Every MSU Football Player Set To Take On New Starting Role
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Michigan State is looking for leaps from a handful of players.
The Spartans have some internal promotions and some players from the transfer portal who could or should become first-time starters this season. Here's a quick breakdown of all of them:
QB Alessio Milivojevic
The most important "new" starter for MSU is its new QB1. Alessio Milivojevic was essentially Michigan State's interim starting quarterback for the final four games of the 2025 season, and he did enough to earn the permanent gig after Pat Fitzgerald was hired. Milivojevic threw for 986 yards, seven touchdowns, and two interceptions across his four starts.
Going with an internal promotion after a head coaching change is pretty unusual these days. Twelve starting quarterbacks in the Big Ten this season were added to their respective rosters via the transfer portal. Only Purdue's Ryan Browne went through a similar situation; he got elevated from backup to starter after a coaching change as well.
WR Charles Taplin
Wide receiver Charles Taplin seems primed to be a starter this year for Michigan State. He got first-team snaps during April's spring scrimmage, and he's been first up for reps during practice drills this fall alongside Chrishon McCray and Rodney Bullard Jr.
Taplin redshirted last season, making one catch for eight yards. He's quickly shot up the depth chart this offseason, though, despite being one of the lowest-ranked recruits in the Spartans' 2025 recruiting class. Wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins has raved about Taplin's speed and his improved body since arriving on campus.
TEs Brennan Parachek OR Jayden Savoury
MSU will also have a first-time starting tight end this year. The two candidates are redshirt junior Brennan Parachek and redshirt freshman Jayden Savoury. Parachek didn't make a catch in his four appearances last year, though he does have 14 catches for 118 yards. Savoury made one high-point catch for a 16-yard gain against Boston College during his first year with the team.
It seems like Michigan State will have a bit of a by-committee approach to tight end this year, but Parachek and Savoury are the two closest players to becoming every-down guys. MSU will probably play Kai Rios a bit as a blocking tight end, and Carson Gulker will get playing time as the team's do-it-all utility player.
RT Rakeem Johnson
The Spartans are set to internally promote one player on their offensive line. Three starters this year are new additions from the transfer portal. One other, Conner Moore, appears to be shifting from right tackle to left guard. That opened up a starting spot where Moore was last year.
Rakeem Johnson seems to be winning the battle there right now. That's a bit of a surprise. If there were a blank slate right now, the favorite would be Robert Wright Jr. He's a transfer portal addition from Georgia Southern and started at right tackle there last fall. Johnson has been known for being extremely versatile, but most of his playing time came at right guard last year, and he's only played 90 total snaps at right tackle in his career.
DT Eli Coenen
Eli Coenen is a new defensive tackle who Michigan State will rely on a lot this year. He was a real part of the defensive rotation at Illinois last year, getting 222 total defensive snaps and getting more playing time as the year went on. That was just the fifth-most snaps among Illinois' interior defensive linemen last year, though. Coenen is probably MSU's second defensive tackle this year.
Coenen has gotten a lot better as his college career has gone on. He began at Division II Bemidji State, redshirting as a true freshman. The next year, Coenen started in just one of his 13 appearances, making 5.5 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks. I like the power and speed Coenen will bring to MSU's defensive line.
Rush End Kenny Soares Jr. (Sort Of)
Kenny Soares Jr. has been a starter before, but not in the sense that he's a starter at Michigan State. The Spartans are making a big move late in Soares' college career by moving him from linebacker to the defensive line and rush end. He was supposed to become an EDGE last year at NC State, but some injuries made the Wolfpack decide to move him back.
LS Nick Duzansky
MSU's long snapper will also be a first-time starter. Nick Duzansky will be the Spartans' starter there this year. He appeared in a handful of games across three previous years at Oregon and was also once a teammate of Milivojevic at St. Francis High School in Naperville, Ill.
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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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