Michigan State Football: A look at the potential 2024 offense

After some big moves by Jonathan Smith, let’s take a peak at what the 2024 Michigan State football offense may look like.

Evidently, a few months can make a lot of difference. The Jonathan Smith era is upon us with Michigan State football, and with it comes a team featuring a new-look offense. This group boasts a lot of youth, talent, and new blood, and fans have reason to be excited about what we’re going to watch next fall.

Here’s a preview of how I think this unit is going to look in 2024.

QB: Aidan Chiles

The highest profile player addition of the offseason, new quarterback Aidan Chiles should be a difference-maker at the position. The former top-60 recruit played sparingly behind veteran DJ Uiagalelei at Oregon State last year, recording 388 total yards and seven total touchdowns as a true freshman. He then chose to follow head coach Jonathan Smith to East Lansing, and is now the unquestioned leader of the MSU offense. While it’s true that he’s unproven, Chiles just oozes potential — his ceiling is sky-high, and he looked promising in his first season. He’s also a true dual-threat quarterback, and it’s been a long time since Michigan State football had a weapon like that.

While there may be some bumps in the road — as is to be expected with any young transfer — fans have plenty of reasons to be confident with Chiles at the helm. He’s going to bring a whole new dimension to this offense, and it should be a lot of fun to watch.

RB: Nathan Carter, Jalen Berger

The running back room looks to be a strength of the offense this year. Nathan Carter was MSU’s bellcow in 2023, racking up nearly 800 yards and four scores on 4.3 yards per carry. Jalen Berger, although he missed almost all of 2023 with an injury, did record close to 700 yards plus six touchdowns on 4.6 a carry the year before. Both guys could conceivably serve as lead backs on their own, but MSU’s embarrassment of riches at the position allows the workload to be more balanced. The Spartans have two legitimate RB1-caliber guys. Having both Carter and Berger available at once will be massive for the offense — MSU’s rushing attack should be lethal this year.

WR: Jaron Glover, Montorie Foster, TJ Sheffield, Nick Marsh, Antonio Gates Jr.

The picture we currently have of the receiver room is pretty murky. There’s a lot of youth and unproven players, and while that’s exciting, it makes it difficult for me to project a starting three. Montorie Foster led MSU in both yards & catches this past year, so it seems probable that he’ll continue to start. Jaron Glover, meanwhile, wasn’t as effective but still showed a lot to like — he’ll presumably get plenty of playing time as well. TJ Sheffield is a veteran Purdue transfer who put up solid numbers this past season, so he’s also in line for some snaps. Nick Marsh and Antonio Gates Jr., on the other hand, are wild cards. A true freshman and redshirt freshman, respectively, the pair has a lot of upside as two former four-star recruits. They’re unproven to be sure, but seeing either or both of these guys getting significant work this year wouldn’t surprise me at all.

Overall, though, we’re just going to have to wait and see what this room looks like when the season actually arrives. I’m confident in saying that we’ll get a lot of production from the group, but it’s too early yet to say who from.

TE: Jack Velling

Former Beaver Jack Velling followed head coach Jonathan Smith to MSU, and the transfer looks to immediately make an impact. Velling recorded 438 yards and a whopping eight touchdowns in 2023 — both impressive figures. This combined with the departure of previous TE1 Maliq Carr seem to paint a pretty clear picture — Velling will be a massive part of the offense this year, and the undisputed No. 1 guy at the position. There are some promising younger players who will also likely get involved, but as it stands, expect Velling to soak up the vast majority of tight end targets. He’s going to be so helpful for new quarterback Aidan Chiles, especially as a safety net.

Offensive Line

LT: Brandon Baldwin
LG: Gavin Broscious/Kristian Phillips
C: Dallas Fincher
RG: Geno VanDeMark
RT: Ethan Boyd

The Michigan State football offensive line has been a weakness for quite a while now. Mel Tucker could never figure it out, but fans have good reason to believe that Jonathan Smith and new line coach Jim Michalczik will be able to. At Oregon State, Smith and Michalczik orchestrated an effective blocking scheme, even developing a soon-to-be first-round NFL draft pick at tackle. The system worked to perfection, and the results speak for themselves.

It’s clear that the offensive line is a point of emphasis for Smith’s teams, and I don’t expect that to change.

MSU’s offensive line room this year is young across the board, which means fans can’t know quite what to expect. That being said, there’s a lot of talent to work with. Among other players, the Spartans boast a massive pair of 6-foot-7 tackles in Brandon Baldwin and Ethan Boyd, plus two promising young guards in Gavin Broscious and Kriatian Phillips. I’d hazard a guess at those four starting, but truth be told, the entire unit could look completely different than this on opening night — especially since Geno VanDeMark is back. I’ve simply projected what I think the most likely combination to be. In any event, this should be a transformed offensive line. Results may not arrive immediately given this unit’s inexperience, but this staff has proven they know what they’re doing. Success in this unit, for now, looks like consistent progress.

It’ll be very interesting to watch the offensive line sort itself out this year.