2 Deep

[SparkCat]

I’m most excited for an expanded Colson Coon role in the backfield. I think he’s the Julius-type guy that steps in. Every carry he had, it always seemed like he was getting more yards than what my eyes would tell me he ‘should’ on the play. Tough runner that is hard to bring down on first contact. Like someone said above, I think he was one injury away from a much bigger role this past season. But fortunately for everyone that injury never happened.

I’m pumped to see Coon get reps back there. Despite not being the biggest dude, he punishes tacklers. It’s hard to describe Coon’s style but he’s the type of dude that just emerges from a large mass of tacklers with his feet still turning. I also have wondered how Valcin’s skills would actually translate to being a RB, I know that’s a big ‘what if’ it’s just crazy the amount of depth in talent this team has.

Love that we have so much depth still in the backfield. Assuming that Jared White returns, we have three strong, proven ball carriers. I will be watching closely to see if Malachi Claunch emerges during spring and fall drills. Big, strong, fast kid from West who had a great senior year in high school. Heard he performed well in camp, but hard to crack the lineup we already had in place. I assume he red-shirted this year??

I’m guessing he did. He had a few carries in a game. I also remember someone saying Breslin was really standing out in camp last year. We have a lot of good problems. I feel for White. Prior to his injure he was looking to be the man, post injury he has dropped a bit, however, I swear his little seam route they run once or twice a season is a cheat code for a TD

[AFCAT]

I’m most excited for an expanded Colson Coon role in the backfield. I think he’s the Julius-type guy that steps in. Every carry he had, it always seemed like he was getting more yards than what my eyes would tell me he ‘should’ on the play. Tough runner that is hard to bring down on first contact. Like someone said above, I think he was one injury away from a much bigger role this past season. But fortunately for everyone that injury never happened.

I’m pumped to see Coon get reps back there. Despite not being the biggest dude, he punishes tacklers. It’s hard to describe Coon’s style but he’s the type of dude that just emerges from a large mass of tacklers with his feet still turning. I also have wondered how Valcin’s skills would actually translate to being a RB, I know that’s a big ‘what if’ it’s just crazy the amount of depth in talent this team has.

Love that we have so much depth still in the backfield. Assuming that Jared White returns, we have three strong, proven ball carriers. I will be watching closely to see if Malachi Claunch emerges during spring and fall drills. Big, strong, fast kid from West who had a great senior year in high school. Heard he performed well in camp, but hard to crack the lineup we already had in place. I assume he red-shirted this year??

I’m guessing he did. He had a few carries in a game. I also remember someone saying Breslin was really standing out in camp last year. We have a lot of good problems. I feel for White. Prior to his injure he was looking to be the man, post injury he has dropped a bit, however, I swear his little seam route they run once or twice a season is a cheat code for a TD

Wasn't Claunch dressed out for some games too? He might be moving up the depth chart.

[MrGoodKat]

I’m most excited for an expanded Colson Coon role in the backfield. I think he’s the Julius-type guy that steps in. Every carry he had, it always seemed like he was getting more yards than what my eyes would tell me he ‘should’ on the play. Tough runner that is hard to bring down on first contact. Like someone said above, I think he was one injury away from a much bigger role this past season. But fortunately for everyone that injury never happened.

I’m pumped to see Coon get reps back there. Despite not being the biggest dude, he punishes tacklers. It’s hard to describe Coon’s style but he’s the type of dude that just emerges from a large mass of tacklers with his feet still turning. I also have wondered how Valcin’s skills would actually translate to being a RB, I know that’s a big ‘what if’ it’s just crazy the amount of depth in talent this team has.

Love that we have so much depth still in the backfield. Assuming that Jared White returns, we have three strong, proven ball carriers. I will be watching closely to see if Malachi Claunch emerges during spring and fall drills. Big, strong, fast kid from West who had a great senior year in high school. Heard he performed well in camp, but hard to crack the lineup we already had in place. I assume he red-shirted this year??

I’m guessing he did. He had a few carries in a game. I also remember someone saying Breslin was really standing out in camp last year. We have a lot of good problems. I feel for White. Prior to his injure he was looking to be the man, post injury he has dropped a bit, however, I swear his little seam route they run once or twice a season is a cheat code for a TD

Wasn't Claunch dressed out for some games too? He might be moving up the depth chart.

It isn't really much to go on, but I note that Claunch got a carry this year and Breslin did not.

[TomCat88]

I think msu will be better on offense in 2026 and special teams. The defense should at least be close to as good. Coaching is still up in the air but ahead of last season when both coordinators were on their way out before the title game.

I think MSU will be better in big games and the playoffs will all the 41 years and drought talk behind it.

[nanacat]

I think msu will be better on offense in 2026 and special teams. The defense should at least be close to as good. Coaching is still up in the air but ahead of last season when both coordinators were on their way out before the title game.

I think MSU will be better in big games and the playoffs will all the 41 years and drought talk behind it.

It certainly should take some pressure off, but then again it adds pressure to repeat. Hoping we can retain the rest of the coaching staff for another year at least! Seems like the team is set to possibly even be better this year than last. Fill in a few spots from the portal, maybe, but the Cats are so deep it's just awesome!

[ClowderUp]

On the RB conversation, I believe Coon is currently a lock for the #2. He'll be the next kid rush for 1000 yards at this school.

There will, however, be a truly epic battle for the #3 this spring. Anyone who loves the art of competition will love watching this play out. I predict it will be too close to call as spring ball wraps up.

[kwcat]

Here's my wild guess.

