By Madeline Kenney >> The Detroit News

Offense

QUARTERBACKS

Keep in mind every grade that will be handed out in this series will be based on a curve to a certain degree. Aidan Chiles is a newly minted 19-year-old who came to Michigan State in the spring after dazzling in a limited backup role at Oregon State last season. He’s behind an offensive line that’s been battered by injuries and lacks experience playing together. All of these play a part in Chiles’ bumpy six-game start.

Some fans are calling for Chiles to be benched and replaced by backup Tommy Schuster, who’s completed 76.2% of his passes for 166 yards in garbage time. But that makes no logical sense when keeping the big picture in mind.

Schuster’s eligibility will run dry after this season, while Chiles will still have two more seasons to play. Given his relationship and trust of coach Jonathan Smith, it seems likely he’s here to stay. The live-action experience Chiles is getting this season and the ability to play through his mistakes and correct them in real time should pay off in the long run.

For now, yes, it can be maddening to watch.

Chiles will make a great play or have the offense moving down the field, then a turnover or a mistake will stunt that momentum. Michigan State is one of the most turnover-prone teams in the country, and Chiles accounts for the majority of the team’s 14 turnovers. He’s thrown eight interceptions and he’s lost a fumble in each of the last two games.

For now, yes, it can be maddening to watch.

Chiles will make a great play or have the offense moving down the field, then a turnover or a mistake will stunt that momentum. Michigan State is one of the most turnover-prone teams in the country, and Chiles accounts for the majority of the team’s 14 turnovers. He’s thrown eight interceptions and he’s lost a fumble in each of the last two games.

Grade: C+

RUNNING BACKS

Michigan State welcomed back its 2023 leading rusher, Nate Carter. The Spartans also added UMass transfer Kay’ron Lynch-Adams, who had four 100-plus-yard games last season.

Together, there was a hope that they could be the Dudley Boyz of the gridiron.

Each has had explosive runs at some point this season, but they haven’t been nearly as frequently as expected. As a result, Michigan State’s abysmal run game that has haunted the program for the past few seasons — and hit an all-time low in 2023 — has lingered into the Smith era.

Again, football is a team sport. It takes all 11 guys to be on the same page for a play to be executed as planned. A missed block or inability to open a gap for either of the ball carriers to squeeze through hampers progress.

Lynch-Adams has 338 yards on the ground off 67 carries with two touchdowns midway through the regular season. He’s averaging 5 yards per carry. Carter has 245 yards rushing on 58 carries — or 4.2 yards per carry — with a score. The production just hasn’t been at the level it consistently should be for the Spartans’ primary running backs.

Michigan State is averaging 349.8 total yards of offense per game. Only 34.3% of those yards, though, are generated via the run game. That’s an area the Spartans will need to improve in the second half of the season.

Grade: C

WIDE RECEIVERS

Michigan State lost its top stars after the 2022 season, which led to a receiving corps with no clear star power. As a result, no one saw 100 yards receiving in a single game last season.

This season, only one player has eclipsed the 100-yard marker: Freshman Nick Marsh.

Marsh and Chiles clearly have a connection both on and off the field. Together, they could find themselves as the face of the offense next season and beyond. Marsh’s biggest game came at Maryland in Week 2. He had eight receptions for 194 yards and a touchdown.

Marsh can be explosive and elusive. His athleticism partnered with his measurables makes him a tantalizing talent.

Marsh missed the Boston College game with an injury and the Spartans had taken their time with ramping him back up in the subsequent games. Still, Marsh leads the team with 320 yards receiving, putting him ahead of Montorie Foster Jr. and Jaron Glover, who have 274 and 150 yards, respectively. Redshirt sophomore Aziah Johnson has also made some impressive catches and plays.

Grade: B

TIGHT ENDS

Jack Velling came to Michigan State with a mastery of Smith and coordinator Brian Lindgren’s offense. At Big Ten Media Days, Smith believed Velling, a transfer from Oregon State, could be one of the best tight ends in the country.

Velling had a slow start to the season, but he has been better in recent weeks. Against Oregon, he had six receptions for 53 yards. Velling could very well be a vital piece in helping spark more production for the offense in the second half of the season. He’s reliable and can offer that extra sense of security for Chiles.

Velling is the veteran in the tight end room and serves as a resource from players like Michael Masunas and Brennan Parachek. That should bode well for the Spartans’ future at the position beyond this season.

Grade: B

OFFENSIVE LINE

The offensive line was one of the biggest question marks heading into the season.

Brandon Baldwin and Dallas Fincher were the only returning starters from last season’s group, though Fincher started only one game at center after Nick Samac went down with an injury.

Tanner Miller transferred in from Oregon State to be the team’s starting center, despite primarily serving at right guard in the past. Luke Newman, a transfer from Holy Cross, is also playing a different position, moving from tackle to guard.

Michigan State had two guards, Kristian Phillips and Gavin Broscious, suffer season-ending injuries in the first three weeks.

There was already an extremely small margin of error for the Spartans’ offensive line, but those injuries had shaved that margin even thinner.

