Montorie Foster’s role on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” has put a former Michigan State wideout in the spotlight again, but the bigger story in East Lansing is the one waiting to unfold this fall: a receiver room with almost no proven production and plenty of players trying to carve out a place.
Foster, now fighting for a roster spot with the Seattle Seahawks, has been praised on the show for his grit, toughness and willingness to handle the dirty work. That kind of profile, Michigan State wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins believes, fits the way his room is being built.
If Foster keeps pushing and lands on Seattle’s active roster, he would become the sixth former MSU wide receiver to reach the NFL during Hawkins’ six seasons at his alma mater. Three of those receivers finished their careers elsewhere, but Hawkins’ reputation as a developer is again part of the conversation as the Spartans enter a new era under first-year coach Pat Fitzgerald.
The challenge is obvious. Fifth-year senior Chrishon McCray is the only returning wideout on the roster with more than a dozen catches in a single FBS season, and MSU is replacing just about everything around him.
“Guys are eager to prove themselves,” Hawkins said. “I think it'll be more of a collective deal.
We don't have the so-called big superstar - yet. But what I've challenged our guys to do is, this is your opportunity to introduce yourself to the world.
“We've got some really good players, guys that play fast, play physical, team guys, true Spartans. I'm excited about the group overall.”
The Spartans did have a featured receiver last season in Nick Marsh, but he transferred to Indiana for his junior year. Marsh, MSU’s second-highest-ranked signee this decade, is already being projected as a high NFL Draft pick next April if he declares after leading the Spartans in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns during a 4-8 season in 2025.
And Marsh wasn’t the only departure. MSU also lost Omari Kelly, Jack Velling, Michael Masunas, Elijah Tau-Tolliver and Makhi Frazier, wiping out 78.5% of the team’s receiving yardage and 80.8% of its catches from last year.
“I think the fact that we're overlooked right now is gonna be the biggest surprise to a lot of people,” McCray said. “I think we have great players in this room that (are) ready to really show who they are to the world. I'm ready for it, too.”
McCray’s path back to MSU was not automatic. He briefly entered the transfer portal before deciding to stay in East Lansing after a season that asked him to adjust to Big Ten life while serving as the No. 3 target. His numbers last fall were modest - 24 catches for 330 yards and three touchdowns - but he brings the most experience in the room, with more than 1,300 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns from two seasons as Kent State’s primary weapon.
That experience taught him the details matter.
“I learned a lot last year about myself and about just being a true receiver,” McCray said. “I think Coach Hawk taught me a lot of things about perfecting top of routes, working with the quarterbacks after to get the timings down of all the things.”
For now, McCray enters 2026 as the top target by default, but there’s no shortage of competition behind him. The Spartans are betting on depth and versatility, and the group fighting for snaps breaks into two buckets.
There are the veterans with thin FBS résumés: Rodney Bullard Jr., who had five receptions for 119 yards last season; Michigan transfer Fredrick Moore, with 160 receiving yards in 30 games; Notre Dame transfer KK Smith, with 161 receiving yards in 17 games; and Jackson State transfer Jameel Gardner, who has yet to record a catch. Then there are the younger options, players who have flashed at times but haven’t been asked to carry major roles: sophomores Charles Taplin, Braylon Collier and Bryson Williams, along with true freshman Samson Gash.
Fitzgerald expects the rotation to be wide open.
“I think we're gonna play a lot of guys,” Fitzgerald said. “I think that's gonna be a rotation.
It's not gonna be two guys or three guys; I think you're gonna see six, seven, eight, maybe as many as nine, depending on how we wrap up training camp and where our health is at. It's, again, when you maybe don't have an 'A', a No. 1, which maybe some people would call it, and you've got a bunch of kind of 1s, guys that are close, I'd rather rotate them.”
The new offense should help that plan. Coordinator Nick Sheridan, who previously coached at Alabama and Washington, described his system in spring practice as an “attacking, answer-based offense that features its play-makers.” It figures to lean more heavily on spread formations from pistol and shotgun looks, with more tempo mixed in after MSU moved away from the pro-style, double-tight, under-center approach of the previous staff.
Sheridan’s recent work at Alabama points to what that can look like. During his two seasons there, including 2024 when he called plays, the offense produced an All-American wide receiver in Ryan Coleman-Williams and a second-round NFL Draft pick in Germie Bernard, another receiver who spent time playing under Hawkins at MSU.
“I think a lot excites the group about this offense,” McCray said. “I think there's a lot of players getting put in position to make plays.
I think it's a really good offense to be in. ... I think Coach Sheridan is very smart.
I think the way he gets us open and gets us space to work with the ball is very good.”
Outside the program, the room’s resumes may not turn many heads. Inside it, the belief is stronger.
“To be honest, it's 1A, 1B, all the guys have done that good that it's tough to just pick out one guy, 'OK, he's so much better than the rest,'" starting quarterback Alessio Milivojevic said. “I think they've all done an amazing job playing together and playing with each other as an offense.”
In Other News...
Former Spartan Tre Holloman Took A Turn Michigan State Fans Never Saw Coming
Tre Hollomans path since leaving Michigan State has already crossed more than one basketball map, and it keeps finding new ground. The former junior point guard helped the Spartans win a Big Ten title before transferring out, then committed to NC State to play for coach Will Wade, a move that briefly pointed him toward the ACC and a fresh start.
Now Holloman has been granted a fifth year of eligibility and has committed to Grand Canyon University, sending his journey into the Mountain West. For Michigan State fans who watched him grow into a dependable piece of that title team, it is another reminder of how quickly a college career can change course once a player leaves East Lansing. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Injury Scare Could Shift The Big Ten Race
A routine exhibition took an uneasy turn when Michigan freshman Brandon McCoy had to be carried off the court after slipping on a wet spot and hurting his right leg. For a team already trying to sort out its rotation and absorb the loss of key pieces, any injury in late summer is the kind of setback that can ripple well beyond one game.
Michigan had already been navigating the absence of Moustapha Thiam, who was injured during the programs European tour, so the latest scare only deepens the concern around the groups early-season stability. Replacing production and leadership is hard enough before the Big Ten grind begins, and the margin for error looks thinner now as the Wolverines try to line up their new pieces in time for league play. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Stayed Unbeaten But One Concern Just Got Bigger
Michigan States womens soccer team kept its unbeaten start intact Thursday night, but the scoreless tie with Eastern Michigan at DeMartin Stadium came with a familiar kind of frustration. The Spartans controlled the run of play, piling up the edge in shots and corner kicks, yet never found the finish to turn possession into a breakthrough, while the Eagles goalkeeper helped keep the sheet clean.
For a team sitting at 3-0-1, the result still fits the kind of early-season steadiness that builds confidence, but it also sharpened the one issue that can linger once Big Ten play starts to tighten. Michigan State will get another chance to sort that out in its next scheduled doubleheader against Colorado, where the pressure to convert chances will only feel a little more real. [Read more 🡒]