EAST LANSING, Mich. -- If LJ Scott had it his way, the Michigan State coaching staff wouldn't have to pick just one of the Spartans' three talented running backs to start or be in the game for any given play.

"If we can make it happen, I would get us all on the field at the same time," Scott said with a smile at MSU's local media day. "One at Wildcat, two in the backfield."

Maybe that's not such a bad idea for the Spartans, who have possibly the deepest group of running backs in the country, according to head coach Mark Dantonio. Scott, Gerald Holmes and Madre London are all back after starting at least one game last season. Scott had the least amount of starts (one) but finished his freshman year as the team's leading rusher with 699 yards and 11 touchdowns. London began the season as the starter before an ankle injury slowed him down, while Holmes ran for 540 yards and eight touchdowns in 13 games, including seven starts.

That kind of returning talent makes for a loaded backfield, and with only so many carries to go around, Scott said the competition level at practice every day is through the roof. At the same time, all three backs are looking to help the others get better.

"We just try to support one another," Scott said. "We all know we can play, so when one of us is in there, I think we're just looking for somebody to make a run to tell them they missed this or they missed that. Like I said, we all know we can play at this level, and it's pretty scary."

Scary?

"Scary in the fact we don't really know which one is going to play," Scott explained. "Scary in the fact that whoever gets in our way, it can end up bad. It's scary in a lot of ways."

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For the Michigan State coaches, there's nothing scary about having three running backs who could start just about anywhere in the country. Picking which back to put in the game is a problem Dantonio will never complain about having, as he knows he can rely on any of the three to carry the ball 30 times if needed. And while he said they're all complete football players, he likes that they each one brings a little something different.

"Madre is a little bit more of a slasher," Dantonio said. "LJ is a quick-cut guy, vertical guy. Gerald, he runs his feet on contact. He's got good vision, he can run away from you, all that kind of stuff, but he will run his feet on contact."

Since the 2015 season ended, MSU's trio of backs have been working on ways to improve in 2016. For Scott and Holmes, that meant getting to an ideal playing weight. Holmes, who was listed at 216 pounds last season, is close to 225 pounds at the start of fall camp. Meanwhile, Scott is the lightest he's been in a long time, weighing in at 224 pounds after pushing 240 last season and sitting at about 230 as a senior in high school.

"I got my speed up and my weight down," Scott said. "I feel a lot more comfortable. Whenever I'm running or whenever I'm working out, I don't get as tired so quick."

As for London, probably the most explosive of the three backs simply needed to get over the ailments that cost him three games in 2015.

"I'm healthy," London said Monday. "My ankle's not hurting and my knee's not hurting. I'm back to normal, back to the old Madre."

At full strength and in optimal shape, the Michigan State running backs might be asked to carry the team early on with the Spartans breaking in a new -- albeit veteran -- starting quarterback and a young group of receivers. And although co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach Dave Warner said he'd like to name a starter at some point, all of them will make an impact regardless of what the depth chart reads.

"I think that all are very capable, talented and experienced running backs, all with the ability to do everything we need them to do in our offense," Warner said. "It's not like one guy is our third-down guy or one guy is our spread offense guy. We feel good about all those guys. It's just a nice situation to see what's going to take place over the next few weeks."