Montorie Foster Jr. is suddenly in the middle of a real roster fight in Seattle, and it’s the kind of opening he probably never could have drawn up a few months ago.
Not long ago, Foster was selling houses in the offseason as a “side hustle” while getting ready for what he hoped would be his second NFL season. Now he’s pushing for the Seahawks’ WR4 job behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Rashid Shaheed, and Cooper Kupp, with a legitimate shot to claim a spot on the 53-man roster when preseason ends.
Jake Bobo’s season-ending injury created the opening, and Foster has already started making the most of it. He was one of the more eye-catching stories on HBO’s Hard Knocks this preseason, and he backed that up in Seattle’s preseason debut against the Cowboys last week, when he caught five passes for 36 yards and a touchdown.
That performance only sharpened the competition. With a real vacancy now in play, Foster has a path to more than just impressing coaches - he has a chance to force his way onto the roster.
And the depth-chart battle could get even more interesting. With Bobo out for the year, Foster may be competing with two other former Michigan State receivers, Ricky White and Cody White, for one final spot. If it comes down to those three, that’s a showdown with plenty of backstory.
Foster’s climb has been a long one. When Mark Dantonio recruited him, he was mostly known as a basketball player, and he didn’t fully commit to football until later in his high school career. Once he made the switch, the talent showed up fast.
At Michigan State, though, the production took time to arrive. He had just over 250 total receiving yards through his first three seasons, and he stayed the course through the coaching changes from Dantonio to Mel Tucker and then Tucker to Jonathan Smith. He kept grinding, kept developing, and eventually turned himself into a much more polished receiver.
His final two seasons in East Lansing came in offenses that were, by any measure, mediocre, but he still finished with 89 catches for 1,164 yards and 10 touchdowns. Even without much help around him, he found a way to produce.
That’s the throughline with Foster: he’s always had to earn it. Now, after going from high school basketball standout to raw receiver to college veteran to real estate agent to NFL hopeful, he’s got a chance to win a spot with a team that just won the Super Bowl.
In Other News...
Michigan State's New Identity Could Show Up Fast This Season
With a new head coach, a mostly new staff and a roster that looks far different from a year ago, Michigan State is entering the season with a reset few teams get in back-to-back years. The clearest sign of where this could go came with the hiring of offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan and the expectation that the Spartans will lean into a run-first approach, one that fits the personnel on hand and gives the offense a more defined identity early.
On the other side of the ball, Joe Rossi is the holdover who offers some continuity, but even that unit could look different if the pass rush starts doing its part. If it does, the secondary may be able to play with more aggression and create a sharper edge for a defense that will need to find answers quickly while the rest of the program sorts through so much change. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Just Made Michigan States Title Path Look Even Harder
Kentuckys latest transfer addition gives the NCAA Tournament picture another layer of intrigue, and it is the kind of move that always gets noticed in East Lansing. Mark Mitchell, who has already spent time at Duke and Missouri, was granted a fifth year of eligibility and is now headed to Kentucky, adding another experienced piece to a roster that is already being built to win right away.
For Michigan State, it is another reminder that the road through March rarely gets any easier. Tom Izzo has spent enough seasons navigating the bracket to know how quickly a contender can turn into a headache, and Kentuckys aggressive roster-building only raises the level of competition the Spartans may have to clear if they want to make a deep run next spring. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Has A Few Final Camp Battles Fans Need To Watch
The final week of fall camp is giving several Michigan State players one last chance to push their way into bigger roles before the season opener, and the pressure is spread across both sides of the ball. At receiver, KK Smith and Fredrick Moore are among the names worth watching as the Spartans sort out their options, while tight end Brennan Parachek is also trying to turn a strong camp into a more secure spot in the rotation.
On the defensive line, Derrick Simmons has an opportunity of his own to keep climbing the depth chart, and that makes these next few practices especially important for a staff still trying to settle on reliable pieces. For a team looking to enter the season with some clarity, these camp battles are less about headline-grabbing drama than they are about who can show enough consistency to earn real snaps when the games count. [Read more 🡒]