Michigan State Football: What does data say about the offensive line?

Pass-blocking

Now that we got the bad news out of the way, why don’t we take a look at something much more positive.

When the Michigan State offensive line is asked to drop back and protect Rocky Lombardi, they have done quite well. They even rank in the top 25 in the country in a pass blocking stat. Numbers do not lie, people do, and the numbers actually show a very positive trend for Chris Kapilovic’s line.

• Sack rate: Unadjusted sack rate for all non-garbage time pass attempts.

MSU OL rank: 34th

• Standard downs sack rate: Unadjusted sack rate for standard downs pass attempts.

MSU OL rank: 24th

• Passing downs sack rate: Unadjusted sack rate for passing downs pass attempts.

MSU OL rank: 54th

The offensive line is definitely above average when it comes to quarterback protection. I would even say they are good, but not great. Against Michigan, the offensive line gave up zero sacks. That came against arguably the best defensive end duo in the Big Ten with Aidan Hutchinson and Kwity Paye.

It would be nice to see Jay Johnson start to pass the ball even more. Right now the offense has passed the ball on 52 percent of its plays, which is pretty balanced. I’m not saying go all Mike Leach, but the game is won in the trenches and when Michigan State needs to pass-block it’s much more efficient on offense. Using the pass game to open up the run could be beneficial for the Spartans.

This data gives hope to Spartan fans. Clearly the offensive line has some one-sided personnel, but with full strength and conditioning program and spring ball, this group could make some very good progress.

I know that might upset some people, but the truth is when it comes to run game, the Michigan State offensive line just will not be very productive this season from a run-blocking standpoint. At this time, we need to see a weekly improvement in the run-blocking and keeping up the production pass-blocking.

Michigan State currently has four offensive line commits, including four-star Geno VanDeMark. Mel Tucker could also look into the transfer portal, if he thinks the roster needs an immediate impact lineman.

I know it’s hard to think this now, but Michigan Sate’s offensive line has a bright future under Kapilovic. The pass-blocking is there, the job is halfway done. Revamping a whole offensive line unit is not easy. Give it some time, and the run-blocking should be improved.