Michigan State Football: 5 most irreplaceable players for 2019 season

As a redshirt freshman during Michigan State’s down year in 2016, Brian Lewerke opened some eyes. He got his first start in a loss to Northwestern, but the Spartans opened some eyes on offense during that contest and he breathed some life into the team.

Lewerke then got into the game against Michigan with the Spartans trailing by a few scores and he put them in an opportunity to pull within one score with a two-point conversion, but it didn’t matter at that point and he suffered a season-ending leg injury during that loss.

It was fairly obvious heading into the 2017 season that the job was his to lose and he didn’t disappoint, throwing for 2,793 yards and 20 touchdowns and he rushed for 559 yards. He had 25 total touchdowns and was one of the Big Ten’s breakout stars.

Unfortunately, he took a step back in 2018 because of a shoulder injury and it was clear that the Spartans had a tough time replacing him. While I do believe Rocky Lombardi will be much better this year and next, losing Lewerke would be worst-case scenario again for Michigan State.

We all saw what the offense could look like with him healthy and without him, it’s a disaster.