Michigan State Football Top 30 Players: No. 30 WR Samson Gash
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Football season is not that far away.
Michigan State is set to begin training camp in a little less than two months. As we count down the days, I’m going to count down the 30 best players on the Spartans’ 2026 roster for Year 1 of the Pat Fitzgerald era.
Freshman wide receiver Samson Gash is going to start the list at No. 30. We’ll then count downwards from there every other day (tentatively). These articles are meant to dive a little deeper into why each player is on the list and where they are.
Highly-Ranked Prospect
Gash is here because he’s the freshman who might be in the best spot to contribute right away. He’s not the highest-rated recruit in the Spartans’ 2026 recruiting class. That’s actually incoming Gilbert (Ariz.) offensive tackle Collin Campbell, who is at 196th overall on the 247Sports Composite. Gash is at 256th overall.
Campbell doesn’t really have a path to snaps right away, though. Conner Moore and UConn transfer Ben Murawski are holding down both starting spots. Rustin Young and Georgia Southern transfer Robert Wright Jr. fill out the two-deep, too. Rakeem Johnson is also a name to watch. Moore and Murawski both have a ton of experience, and all three backups have been starters at some point somewhere, even just temporarily.
A wide receiver doesn’t have the proven production or experience that an offensive tackle does. MSU is replacing its top two wideouts from the 2025 season. Leading receiver Nick Marsh transferred to Indiana. He led Michigan State in all three major categories with 59 catches, 662 yards, and six scores. Marsh could very well be a first-round selection in the next NFL Draft.
Also departing is former Middle Tennessee State transfer Omari Kelly. He had 47 catches, 626 receiving yards, and two touchdowns during his lone season at MSU. Kelly ran out of eligibility and is currently finding his way on the preseason roster for the Chicago Bears.
Lack of Proven Replacements
That means both the X and Z starting spots are available to claim. Chrishon McCray is back and has a firm grip on being the starting slot receiver.
The Spartans picked up three wideouts in the transfer portal, but none of them are shoo-ins for either spot. Neither Michigan transfer Fredrick Moore nor Notre Dame transfer KK Smith have been starters before. Jackson State transfer Jameel Gardner Jr. was the WR3 for his team last season while competing at the FCS level.
Gash provides something nobody else on the roster is going to be able to provide: top-end speed. He’s the state record-holder in Michigan in the 100-meter dash after running the race in just 10.41 seconds during his junior year. Gash didn’t get a chance to defend his title recently after suffering an injury during the MHSAA finals.
That’s something a coach cannot teach him. It’s also something that another receiver is going to match. So much more goes into being a wide receiver than running in a straight line very fast, but the phrase “speed kills” exists for a reason.
Gash’s electricity as an athlete means that Michigan State should be getting him the ball, just off the possibility of what he can do with it afterward alone. His senior season tape is packed full of plays where he simply speeds past both the corner and the safety for a big play downfield. Plenty of the ensuing throws were underthrown, and he also seems to adjust to those balls well.
When Gash had wrapped up his senior year, he had racked up 997 receiving yards and 14 touchdown receptions, according to his MaxPreps profile. That’s while playing some of the best competition the state had to offer. Detroit Catholic Central went 14-0, won the Division 1 state championship, and was ranked 32nd nationally by MaxPreps.
Getting Gash the Ball
Alessio Milivojevic won’t be able to just chuck it deep every other play, the way it seemed to go in high school for Gash. Corners and safeties will be skilled enough to prevent that from happening — though I imagine someone will screw up at some point.
Even though Gash is just a freshman, there are plenty of ways to feed him the ball. Screen plays can be run for him to try to get the ball into space. He’s more than a good enough downfield threat that it can be set up by previous play calls from offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan.
My other idea is to make Gash the punt returner. He did it at DCC and averaged 24.5 yards per return this past season. Gash could also be considered an option as a kick returner, but he did that less often in high school, and Michigan State also has second-team All-Big Ten honoree Kenneth Williams, the Nebraska transfer, there to specialize in that.
Really, if anyone can emulate the type of receiver Marsh was for MSU in 2024 and 2025, it’s Gash. They’re different types of wideouts (Marsh is a bit more physical and bigger), but it feels like a similar story. Both Gash and Marsh are blue-chip, in-state prospects who stuck with commitments to the Spartans after coaching changes. Wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins being retained likely helped with that.
Overall Outlook for 2026
Marsh ended up becoming the team’s WR1 very quickly. I wouldn’t project Gash to be the team’s leading receiver right out of the gate, but if he tops the depth chart come late November, it wouldn’t stun me. He has the speed, contested-catch ability, and is a good enough blocker, so he has a real shot.
Gash is starting a little bit behind, though. He didn’t enroll early like most of the other freshmen and only officially joined the team on Sunday. It’s one thing to be hungry for playing time; it’s another to do that while also officially learning a new offense for the first time.
There is also always a chance that some other receiver surprises, too. It’s a competition, after all. Perhaps Smith or Moore were underutilized at Notre Dame and Michigan, respectively. Maybe Rodney Bullard Jr. makes a jump (if the NCAA lets him by granting him a waiver). Perhaps one of Michigan State’s three redshirt freshmen will leap up the depth chart.
That’s why Gash is here, but not a little higher. His position on the totem pole could be much, much higher in a few months, but his freshman status and the other unknown variables in the room make me hesitate to push him up.
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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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