Our position preview series continues on the offensive side of the ball with the wide receivers.
One thing that has been stable for Michigan State football over the last several years is Courtney Hawkins, who is set to begin his seventh season coaching MSU’s wideouts. Pat Fitzgerald will be the fifth head coach Hawkins has worked under at MSU, having been here for the end of the Mark Dantonio era before serving on the staffs of Mel Tucker, Harlon Barnett (interim), and Jonathan Smith.
Join the conversation!
Sign up for a
user account and get:
- Improved notifications system!
- Fewer ads
- Create community posts
- Comment on articles, community posts
- Rec comments, community posts
Michigan State brings back Chrishon McCray, who started to emerge as a go-to target for quarterback Alessio Milivojevic at the end of last season but, as we’ll see, there is not a lot of game experience elsewhere in the wide receiver room. The Spartans are going to need McCray to take a big step forward in 2026 while some other playmakers emerge, possibly from the transfer haul.
Let’s take a look at the departed players from last year’s team and then the returning and new players for 2026.
Departed Players:
- Nick Marsh (12 games, all starts, 59 catches, 662 yards, 6 TD; Transfer —> Indiana)
- Omari Kelly (12 games, all starts, 47 catches, 626 yards; Eligibility)
- Alante Brown (3 games, missed 9 games due to injury, came back for Maryland finale and had a 92 kick return for a TD; Eligibility)
- Evan Boyd (12 games, 3 catches, 54 yards; Transfer —> Iowa State)
- Shawn Foster (1 game, 1 snap on special teams; Transfer —> Central Michigan)
- Atticus Carridine (Did not see game action in 2025; no longer with the program)
A couple years ago, Spartan fans probably thought Nick Marsh would be the next great receiver to wear the Green & White and he was the team’s leading receiver last season. Marsh stuck it out during the coaching transition from Mel Tucker to Jonathan Smith but decided not to remain for a third year with a new coach. Marsh did stay in the Big Ten though, transferring to 2025 national champion Indiana, where he’s apparently gotten off to a bit of a rocky start with Curt Cignetti.
Omari Kelly, MSU’s second-leading receiver from last season, and Alante Brown, after an injury-plagued 2025 season, are out of college eligibility.
Evan Boyd and Shawn Foster opted to transfer after seeing limited game action in 2025.
Returning Players:
- Chrishon McCray (R-Sr, 5-10, 180#; 11 games, 5 starts, 24 catches, 330 yards, 3 TD)
- Rodney Bullard Jr.* (Sr, 5-11, 188#; 12 games, 1 start, 5 receptions, 119 yards)
- Charles Taplin (R-Fr, 6-1, 184#; 4 games, 1 catch, 8 yards)
- Bryson Williams (R-Fr, 6-2, 220#; 4 games, 15 snaps on offense, 19 on special teams)
- Braylon Collier (R-Fr, 6-0, 187#; one 2025 appearance on special teams vs. Maryland)
- Jack Yanachik (R-Jr, 6-2, 205#; played 3 snaps vs. Maryland in 2025)
- Nick Hardy (R-Fr, 6-1, 194#; did not see game action in 2025)
The Spartans return seven players but there just isn’t yet a lot of experience or production in this group. As mentioned above, McCray and Milivojevic started to develop a connection late last season after Alessio took over the starting role. Then, after the season, the Spartans were fortunate to hold onto the fifth-year wideout. McCray initially declared for the transfer portal before deciding to remain at Michigan State.
Bullard is the only other returner with significant game action but his actual ability to see the field this year is still up in the air. As of this writing, and with the opening game just a few weeks away, the NCAA has yet to approve Bullard’s waiver application for an additional year of eligibility.
In addition to McCray, and hopefully Bullard, the Spartans’ other returners are all redshirt freshmen with limited game experience. Charles Taplin is the only one of this group of five players to record a catch last season.
New Players:
To help replace Marsh and Kelly, MSU brought in three players via the transfer portal and it will be interesting to see if they can have an immediate impact.
- Frederick Moore (R-Jr, 6-1, 187#; 2025 – Michigan: 4 games, 18 snaps on offense, 45 on special teams)
- KK Smith (R-Jr, 6-0, 180#; 2025 – Notre Dame: 10 games, 107 snaps, 8 catches, 123 yards, 2 TD)
- Jameel Gardner Jr. (R-Sr, 6-0, 193#; 2025 – Jackson State: 12 games, 8 starts, 32 catches, 483 yards, 2 TD)
It’s also interesting that Moore and Smith come from two of MSU’s biggest rivals in Michigan and Notre Dame. But such as it is now in college football. Moore and Smith were obviously well-regarded coming out of high school to get offers to UM and Notre Dame, respectively but, after that, both struggled to find their footing at those programs. Smith had a bit more production at Notre Dame and could be a favorite to land a starting spot alongside McCray.
Gardner Jr. was a late portal addition and had a solid 2025 season at FCS Jackson State.
Four more new wideouts will join the Spartans this year directly from the high school ranks.
- Samson Gash (6-0, 185#; 4-star, On3 grade 91.13, #40 WR)
- Zach Washington (6-2, 188#; 3-star, On3 grade 87.1o, #121 WR)
- Rai’Shawn Elmore (6-2, 193#; 3-star, On3 grade 85.20, #233 WR)
- Colin Charles (6-0, 202#; no On3 ranking or grade)
Samson Gash is the headliner of this group and Fitzgerald had to work hard to hold onto him in the 2026 recruiting class. Alabama made a serious push to flip Gash, who did end up making a visit to Tuscaloosa. But, in an early recruiting win for Fitzgerald, MSU was able to keep the commitment from the highly-rated Detroit Catholic Central grad.
2026 Projection
Unlike last year, where the Spartans certainly felt like they had a known talent in Marsh and an additional big play threat in Kelly, this group brings a lot of unknowns without a lot of experienced depth, or size. Almost all of the Spartan receivers are within an inch or two of 6 feet tall. There isn’t a big target in this group where Alessio can just throw it above the DB and be confident an MSU will receiver will grab it.
As far as predicting the two-deep, I was initially going to go with McCray and two of the transfers in Smith and Moore. However, some early unofficial reports from training camp seemed to indicate Taplin, and maybe Williams, were ahead of them. If Bullard and McCray can line up in different spots, and if Bullard gets his waiver, then those two may be on the field together.
Expected Two-Deep:
WR-X: Bryson Williams, Frederick Moore
WR-Z: Charles Taplin, KK Smith
WR-F (Slot): Chrishon McCray, Rodney Bullard Jr.
Likely Contributors: Jameel Gardner Jr., Samson Gash
I think this is a group that Hawkins can work with and get the most out of, but you have to wonder how much not having a bigger body at this position will affect the offense. However, what probably matters much more than returning production or size for MSU is the the Spartans’ ability to protect Milivojevic and his ability to get rid of the ball and avoid the sack when protection breaks down.
Please be sure to catch episode 2 of Robbie’s new podcast, Red Cedar Rundown. You can subscribe to his Youtube channel for a new episode each week.
