Greg McElroy dissects level of concern for Michigan State following key portal entries
Greg McElroy dropped his latest episode of the Always College Football podcast Monday, addressing a number of transfer portal topics coming out of the spring.
Of key interest around the B1G is a couple of entries from Mel Tucker’s Michigan State program. After utilizing the portal heavily since arriving in East Lansing, Tucker is now dealing with incumbent starting quarterback Payton Thorne and star receiver Keon Coleman entering the portal over the weekend.
Asked to indicate a level of concern for Spartan fans, McElroy downplayed the situation overall. He pointed toward the potential for the players to leverage NIL deals at their current program while also addressing the ability to replenish departures via incoming transfers.
“What we’ve learned a lot about the transfer portal is guys will use it to leverage their own NIL deals,” explained McElroy. “Now, they’re probably also interested in seeing what else is out there, can I improve my NIL deals? It’s a little like holding out in the NFL, so I wouldn’t panic too much if I were a Michigan State fan at the moment.”
McElroy did go on to point out that QB is a position of need for many teams around the country, so it’s possible Thorne finds a deal that he perceives as better at a new program after a QB battle with Noah Kim at MSU. As for Coleman, McElroy cited a large number of WRs in the portal, but it’s also unclear if teams view Coleman as a potential difference-maker at this point in the process.
Here’s McElroy’s full episode with the MSU chatter beginning around the 27-minute mark: