Michigan State Recruiting: Predicting next 5 recruits to commit to 2016 class

Oct 25, 2014; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans defensive lineman Lawrence Thomas (8) stands on the field between plays during the 2nd half of a game at Spartan Stadium. MSU won 35-11. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

2. Naquan Jones, 4-star, DT

A guy that has come on very strong for the Spartans in recent weeks is four-star defensive tackle Naquan Jones from Evanston, Ill. Not many people were really talking about him joining the Spartans until he released his top-five list and Michigan State led the way.

Now, everyone believes he will be a Spartan, especially after he narrowed his list of top five schools to a top three, again, with Michigan State at the forefront.

Jones is one of the very few defensive tackles Dantonio has gone after for this class, which has to intrigue him a bit. Knowing that he could be the first defensive tackle commit for the class could mean a lot of playing time headed his way, not that he wouldn’t earn it anyways.

The Evanston star is a big boy, standing 6-foot-4 and weighing in at 283 pounds. Jones has said in recent interviews that he’s not tied to the June 5 decision date that he set a couple of weeks ago, and he could either move it forward or even back a bit.

In my opinion, Jones will likely move the date up as he’s probably just wanting to get the whole recruiting process over with. From everything that I’ve heard, it seems like the Spartans will be his future home, and he could anchor one of the most impressive defensive line classes under Mark Dantonio.

Imagine a group with Auston Robertson, Jones, Khalid Kareem and Josh King. That would be one of the scariest groups for offenses to have to go up against in the nation.

Jones will be green soon enough.

Decision date: June 5 (although he’s not ‘tied to it’)

Next: 1. Josh King, 4-star, DE