New-look Spartans D-line expects to succeed
East Lansing — They might be passing out name tags in the defensive line room these days, but as preseason camp gets ready to open this weekend for Michigan State, there is still the expectation of success.
From graduate transfers to incoming freshmen, the Spartans will have a different look up front, and over the next few weeks, the rotation will start to come into focus.
“We’ve got players at that position,” Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said. “We’ll go eight to 10 deep there and we pride ourselves on having numbers on the defensive and offensive lines. We have those quality numbers and that will pay dividends.”
The unit will be anchored by junior defensive tackle Malik McDowell, who has already earned preseason All-American honors from several publications. And on the end will be junior Demetrius Cooper, who is expected to make a big jump now that he’ll be a starter.
However, the list of players lost from last season is significant, beginning with ends Shilique Calhoun and Lawrence Thomas, as well as tackle Joel Heath – all off to the NFL. But the Spartans have also lost players that, at the end of last season, they expected to contribute in 2016.
Tackle Craig Evans and end Montez Sweat left the program and tackle Damon Knox opted against playing a sixth season. Those moves had Michigan State headed down the graduate transfer route to provide some fallback for young players that lack in experience.
Defensive tackle Kevin Williams came in from Nebraska and end Gabe Sherrod is making the jump from Delaware State of the FCS. Both are expected to make an impact.
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Williams battled his share of injuries at Nebraska but did play in 23 games, including eight last season when the Cornhuskers ranked in the top 10 in the nation in rushing defense.
“He’s a guy that comes to Michigan State that has played at a high level,” Dantonio said. “He started some games and has been productive at Nebraska. You don’t have to teach him what the three technique is or what a stunt is. He knows how to line up and play. He brings experience to us and has high goals and high dreams and we’ll see how he plays right out of the gate.”
Sherrod is more of a wild card. He started his college career as a wide receiver, but the 6-foot-4, 260-pounder transitioned to defensive end and took off. He had 25 tackles for loss last season, averaging 2.3 a game, which was second-best in the nation for the FCS.
“From everything we’ve seen, he’s a guy that solves issues (for us) and a guy with maturity that can play at this level and (we're) looking forward to see where he’s at,” Dantonio said. “He’s more of a Shilique Calhoun type of guy, a runner, chase down guys and do those types of things. He’s got to come and compete at this level. It will be a change for him in that capacity, but at the same time I think he has the athletic ability.”
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From there, the quality recruiting over the last couple of years will be counted on the fill the gaps. Redshirt freshman Raequan Williams could be the next impact player on the inside while former fullback Gerald Owens, a sophomore, has also been impressive.
“Raequan is a very good player,” Dantonio said. “It’s his first time out there so it will be exciting to watch him, but he has unlimited ability. … Gerald Owens is 285, 290 now and has shock and is explosive.”
The Spartans also hope junior Enoch Smith can stay healthy and redshirt freshman Kyonta Stallworth continues to transition from offensive line. Add in the fact true freshmen Mike Panasiuk and Naquan Jones were highly recruited and the depth is clear in the middle.
The ends could be more of an unknown. Cooper is a sure starter and fifth-year senior Evan Jones is getting his first chance at real playing time. After that, lots of new names are in the mix, including freshmen Mufi Hunt, Auston Robertson and Josh King.
Robertson and King were top recruits while Hunt got his feet wet in the spring.
“All three guys are athletic and we’ll see how they come in camp,” Dantonio said. “Mufi had the opportunity to play in the spring so he’s probably a little ahead.”
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