5 MSU Players Whose Hype Rose After First Fall Practice

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- There are a lot of moving parts and new faces (and corresponding numbers) to learn around Michigan State football right now.

Pat Fitzgerald's first fall camp as MSU's head coach officially began on Thursday morning. The media got about 15-20 minutes to observe practice in the middle of things. These five players made an impression.

TE Jayden Savoury

Young tight end Jayden Savoury stood out pretty quickly. He and Brennan Parachek were the first two tight ends getting reps on Thursday morning. Savoury is entering his second year with the Michigan State program and caught just one pass for 16 yards across his four appearances last season. The catch, which came against Boston College, was actually pretty impressive. The pass was high, and Savoury had to get up pretty high to pluck it out of the air.

That play was a flash of the potential Savoury has. He has a basketball background and a pretty large frame at 6'5" and 253 pounds. There's a pretty long history of tight ends with basketball backgrounds doing well (see Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez, and Jimmy Graham), and it can be seen out on the turf with how Savoury moves. There is both a layer of athleticism and smoothness to it that not many young tight ends have.

TE Eddie Whiting

I was also impressed with freshman tight end Eddie Whiting. He and Kai Rios were getting reps right after Savoury and Parachek. Whiting made some noise during the spring, and it's easy to see why once drills started. Firstly, he just doesn't look like a freshman tight end. He's already got some muscle on him, and he also moves with a fluidity and assuredness of somebody older and more experienced.

Whiting's mark of a mid-tier 3-star recruit makes this feel like a bit of a surprise from the outside. He wasn't even the team's highest-rated tight end recruit this cycle; that's Joe Caudill. Still, Whiting had offers from Iowa, Alabama, Florida, Nebraska, and many other Power Four schools. The list of interested schools certainly clashes with Whiting's overall ranking, which is outside the top 1,000 in the country for the class of 2026, per the 247Sports Composite.

Michigan State tight ends coach Brian Wozniak runs practice during the first day of fall camp on August 6, 2026. | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on SI

Tight end was and still is a big question mark for the Spartans this year. They lost a lot with the departures of Jack Velling and Michael Masunas, and the only portal pickup was Ferris State transfer Carson Gulker, who might end up being more of a gadget player than a traditional tight end. This may mean tight ends coach Brian Wozniak liked what he had rising in the depth chart, though.

CB Andrew Brinson IV

Michigan State cornerback Andrew Brinson IV goes through drills during MSU's first day of practice on August 6, 2026. | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on SI

Cornerback depth is another thing I had my eye on this fall. One player who caught my eye is third-year player Andrew Brinson IV. He's flown under my own radar, admittedly, given that he missed the entirety of the 2025 season with an injury. Brinson played in five games and totaled 59 defensive snaps during his true freshman year in 2024, playing more often at the end of the year with MSU's secondary pretty decimated by injuries.

There won't be much of a competition for the starting roles at corner this year. It should absolutely be Charles Brantley and Iowa State transfer Tre Bell. Beyond that, though, there are questions. Houston Christian transfer Tyran Chappell seems like he could be the No. 3 corner, but there will be opportunities for another younger player like Brinson or Keshawn Williams to step in and help fill out the roster.

OL Luka Vincic

I didn't watch the offensive line closely enough to really see who impressed me, but it's definitely worth noting that interior lineman Luka Vincic was participating. Vincic suffered a season-ending injury last year in Week 3 vs. Youngstown State, didn't participate in the live portion of MSU's spring scrimmage back in April, and Fitzgerald wouldn't definitively say whether he'd be available for Week 1 or not last week.

Now, this doesn't mean Vincic will be back against Toledo. Pads are not on yet, but the lack of a non-contact jersey for Vincic is also notable. Either way, it's a sign that Vincic has made good progress in his recovery.

LB Adam Shaw

True freshman linebacker Adam Shaw is another young player who has gotten some praise. Fitzgerald said that Shaw gained "15-ish" pounds over the offseason, and that the same was true for Albany transfer Cam Stodghill.

Shaw is still on the lighter side for a linebacker at 223 pounds, but he was already a prominent part of the team's spring game back in April. He has some really experienced players ahead of him, but there seems to be a real shot that Shaw can see the field a bit this season.

More on MSU's First Practice

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