Michigan State Football: DeAri Todd facing crucial 2019 season

DeAri Todd has been pegged as a potential breakout candidate before, but will he finally get his chance to prove himself with Michigan State football in 2019?

Michigan State has one of the best defensive lines in the nation, and that’s no secret. Kenny Willekes is an All-American, Raequan Williams will be playing on Sundays next year and Mike Panasiuk will likely be following suit and Jacub Panasiuk broke out as a sophomore in 2018.

Behind them, guys like Naquan Jones, Dashaun Mallory, Jack Camper, Jacob and Zach Slade and Parks Gissinger should be getting some valuable snaps, but there’s one name that seems to be overlooked after a couple of quiet years in East Lansing: DeAri Todd.

Todd is a name that gets forgotten because of the fact that he has been dubbed a breakout candidate before but never lived out those expectations.

After his freshman season when he was redshirted, he was a top performer on the scout team defense. He was earning praise left and right and many believed he was about to have a big 2018 season, but never recorded a single statistic.

With the experience on the defensive line thinning, especially in Williams’, Panasiuk’s and Willekes’ final season, Todd is going to be looked at to step up and provide a veteran presence in his third year with the Spartans.

Will he be a contender to start next season when Willekes is gone? It’s possible, but he just needs to prove that he’s good enough to be his primary backup at end in 2019.

This is the most critical season for Todd because what he does in 2019 will dictate the rest of his Michigan State career. Will he step up to the plate and deliver solid backup snaps or will he fade deeper into the depth chart and be a forgotten piece?

My bet would be for the former and he’s one of the guys who I could see breaking out for the Spartans up front in 2019. Don’t sleep on Todd just yet, he has plenty to offer this stellar defensive line.