Michigan State’s wide receiver room is shaping up as one of the most consequential battles on the roster, and the outcome could echo well beyond this season.
That’s the reality in college football now: if a player can’t find a path to the field, he doesn’t have to wait around. So when a room is crowded, the depth chart isn’t just about this fall - it can influence who sticks around, who looks elsewhere, and how the roster looks a year from now.
At the top of the pecking order, Chrishon McCray is the only receiver who feels truly established. He started in the slot last year and finished with 24 catches for 330 yards and three touchdowns in his first season with the Spartans after transferring from Kent State. Even so, Michigan State still needs more from him after what felt like an underused 2025 campaign.
McCray is also one of three receivers set to run out of eligibility after this season. Jameel Gardner Jr., a late portal pickup from Jackson State, is another, and he and McCray were teammates at Kent State for two years. Rodney Bullard Jr. is the third after receiving a waiver from the NCAA this past Monday.
That leaves six receivers fighting for their place on the depth chart, and those players would all have the chance to return to Michigan State in 2027. Four of them are either true freshmen or redshirt freshmen, which adds another layer to how this room could look not just this year, but moving forward.
Early camp reps have offered at least a loose snapshot of where things stand. The first receivers working in drills most of camp have been McCray, Bullard and Charles Taplin.
That’s notable because all three are returning players, even though receiver looked like a clear area of need after the departures of Nick Marsh to Indiana and Omari Kelly at the end of his eligibility. The Spartans also lost reserve Evan Boyd to the portal, and he ended up at Iowa State.
Michigan State did address the position in the portal. Gardner is in the mix, along with Michigan transfer Fredrick Moore and Notre Dame transfer KK Smith. Moore and Smith are both redshirt juniors and have two years of eligibility left, counting 2026.
Neither arrived with a huge statistical resume. Smith had eight catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns for Notre Dame last season.
Moore didn’t record a catch in four appearances for Michigan in 2025, though he does have 15 career receptions for 160 yards and one touchdown. Michigan State’s social accounts have highlighted a few strong plays from both this camp, but their exact roles still feel unsettled.
The younger receivers are also a major part of the picture. Taplin, who appears to be in line to start, is a redshirt freshman with just one catch for eight yards last season.
Braylon Collier and Bryson Williams, both part of MSU’s 2025 recruiting class, are competing for snaps as well. True freshman Samson Gash, one of the highest-ranked members of the Spartans’ 2026 class, should also see the field and may be the fastest player on the roster.
That sort of rotation would mark a shift from what Michigan State has typically done with Courtney Hawkins coaching the receivers. Bullard logged 132 offensive snaps last season, the most among non-starters, including 50 in his start against Minnesota when McCray was injured. By comparison, Kelly and Marsh played 702 and 672 snaps, respectively.
Even if the Spartans spread the ball around and use six to eight receivers every game, keeping everybody satisfied will be a challenge. Alessio Milivojevic can only throw one football, and there simply won’t be enough touches to make everyone happy.
And the receiver battle matters even more because Michigan State looks likely to lean on the run more this season. The Spartans have four running backs who should get carries, and a more physical, ground-and-pound approach fits what Pat Fitzgerald will want.
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