Big Ten Football 2025 All-Conference Teams: Michigan State Football Selections originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Athlon Sports’ Steven Lassan released Big Ten Football 2025 All-Conference Teams and Michigan State was not excluded. Six Spartans were featured on the Second, Third, and Fourth Big Ten All-Conference Teams with kicker Ryan Eckley leading the pack.
Second-Team Specialists: Punter Ryan Eckley
Eckley holds Michigan State’s highest carer punting average at 47.2 yards per punt. In his 25 games in green and white, he’s tallied 99 punts for 4,677 yards. This includes 44 that went for 50-plus yards and six 60-plus yard punts. In 2023 and 2024 as a redshirt freshman and redshirt sophomore, respectively, Eckley was selected to the All-Big Ten Second Team. Ahead of the 2025-26 season, he was also honored as a selectee to the 2025 Walter Camp Preseason All-America Second Team Defense.
Third-Team Offense: Wide receiver Nick Marsh
Marsh is coming off his freshman season with the Spartans and set true freshman records for most receiving yards and receptions in a season. He also led the team in receiving yards, tied first for touchdown catches, and was second in receptions behind Montorie Foster Jr. In the 2024-25 season, Marsh had 41 receptions for 649 yards and three touchdowns. He added an additional four carries for 23 yards on the ground. Heading into 2025-26, Marsh is expected to be the leading receiver as Foster Jr. is now with the Seattle Seahawks.
Third-Team Offense: Tight end Jack Velling
The rising senior tight end is heading into his second season at Michigan State after previously playing for Oregon State for his first two years. As a junior, he had a career-high in receptions, catching 36 passes for 411 yards and one touchdown. He also played the most offensive snaps, 543, for the Spartans in 2024-25 and the most among tight ends in program history. Velling is a high-ranked tight end among the Big Ten and will be a key component to the Spartans’ budding offense in 2025-26.
Fourth-Team Offense: Offensive lineman Connor Moore
Moore is new to Spartan territory as 2025-26 will be his first season in East Lansing. As a redshirt sophomore at Montana State, the offensive lineman started all 16 games and made an FCS National Championship Game appearance after accomplishing a 15-1 overall record. He bounced between left guard and left tackle at Montana State, totaling 904 snaps on the offensive line and only allowing one sack. The offensive line needed readjusting after the 2024-25 season, and the addition of Moore is the boost Michigan State needs.
Fourth-Team Defense: Linebacker Jordan Hall
The rising junior played in 11 games in 2024-25 with Michigan State. Though he only started in one contest, Hall made 24 tackles, one tackle for loss, and two pass breakups. In total, he has 94 career tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, and 4.5 sacks. He’s a multi-purpose player for the Spartans as well, playing 251 snaps on defense and saw special teams action 73 times.
Fourth-Team Defense: Safety Nikai Martinez
Entering his senior season in East Lansing, Martinez started all 12 games at safety and was third in the team for tackles. He had 51 total with 30 solo tackles and 21 assists. Martinez was second on the team in 2024-25 on interceptions, tallying two for 62 yards. He added an additional 2.5 tackles for loss and two pass breakups. Like Hall, Martinez is a multi-purpose player, seeing the most time on defense on the team and also making 71 special teams appearances. He played 724 snaps for the Spartans as a junior.
Related: Big Ten Football 2025 All-Conference Team
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 4, 2025, where it first appeared.