Five position battles to monitor at Michigan State football training camp

Michigan State has opened fall camp for the upcoming 2025 season, the second in Jonathan Smith's tenure in East Lansing.

After a 5-7 year in 2024, the fall of 2025 is pivotal in the future tenure of Smith and the Spartans football program, with the team needing to build in the positive direction, continuing it's recruiting momentum.

With the need for such a strong season, the Spartans had a massive overhaul in the transfer portal this offseason, adding 23 transfers into the program, aiding the depth and creating competition within program. That competition has culminated into a strong sense of healthy competition in the program, leading to multiple strong position battles across the board.

Here, we will breakdown the five most intriguing position battles the Spartans have going on this fall:

Running back

The most obvious battle of the fall is also one of the most impactful. Running back is a fan favorite position, being a high exposure spot. MSU added veteran back Elijah Tau-Tolliver via the transfer portal from Sacramento State, and 4-star back Jace Clarizio from the 2025 recruiting class. Pair those two with returners Makhi Frazier and Brandon Tullis, the Spartans have four quality running backs vying for spots in the backfield.

Offensive guard

Coming into 2025, both the left and right guard spots on the offensive line are open, after voids were left by Luke Newman and Brandon Baldwin. The Spartans have five players vying for their spot on the offensive line. Oregon State transfer Luka Vincic and Western Carolina transfer Caleb Carter are the new faces in the mix, battling with returning Spartans Kris Phillips, Gavin Broscious and Rakeem Johnson.

Right tackle

One of the highest ranked, and most priority additions of the offseason was Montana State transfer Conner Moore. The Spartans beat out Ohio State in a head to head battle for Moore's talents. Now, he is anticipated to be the starter at the right tackle position, but he is going to have to beat out the returning starter, Ashton Lepo. Lepo stuck around the program, and after starting at right tackle in 2024, is going to fight to keep his spot on the offensive line.

Rush end

There is no way around it, Michigan State's pass rush in 2024 was abysmal. If 2025 is going to be better, the rush end position needs to be productive. The rush end position is the one true unknown in the Spartans depth chart and fan base. With the only returner being Tyler Gillison, a Cincinnati transfer that was injured for all of 2024, there is a host of new transfers that are involved in this competition:

David Santiago (Air Force), Isaac Smith (Texas Tech), Anelu Lafaele (Wisconsin) and Cam Williams (Georgia State) will join Gillison in the battle for Michigan State's starting rush end.

Kicker

The Spartans are looking to replace the reliable, big leg of Jonathan Kim this upcoming season. The replacement will be one of to men, Tarik Ahmetbasic or Martin Connington. Ahmetbasic is a redshirt sophomore that walked on to the program from Clinton Township Chippewa Valley (MI). He debuted in 2024 with an extra point make.

Connington on the other hand was a member of the 2024 recruiting class and spent the 2024 season as a redshirt, working in the background.

BONUS: Backup quarterback

Obviously, Aidan Chiles will be the Spartans starting quarterback this season, but the backup spot is not as cut and dry. After the departure of Tommy Schuster, the Spartans will be looking for a reliable option behind Chiles.

Redshirt freshmen Ryland Jessee and Alessio Milivojevic are the front runners for the position, while true freshman Leo Hannan will look to squeeze his way into the mix as well.

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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Michigan State football's five most intriguing position battles