State)
The centerpiece (quite literally) of Michigan State's offensive line next year is going to be North Dakota State transfer Trent Fraley. After beginning his career at Marshall, pictured above, Fraley moved down to the FCS level and found immediate success. He's been the starting center for the Bison in 2024 and 2025. NDSU won the national title in '24 and was ranked first nationally entering this year's FCS playoffs, but was upset by eventual runner-up Illinois State.
According to Pro Football Focus, Fraley only allowed one sack across his two seasons at North Dakota State, where he totaled 795 pass-blocking snaps. Another fun fact is that his dad is Hank Fraley, the OL coach of the Detroit Lions.
P Rhys Dakin (Iowa)
Yeah, it's a punter. Getting an all-Big Ten player at any position is always a big get. Rhys Dakin was an honorable mention all-conference honoree this past season at Iowa and was second-team all-Big Ten as a true freshman. He's transferred out of Iowa and will follow his special teams coordinator, LeVar Woods, to East Lansing.
Dakin has averaged 43.9 yards per punt across his first two seasons of college football. That's behind Ryan Eckley's 47.7-yard career average, but Eckley is certainly no average collegiate punter. Woods has a great history with developing punters, and it's best to let him continue with Dakin.
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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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