Michigan State football future is bright with freshman OL Rakeem Johnson

Michigan State football fans have to be thrilled with what they saw from Rakeem Johnson on the offensive line against Ohio State.

The Michigan State football offensive line depth was a concern coming into the year. That concern became an emergency in the first four games.

Redshirt sophomore Kristian ‘Big Dooley’ Phillips won the right guard spot in fall camp but went down with a season-ending injury against FAU. Fellow sophomore Gavin Broscious was the next man up. He played great on the road against Maryland and then proceeded to go down with a season-ending injury against Prairie View A&M.

At this point, the staff had to get creative.  

They decided to slide left tackle Brandon Baldwin over to guard and start redshirt freshman Stanton Ramil at tackle. Then Ramil went down with an undisclosed injury. Where does the offensive line go from there?

Enter true freshman offensive lineman Rakeem Johnson from the great potato state of Idaho.

Instead of moving Baldwin back to tackle, Michigan State offensive line coach Jim Michalczik chose to keep him at guard and give the true freshman the nod at left tackle.

Here was MSU’s starting offensive line against Ohio State:

RT: Ashton Lepo
RG: Brandon Baldwin
C: Tanner Miller
LG: Luke Newman
LT: Rakeem Johnson

Why is this significant?

• Rakeem Johnson is a true freshman who didn’t enroll until June
• Rakeem Johnson is a center
• Rakeem Johnson is 6-foot-3, 270 pounds

To put things in perspective for you, this staff thinks so highly of Johnson that they chose to take the true freshman who had been on campus for four months out of his natural position and start him against the No. 3 team in the country so he could face projected NFL first-round draft picks Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau.

Oh yeah, and he stood his ground.

Don’t believe me? Let’s ask Michigan State football coach Jonathan Smith:

Smith on freshmen playing against OSU: "(Justin) Denson's going to be playing." Thought he played well against the Buckeyes.

"Like how Rakeem (Johnson) and Rustin (Young) battled out there against a really good defensive line."

— SpartanMag.com (@TheSpartanMag) September 30, 2024

Ultimately what I’m trying to say is: MSU potentially has a very special player on their hands in Johnson. He has impressed so much that the staff chose to start him against a national title contender. That’s something to get excited about.

So far, Nick Marsh and Johnson are the crown jewels of the 2024 recruiting class.

On to Oregon.