EXCLUSIVE: How Dominant Jonathan Smith, MSU Football Target Tore Through College Camps
The Michigan State Spartans under head coach Jonathan Smith will use their tight ends vertically and thus they will target the prototypical big, athletic "basketball" players at the position. Look no further than the 2025 class.
Three-star tight end Emmett Bork and then in-state No. 1 tight end Jayden Savoury are among the Spartans' 15 commits. Tight ends coach Brian Wozniak, who developed Green Bay Packers tight end Luke Musgraves, is looking to continue his success at the position in East Lansing.
A key target of Smith and Wozniak is 2026 tight Lincoln Keyes, from Saline High School. Keyes is the No. 26 tight end in the 2026 class, an the No. 10 prospect in the state, per 247Sports.
I spoke with the 6-foot-6, 240-pound tight end, who told me about his strong start to the summer at camps for Ohio State, Georgia, and Alabama. He was such a standout, he received offers from each of those schools. Now, he sits at 27. The southern schools stood out to him when he was there.
"I've learned that all the SEC schools have fantastic facilities. Stuff that really stood out to me at Georgia and Alabama is like, how hard the players are working," Keyes said. "Like I was there at 8 o'clock at night in Georgia, and they're still getting extra reps in. That showed a lot to me about how hard they are working and stuff ... There was a lot of good competition down there, I was really impressed with who I was going against I thought all of the guys were really solid."
As a top talent, Keyes is no stranger to camps and the pressures of being evaluated one-on-one in front of the top schools.
"I try not to think too much," Keyes said. "Just try to win my rep every single time, and take each rep one by one. Just win the first one and win the next one, and so on."
Keyes said he will be attending SpartanDawg Con at the end of the month.
"I'm just looking forward to catching up with all of the coaches," Keyes said. "I mean, we've talked a lot, but I haven't been up on campus in around like, two months. So it'll be good to get back up there and talk in person and just catch up."
Michael France is Sports Illustrated's Michigan State recruiting beat writer, covering all things Big Ten recruiting for Spartan Nation. Be sure to follow him on Twitter/X@michaelfrancesi for exclusive Spartans recruiting coverage.
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MICHAEL FRANCE