Couch: Connor Heyward's spring game adds to anticipation of Michigan State's backfield

Graham Couch
Lansing State Journal
Michigan State running back Connor Heyward drags defenders into the end zone for a touchdown during MSU's spring game Saturday at Spartan Stadium.

EAST LANSING – Connor Heyward seemed like a powerful kid. A bruising runner. A versatile team guy. A decent college running back.

That’s what I thought before Saturday’s Michigan State spring football game.

Now I’m wondering if he’ll be considerably more. 

Heyward’s performance in Saturday’s frigid scrimmage is reason to think MSU’s backfield could be special this season — with oomph and depth and different styles. It was intriguing before Saturday, but that had less to do with Heyward than senior LJ Scott and incoming freshmen La’Darius Jefferson and Elijah Collins.

Heyward on Saturday looked like a kid who should have the ball in his hands at least 10 times a game this season. The more the better for MSU.

On a roster with a proven bell cow running back chasing NFL dreams and two freshmen flirting with the imagination, Heyward looks like he might be something real — a true 1-2 punch with Scott and someone who, because of his versatility, offers attributes Scott doesn’t. Heyward looks like a reason Jefferson and Collins might duke it out to be the third option, an exciting diversion, more tantalizing than necessary this coming season. 

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Heyward rushed 11 times for 44 yards and a touchdown Saturday. Those aren’t dazzling numbers. But if you watched, you saw something from the sophomore-to-be. It began with a 9-yard run that showed patience and burst. Later, a 6-yard touchdown that showed everything you want in a running back: He let his blocks develop, was quick and shifty in getting through and then dragged three tacklers into the end zone. He also caught a couple of passes, showing sure hands and a knack for catching and running through contact.

At 6-feet and about 225 pounds, Heyward’s size makes him formidable. But it’s his size coupled with everything else we saw that makes him such a chore to bring down.

“He’s very quick. He’s very light on his feet,” sophomore cornerback Josiah Scott said. “(But) he has a lot of weight, he can bring a lot of power, too. He’s that perfect back. He’s built for running back. He's a tricky guy to tackle, because you don’t know if he’s going to try to juke you or if he’s going to run you over.”

LJ Scott ran sparingly during Saturday's spring game. MSU already knows what it has in Scott, who is returning for his senior season rather than entering the NFL draft.

I’m still curious about how fast he is in the open field. We didn’t get to see that Saturday. But he’s undoubtedly quick and powerful. We’d seen the power before on a couple of punishing kick returns last season. He might fill that role again this year. He might throw the ball occasionally, too. He tossed a two-point conversion to Rocky Lombardi Saturday. Heyward played quarterback, among other positions, in high school in Georgia. 

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Heyward played sparingly in the backfield last year, mostly in two-back sets, flanked out on toward the edge. Now, as MSU coach Mark Dantonio described him Saturday, he’s a true “bona fide tailback.”

“It took me a while to get used to it, just being always between the tackles, not really on the edge, so you’re taking more of a beating,” said Heyward, the son of the late Craig “Ironhead” Heyward, who played running back for a decade in the NFL. “But being back there, you get in more of a rhythm.”

He definitely found a rhythm Saturday. What stood out was his patience. That’s not something easily taught. It takes trust in a line and your own burst. LJ Scott admittedly struggled with that trust a year ago, but he has that gift. It never was a strong suit for Gerald Holmes or Madre London, who were both otherwise capable backs.

“He really could play a lot of positions for us,” MSU coach Mark Dantonio said, of Heyward. “He could play on the defensive side of the ball at outside (line)backer. He can catch the ball effectively, be a return guy. He does a lot of lot of different things in the backfield for us.”

More than I realized, because he’s a better runner than I realized. 

Spring games can be fool’s gold, havens for electrifying performances that are never again duplicated. 

I don’t think this is that.

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.