Michigan State football: Jaren Mangham announces return for 2024

Jaren Mangham’s career

Mangham’s college career so far has taken him all across the country. His first two seasons were spent at Colorado where he had an elite freshman season before dealing with injuries as a sophomore. After two season in Boulder, he decided to transfer to South Florida where he spent another two seasons.

After 2022, he decided to transfer once again, this time coming back to his home state. During his one and only season in East Lansing, he unfortunately missed the first six games due to injury. His first game back was against Michigan where he slid into a backup role behind Nate Carter. During his six games in 2023, Mangham ran the ball 30 times for 81 yards. He also did some damage through the air as well, recording seven catches for another 37 yards.

His best game this season was against Indiana where he record 33 rushing yards and 33 receiving yards. He unfortunately did not score a touchdown this season, but I’m guessing that will change next season.

Impact of Jaren Mangham’s return

On the outside, Mangham’s return may not seem like a huge deal considering his stats from last season. But I think his return is bigger than most realize.

Mangham won’t ever be the starting running back, that is reserved for Carter. But Mangham is an extremely solid backup option especially considering the experience he has. He has five years of college experience under his belt already, so he knows a thing or two about how to play college ball and what it takes to be successful at this level.

Looking at his stats from this season isn’t completely fair to him either. As I mentioned, he missed the first six games due to injury, so I’m guessing he was never 100 percent even after he returned. Just look at his first season at USF. He had 160 carries for 671 yards and 15 touchdowns.

If we can get even half of that production next season, our running back room has the chance to be very special.