Next year's football team could bring more surprise players

Junior wide receiver Devin Thomas and senior defensive end Jonal Saint-Dic have a lot in common.

The junior college transfers were both huge surprises to the Spartan football team this year. Both were used rarely by former head coach John L. Smith, and both had record-breaking seasons this year.

But with Thomas declaring for the NFL draft, it’s going to be one-and-done for MSU’s top playmakers on both sides of the football – but don’t push the panic button just yet.

If the two surprise stars proved anything during their standout seasons, it’s that when the right people are given the right opportunity, a diamond can emerge from the rough.

Just like the last offseason, head coach Mark Dantonio is leaving every position open for competition, much like it was when Thomas earned the starting spot.

“I don’t care if you’re a nonscholarship player,” Dantonio said Monday. “I don’t care if you’re a fifth-year senior. I don’t care, really, where you’re at in the sense of the program.”

That means the competition will be intense.

Wide receivers such as incoming four-star recruit Fred Smith, redshirt freshman B.J. Cunningham, junior Deon Curry and freshman Mark Dell will be fighting for the starting spots.

While Dell may not have lived up to everyone’s expectations as a starter, he has shown potential this year, catching 20 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns.

Smith, who was Rivals.com’s No. 5 top recruit in the state, has explosive playmaking capabilities. Dantonio said Cunningham, if he were not redshirted, would have been playing from midseason on.

“We’re going to play our best players and they are going to have plenty of opportunities to show that,” Dantonio said.

Who knows, maybe one of them will turn out to be another pleasant surprise.