We had a lot of fun last week for G.O.A.T. For those who missed out, we ranked the Greatest of All-Time in Michigan State history for a number of different categories. In this post, we’ll recap the top-5 for each category, but I would still recommend that you go back and revisit those articles as they are a great walk down memory lane.
If you missed them the first time, here is the link to every post:
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Wide Receivers | Running Backs | Quarterbacks
Teams | Coaches | Defensive Players
G.o.a.t. Wide Receivers
- #1 Kirk Gibson
- #2 Charles Rogers
- #3 Andre Rison
- #4 Plaxico Burress
- #5 BJ Cunningham
This was a controversial ranking and the post itself was a ton of fun to make. There was so much nostalgia in this ranking I decided to do a full top-15. A lot of vocal fans felt that Charles Rogers should have been the #1 receiver on this list, but I think most alumni and fans from the 70s agree that we got it right here. Gibby is an absolute legend and he was one of the best receivers in college football history, period.
Most of our readers agreed with this ranking, as you can see in the poll below.
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Wide Receivers | Running Backs | Quarterbacks
Teams | Coaches | Defensive Players
G.O.A.T. Running Backs
- #1 Lorenzo White
- #2 Javon Ringer
- #3 Le’Veon Bell
- #4 Jeremy Langford
- #5 Blake Ezor
Yep. This one was fairly easy, and there’s no surprise that 72% of users agreed with us here. Lorenzo White, like Kirk Gibson in the wide receivers group, is one of the best running backs in college football history. There’s not much else to say here.
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Wide Receivers | Running Backs | Quarterbacks
Teams | Coaches | Defensive Players
G.O.A.T. Quarterbacks
- #1 Connor Cook
- #2 Kirk Cousins
- #3 Drew Stanton
- #4 Jeff Smoker
- #5 Brian Hoyer
Again, this one wasn’t exactly difficult. Connor Cook is the best QB in MSU history and owns practically every passing record. The way I look at the top 3 players on this is like this: Connor Cook had the best college career of any of these guys. Kirk Cousins had the best NFL career (and it’s still going). And Drew Stanton, to me, could have had the best college career of anyone here if he wasn’t playing for arguably the worst MSU team in the modern era.
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Wide Receivers | Running Backs | Quarterbacks
Teams | Coaches | Defensive Players
G.O.A.T. Defensive Players
- #1 Percy Snow
- #2 Darqueze Dennard
- #3 Julian Peterson
- #4 Greg Jones
- #5 Shilique Calhoun
Our audience was really divided on the outcome of this ranking, with 44% of voters selecting Dennard to be the best defender in MSU history, but Percy Snow is just behind Darqueze at 39%.
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Wide Receivers | Running Backs | Quarterbacks
Teams | Coaches | Defensive Players
G.O.A.T. Coaches
- #1 Duffy Daugherty
- #2 Biggie Munn
- #3 Mark Dantonio
- #4 Chester Brewer
- #5 George Perles
This is where things start to get a little more interesting. This was the biggest variation between the poll and the ranking as 55% of readers who answered the poll voted Dantonio for this position, and hey, they aren’t necessarily wrong. It’s just that Duffy Daugherty and Biggie Munn both brought national titles to the Spartans. Until Dantonio can do that, I can’t put him above coaches who did it.
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Wide Receivers | Running Backs | Quarterbacks
Teams | Coaches | Defensive Players
G.O.A.T. Teams in MSU History
- #1 2013
- #2 2014
- #3 1999
- #4 1987
- #5 2015
Friendly reminder that I only used the last 40 years for this ranking, because obviously there were a few national championship teams before that period that would’ve dominated this list. The best year in my mind was 2013 when MSU won the Big Ten Championship over Ohio State and went on to beat Stanford in the Rose Bowl.
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