Elijah Collins

After a rough rushing attack from the Spartans in 2018, Collins assumed command of the running game early in the 2020 season and never looked back, registering 47 percent of the team’s rushing attempts for the season. He finished out the campaign with 222 attempts for 988 yards and five touchdowns and should be headed for another leading role in 2020. One thing that is new in East Lansing is the head coach after a surprising retirement from Mark Dantonio this offseason. Mel Tucker takes over and brings his offensive coordinator, Jay Johnson, with him. Despite having a senior signal-caller at the helm last season, the two combined for a rushing rate of 51.5 percent. That’s a higher mark than the Spartans employed last season, which could bode well for his chances of a slight bump in carries. It’s still tough to see the staff wanting to go too much higher on that number, so an improvement in efficiency may be in order to return better numbers.