MSU Football Offers Intriguing EDGE Prospect
Michigan State has offered 2026 edge rusher Kamren Johnson of Virginia Beach. Johnson is a three-star for Green Run High School and a 6-foot-4, 225-pound prospect.
He announced the offer on social media on Tuesday.
Johnson's offer carries a lot of intrigue based on the ongoing trend with the Spartans' targeting of the stand-up rush end position, which he fits the profile for.
I am truly blessed to receive An offer from Michigan state football ‼️ @MSU_Football @ChadWilt @CoachShaunJames @QPayton @rio @RivalsFriedman @One11Recruiting @On3Recruits @NCAAFNation247 @adamgorney @BrianDohn247 @MohrRecruiting @rio @eilharoldsr pic.twitter.com/UnzGJNhHqk
— 3⭐️Kamren Johnson (@Kamnrex) January 7, 2025
Michigan State has mostly pursued the rush end position in the transfer portal. That, or veteran players like Jordan Hall or Khris Bogle have filled the roles. Even Michigan State's 2025 transfer portal haul has rush end talent written all over it.
It could be quite some time before we see a homegrown recruiting trail prospect fill the position. For one, it takes a specific kind of athlete. Rush ends coach Chad Wilt seems to poach the 6-foot-3 and taller linebackers or the defensive ends on the leaner side. That leaves room for a wide variety of athletes.
Given the responsibility of the position, created with modern offenses in mind, that might be warranted.
"This rush end position -- we were talking earlier -- it's it's a hybrid outside backer/D-end thing," Wilt said back in the spring. "So sometimes, he’s going to have D-end jobs -- play over tight end, right? Play in the C-gap, be strong and sturdy and sometimes it might be ‘Hey, you're gonna be over this tight end man-to-man.
"It goes back to ... the jobs that they're going to be asked are very different. And some of those jobs you can't do from a three-point stance -- or, I shouldn't say can't -- extremely difficult to do from a three-point stance. So now we can do that from a two-point, and you don't know offensively that, 'Okay, hey, we're gonna be in our pressure package or we're gonna be in our base package here -- base calls.' So I think just allow those guys the freedom and flexibility, but then it also gives us, I think, another set of eyes that can see, right? Instead of having four guys down -- and those guys, once they put their hand in the stance, you can see a whole lot."
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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