FOOTBALL

Michigan State football: Are players tipping their hand in QB battle?

Noah Kim or Katin Houser?

Published

3 years ago

May 7, 2023

Chris Davis

The Michigan State football quarterback battle is going to rage on into the summer, but are players tipping their hand?

Two-time Michigan State football captain and quarterback Payton Thorne has officially moved on. After entering the transfer portal, he eventually landed with the Auburn Tigers.

This brings us to the Michigan State quarterback position. It’s now a two-man race between Noah Kim and Katin Houser.

Kim is a 6-foot-2, 180-pound senior that saw some exciting game action last year. In two separate games, he had to step in for Thorne and threw touchdown passes. Kim was a three-star prospect that has shown a little bit of versatility with his legs.

Houser is listed at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds. Katin saw only a handful of snaps in the 2022 season since he was third on the team’s depth chart. He was a four-star redshirt freshman that projects to be more of a prototypical pocket passer. Houser received rave reviews for his play at the Elite 11 Finals.

Each player has their own corner of the fanbase making the case for them. The reality is, though, we don’t have much to go off of right now for who the new QB1 might be. This leads to fans searching high and low for any clues they can find. And, we might just have some.

Since the transfer of Thorne, we’ve now seen multiple players on the roster throw their support behind one of these two: Kim.

A recent addition to the roster, Tunmise Adeleye, shared the following message:

NOAH HIM RIDING WITH MY DAWG

— Tunmise Adeleye ?? (@OTK4Ltunmise) May 7, 2023

Tunmise hasn’t been the only player to publicly mention Kim when talking about the quarterback position for the team since Thorne’s transfer. He’s just the latest.

In a recent article, Justin Thind 0f 247Sports gave some needed context to the quarterback battle. Houser has been juggling some off-the-field matters much larger than football. Katin’s father, Jonny, has been battling cancer. The Houser family is certainly in the thoughts and prayers of Spartans fans. It’s important to note this information because while fans want answers, this is a reminder that not everything is as clear-cut as we’d like it to be.

Fans should approach this competition with excitement but also with grace.

With that said, the guys that are on the roster are giving us the only thing resembling the tipping of the hand in the competition. It appears as though Kim would be the current lead bet to take the quarterback job. It’s a long spring and this competition is just getting started. Michigan State football fans will leave no stone unturned to get their answers but if I were a betting man, I don’t think we’ll have full certainty until the clock starts on Week 1.

Let the battle begin.