QB: Lamson, Duchien

RB: Jones, ???

WR: Dowler, Mady

WR: Steel, Woods

WR: ???, Hendrick

TE: Lencioni, Schlepp

LT: Zimmer, Thornton

LG: Rollins, Noble

OC: Mastel, Kaplan

RG: Carr, Winters

RT: Fleischmann, Ezekiel

DE: Crews, Brock

DT: Marsh, Asuega

DT: Black, Sharbono

DE: Solano, ???

LB: Grebe, Daily

LB: Taylor, Ahrens

CB: Carr, ???

CB: Boyd, ???

NB: Gray, Meredith

SAF: Dowler, Petre

SAF: Uluilakepa, Dolan

This highlights for me where I think we could use transfer help.

At RB, I'm not sure who they currently have who could inherit Davis' role. Breslin's name comes up and that would be great, but if he is supposed to have such a large share of the backfield next season, I would have expected him to receive a carry in 2025. Maybe someone will surprise, but I look for a transfer at RB.

At WR, they're in great shape but they would do well to add some size. They seem to value that role on the roster, as we saw with Alexander last year and King more recently. Javonte was the only guy left on the roster who fits the mold and he transferred out.

At DE, I'm open to one of the veterans or redshirts seizing the role (Vigen, Frederickson, Downing) or one of the linebackers changing positions (I think Grebe is best suited to the move), but I'm not really counting on any of that. The Cats both rotate the DL a lot and use their ends inside on passing downs to the point that if they added a transfer AND someone on the roster stepped up, they would easily be able to use everyone.

At CB, there are a few possibilities that occur to me but none of them seem super likely: Gray moving to boundary corner, Thomas moving outside, or Coleman being ready for a major role. But to this point, Gray has been a great nickel (exclusively), Thomas has only been a safety, and Coleman didn't see the field at all (to my knowledge) in 2025. So I'm operating under the assumption that they will need to add one or two to the mix. They have the opposite problem at NB and SAF, where there are more great options than one can fit on a 2-Deep.

The Coon slander!

Who does coon remind you of most?
I am thinking somewhere between Logan Jones and Lane Sumner hybrid.
He has similar vision to his older brother

[GoldstoneCat]

Here's my wild guess.

QB: Lamson, Duchien

RB: Jones, ???

WR: Dowler, Mady

WR: Steel, Woods

WR: ???, Hendrick

TE: Lencioni, Schlepp

LT: Zimmer, Thornton

LG: Rollins, Noble

OC: Mastel, Kaplan

RG: Carr, Winters

RT: Fleischmann, Ezekiel

DE: Crews, Brock

DT: Marsh, Asuega

DT: Black, Sharbono

DE: Solano, ???

LB: Grebe, Daily

LB: Taylor, Ahrens

CB: Carr, ???

CB: Boyd, ???

NB: Gray, Meredith

SAF: Dowler, Petre

SAF: Uluilakepa, Dolan

This highlights for me where I think we could use transfer help.

At RB, I'm not sure who they currently have who could inherit Davis' role. Breslin's name comes up and that would be great, but if he is supposed to have such a large share of the backfield next season, I would have expected him to receive a carry in 2025. Maybe someone will surprise, but I look for a transfer at RB.

At WR, they're in great shape but they would do well to add some size. They seem to value that role on the roster, as we saw with Alexander last year and King more recently. Javonte was the only guy left on the roster who fits the mold and he transferred out.

At DE, I'm open to one of the veterans or redshirts seizing the role (Vigen, Frederickson, Downing) or one of the linebackers changing positions (I think Grebe is best suited to the move), but I'm not really counting on any of that. The Cats both rotate the DL a lot and use their ends inside on passing downs to the point that if they added a transfer AND someone on the roster stepped up, they would easily be able to use everyone.

At CB, there are a few possibilities that occur to me but none of them seem super likely: Gray moving to boundary corner, Thomas moving outside, or Coleman being ready for a major role. But to this point, Gray has been a great nickel (exclusively), Thomas has only been a safety, and Coleman didn't see the field at all (to my knowledge) in 2025. So I'm operating under the assumption that they will need to add one or two to the mix. They have the opposite problem at NB and SAF, where there are more great options than one can fit on a 2-Deep.

The Coon slander!

Who does coon remind you of most?
I am thinking somewhere between Logan Jones and Lane Sumner hybrid.
He has similar vision to his older brother

I will quibble a couple places. I think Thornton starts at right tackle, Fleischmann stays at RG, Carr and Rollins or one of the younger guys battle for LG. I expect Valcin to have a role on offense as another move TE/matchup creator. He's a different type of athlete. He may usurp schlepp for #2 IMO.

[Catsrgrood]

My take on the OL is that the 3 returners will stay in their same spot as this year to have some continuity.
They’ll keep the left side together and have Zimmer at LT and Mastel at LG.
Titan will stay at RG where he really came into his own as the season went on.

Thornton probably has the inside track at the RT spot, but no guarantees there.

So it comes down to what they do at Center. Kaplan, Carr and I’d imagine Rollins will be in that conversation, but I could be off.

I don’t have strong feelings one way or another on what they should do, because my OL knowledge is a drop in the bucket compared to others, that’s just my thoughts on how it could play out.

[seataccat]

That is a really solid looking 2 deep that we can all be excited about. But understanding how college football is a game of attrition.i think our backup QB situation might turn out to be important, Lamsen plays like a LB at QB and even with a capable Coon behind Jones it might not hurt to to have another solid RB. The TE, offensive and defensive lines look great which seems like such a challenge for FCS teams.