Michigan State Is Loaded at Quarterback for Years To Come

There have been several great quarterbacks to don the green and white in the last few decades. Jeff Smoker, Tony Banks, Dan Enos, Drew Stanton, and Bobby McAllister, just to name a few.

After a 6-7 campaign in 2009, Spartan fans are looking ahead to the new breed of quarterback in East Lansing. There's no shortage of signal-calling talent for Sparty, who has landed two of the state's top recruits in the last couple of years, Joe Boisture (Saline HS) and Andrew Maxwell (Midland).

Boisture is a 6'6", 202 pound pro-style quarterback. His arrival was highly anticipated and he racked up gaudy numbers during his high school career. Boisture comes in touting a 5.8 out 6 rating from Rivals.com. Don't be surprised to see Boisture red-shirted in 2010, giving way to the three other quarterbacks, and ensuring that he and Maxwell will be together for at least two more years.

Soon-to-be-sophomore Andrew Maxwell possesses an arm that Don Treadwell will be waiting to utilize in the coming years. Maxwell guided his Midland Chemics to the state playoffs all four years of his prep career. Maxwell threw for more than 1,800 yards in both his junior and senior years of high school.

Kirk Cousins, the 6'3", 202-pounder out of Holland, Mi. will be a junior in 2010, and has coming off a stellar sophomore session in 2009. Cousins threw for 2,680 yards and 19 touchdowns in his second year being in coach Mark Dantonio and Treadwell's system. Those numbers were good enough to be amongst league leaders in the Big Ten. Cousins completed 60.4 percent of his passes last year and finished with a 142.63 rating.

Keith Nichol, the Oklahoma transfer and Lowell, Mi. native, had a successful year being the No. 2 quarterback in Treadwell's duel system.

Nichol's mobility and speed were a plus for the Spartan offense, and he showed that he could play wide receiver (when needed) in the Alamo Bowl against Texas Tech.

Nichol will embark on his junior season in hopes of being able to contribute to State's offense in the same way he did in 2009, next year.

The 6'2", 215-pound Nichol passed for 764 yards and seven touchdowns in '09 and added a little flair to a pass-heavy offense.

There's no telling who will be the next great passer for the Spartans, but one thing is for sure, there's no shortage of talent at the quarterback position for the next five years.