Injuries tested Spartans’ tight ends, but depth and fresh talent shine

Michigan State’s tight end room was supposed to be a strength coming into the 2025 season, led by veteran trio Jack Velling, Michael Masunas, and Brennan Paracheck. But a string of injuries – some lingering from last year – has tested the group’s depth and resilience.

After a 23-6 season-opening win over Western Michigan, tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Brian Wozniak acknowledged both the challenges and potential of his unit, highlighting players returning from injury, rising stars like freshman Jayden Savoury, and the work still needed to reach full rhythm.

With Paracheck out during their game this past Friday, Velling and Masunas played a bulk of the snaps on offense with 67% and 58.5% respectively.

Velling, who was held to just one catch for three yards versus Western Michigan was Michigan State's third leading receiver during the 2024-25 season. Velling missed most of fall camp due to injury. Wozniak knows there will be a growing period as Velling makes up for the time he missed throughout fall camp.

“We’ve talked about it a bunch in the sense of knocking off the rust and kind of getting back into the rhythm,” Wozniak said. “Not that I don’t do this with every guy, but I was just criticizing every little movement he had. I was criticizing, like, ‘hey, your hands are too low’, even if it was just a centimeter low. That is how we do things in the tight end room anyway, but it was one of those things where, typically, you could let it slide, so he can correct it himself – I wouldn’t let it slide. Just getting him used to where he was at the end of spring, which is where we want him to be.”

The tight end position group was not extremely productive in the passing game during the 23-6 win over Western Michigan, as they caught just three passes for 25 yards as a collective group. The rushing attack was effective for the Spartans as they were able to run for 181 yards and two touchdowns.

Wozniak liked what he saw from his players in some aspects of the game and knows they missed opportunities on others.