After all of head coach John L. Smith's off-season shuffling, perhaps the position most affected is running back. Last season's two leading rushers have moved to defense, begging the question: Who will be next season's primary ball carrier?

Right now, competition for the starting job seems to be between a special-teams standout and a complete unknown.

Senior DeAndra Cobb spent half of last season as a cornerback before switching to running back, where he rushed for 172 yards on 38 carries. Cobb's specialty, however, was on special teams.

Cobb has what Smith calls "legit speed," and he showed that when he returned three kickoffs for touchdowns last season and led the Big Ten in kick-return average.

Smith said he expects Cobb's speed and experience to give him a slight edge.

"Cobb should be there because he's been there for a period of time," Smith said. "He's had half a season. Now, he should just polish on all of that and everything should become secondary for him."

Cobb's main competition comes from redshirt freshman Jehuu Caulcrick, a former scout team linebacker for whom change has become the norm.

MSU recruited Caulcrick as a running back (he was ranked the nation's No. 2 fullback coming out of high school by SuperPrep) but Smith moved him to linebacker last year. Caulcrick said the change came as a "shock," but he didn't let it damper his enthusiasm for football.

Then Smith informed Caulcrick he was moving back to running back after the Spartans returned to MSU from their AlamoBowl loss to Nebraska in San Antonio.

This time, the change wasn't so easy for Caulcrick.

"He was a little down at first, actually," junior bandit Jaren Hayes said. Hayes led MSU in rushing last season with 609 yards, but has moved to defense this spring. Hayes has become a mentor of sorts for Caulcrick, helping him with his footwork and stance.

"He wasn't sure what he wanted to do, so I told him, 'Just take it as a positive and go over there and try to make some plays. And if you ever need help, just come talk to me,'" Hayes said.

Smith said he thinks running back is where Caulcrick truly wants to be.

"Deep down in his heart, he wants to be a running back," Smith said. "Everybody likes that glory ? When you're a kid, you want to run the ball across the goal line."

Despite previous reservations, Caulcrick now is fully committed to competing at running back. Since Smith gave him the news, Caulcrick has dropped 15 pounds to improve his speed and has worked on his lateral movement.

At 6 feet, 235 pounds, Caulcrick figures to be a power runner who earns his yards between the tackles.

There still is a chance, however, that he will be moved back to linebacker. Smith has not ruled out the possibility that either Hayes or senior bandit Tyrell Dortch move back to running back or that Caulcrick move back to linebacker before the season starts. Because of Caulcrick's inexperience, Smith said he wants to decide his permanent position earlier than older players such as Hayes and Dortch.

"If he's not going to be a running back, then we have to make a decision to get him back over there," Smith said.

But Caulcrick said he's not worried about that possibility right now.

"I'm going in hoping I can win (the job)," he said. "It would be pointless to just go in and think you're going to be switched over. I'm a running back, that's how I feel and I'm just going to go in there with that attitude."

Staff writer Scott Cendrowski contributed to this report.