It takes time to build chemistry within an offensive line and those gaps have shown in the group’s blocking this season. Michigan State has surrendered 15 sacks this season for a loss of 86 yards.

Improved pocket protection and being able to open holes for the running backs are areas that need to be improved for the offense to have more success in the second half of the season.

Grade: D

Defense

Defensive line

The departures of Simeon Barrow Jr. and Derrick Harmon via the transfer portal after spring practice wrapped up were big hits to the Spartans’ defensive line. But Michigan State has managed to make due without them.

Khris Bogle has been a staple for the Spartans up front. He has five tackles for loss and three of the team’s 15 sacks. Quindarius Dunnigan, who came over from Middle Tennessee State in January, has also been a good addition and Jalen Thompson continues to build off a solid 2023 campaign when he was only a freshman.

Michigan State has struggled to stop high-power offenses like Ohio State and Oregon in the last two weeks. Those are opponents who have some of the best talent on the other side of the line. Those are the games that Michigan State has to commit to the fundamentals at the highest degree, which the Spartans have struggled to do on a consistent basis this season.

In fairness to the defensive line and the rest of the defense, the offense hasn’t strung together sustainable drives in order to allow the unit to rest. Michigan State is ranked No. 64 in the nation on third-down conversions, having gone 30 of 73 in those situations through the first half of the regular season.

After the Oregon loss, coach Jonathan Smith acknowledged “it’s difficult” when an offense is struggling to stay on the field and capitalize on defensive wins.

Grade: B

LINEBACKERS

Heading into this season, the Spartans were excited about the versatility they had within the linebacker room.

Jordan Hall, Jordan Turner, Cal Haladay and Wayne Matthews III have all had their moments this season.

Turner has been arguably the most impactful transfer the Spartans picked up this offseason. The former Wisconsin linebacker has made a seamless transition to Michigan State — so much so that his teammates voted him to be one of the five captains.

Along with being a leader and trusted voice amongst the group, Turner has been disruptive on the field, too. He leads the team with 37 tackles, including 22 solo stops. He also has a team-best 6.5 tackles for loss, including three sacks, to go with two quarterback hurries and an interception.

Michigan State ranks No. 60 in the nation and No. 12 among the Big Ten in rush defense, surrendering 130.8 yards per game.

Similar to the secondary, though, there have been multiple occasions of slipped tackles, where the Spartans didn’t wrap well enough to pull a ball carrier down.

Grade: B

SECONDARY

Michigan State’s defense has been a bright spot this season. The Spartans have made several goal-line stops that took some serious grit, and they’ve also had a flurry of touchdown-saving takeaways.

The most exciting highlight came against Prairie View A&M when Charles Brantley intercepted a pass in the end zone and ran it 100 yards to take it to the house.

Brantley had one of the Spartans’ two end zone picks against Oregon’s highly accurate quarterback, Dillon Gabriel. Malik Spencer had the other one, making up for the dropped interception he almost corralled in the end zone the week prior against Ohio State.

Brantley, Spencer, Nikai Martinez and Angelo Grose have been among the Spartans’ most disruptive defensive backs. Brantley has snagged three of the team’s seven interceptions this season. He also has 23 tackles and a team-high five pass breakups.

Spencer has registered 29 tackles, two pass breakups and a forced fumble.

The Spartans rank No. 51 in the nation for pass defense. They’ve allowed opposing quarterbacks to convert on 62.7% of their passes for 1,194 yards and nine touchdowns in six games.

Grade: B+

SPECIAL TEAMS

The special teams had two key players returning this season — punter Ryan Eckley and kicker Jonathan Kim. Both were arguably the most consistent players in 2023.

There’s been a few special teams faux pas this season. Kim missed an extra-point attempt against Prairie View A&M, Eckley had a bad punt against Ohio State and Kay’ron Lynch-Adams fumbled a kickoff return near the end zone at Boston College.

But other than those three glaring mistakes, Michigan State has been rather solid on special teams. Kim has converted on 11 of 12 extra-point attempts and has gone 9-for-9 on field goal tries. He booted a 37-yard game-winning field goal in the final seconds of the Spartans’ win at Maryland. Kim has also split the uprights on his two attempts from 50-plus yards, converting on a season-high 51-yarder against Boston College.

Meanwhile, Eckley is once again among the nation’s best punters. His 47.96 yard average on 23 punts this season ranks No. 4 in the country.

While Kim and Eckley have been solid, the kick returners are what drops the special team grade down.

Losing Alante Brown in the first game of the season with an injury complicated the Spartans’ plans for kick returners.

Lynch-Adams’ fumble on the first play of the second half against Boston College was bad. The defense helped bail the special teams snafu out, holding the Eagles to a field goal, despite starting the drive on Michigan State’s 5-yard line.

Michigan State’s 14.67 yards per kickoff return ranks No. 123 in the nation and is the third fewest among Big Ten teams.

Montorie Foster Jr. has been deployed as a punt returner on a few occasions this season. His season-long 24-yard return was against Prairie View A&M.

Grade: B-