Michigan State Football: 3-star OL Justin Stevens fits the Mel Tucker mold

Michigan State football went north of the border and landed a huge commit with Justin Stevens last November and he fits Mel Tucker’s system.

Mel Tucker had been heavy on the recruiting trail, offering many players before and even during the COVID-19 outbreak. There was a common trend with offensive linemen: they were all huge prospects.

Justin Stevens fits the bill himself at 6-foot-6 and 285 pounds.

Tucker knows the game is won in the trenches and while it’s awesome to hit on a Jack Conklin type, it’s extremely difficult to get that lucky.

Stevens was a three-star player from Clarkson Football North in Mississauga, Ontario. He’s athletic and already has plenty of size. This will key because Tucker wants to run the football and he’s going to need some big hog-mollies to blast open holes for his running backs.

Michigan State has needed offensive linemen like this for years but lack of solid production up front has been a major contributing factor for the program has struggled since 2015.

One only has to go back to 2013 recruiting class to see only one offensive linemen taken in Dennis Finely, whose career tragically ended. Now former coach Mark Dantonio did make a correction in recruiting with 2019 class that has several linemen who gained valuable experience last season.

The 2020 season will be a tough transition, but Tucker has the right idea with recruiting the right players. It could be awhile before Spartan fans witness the payoff, but if Tucker is as relentless as he claims, it should happen sooner than later.