Michigan State Football: Malik McDowell in good position to make Browns roster

It’s been about four years since Malik McDowell played a down of football. The former Michigan State football star was drafted in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Seahawks but suffered an ATV accident that nearly cost him his career.

McDowell was then sentenced to 11 months in prison in 2019 and in May of 2020, his agent said he was cleared to return to full-contact football and he even tried out for the Dolphins.

All seemed lost, however, as he wasn’t on an active roster, hadn’t played in a live game of football since his final season in East Lansing in 2016 but that changed as the Browns signed him in May and he has gotten a final shot at his NFL dreams.

There’s no doubt about it, McDowell has all the talent in the world. He’s 25 years old and has had some bad luck and made some poor decisions post-Michigan State, but he’s getting this last chance with Cleveland and he hasn’t disappointed. Through the preseason thus far, he’s been extremely impressive and he’s put himself in a position to make the 53-man roster, and then some.

Media members and Browns fans have been gushing about McDowell all preseason and here are just a few of the dazzling reviews.

And when you’re doing this to opposing offensive linemen at the NFL level, it’s not wild to believe that a spot on the 53-man roster is relatively safe:

McDowell has recorded a sack in back-to-back weeks and he’s looking like a dominant force on the interior of the defensive line. Everything I see about him from Cleveland reporters is positive and fans seem to love him.

It’s really good to see him get his life back on track.

McDowell is looking like the guy we thought he’d be

When McDowell committed to Michigan State back in the 2014 class, he showed flashes of greatness as a freshman and a sophomore and he was one of Mark Dantonio’s top-ranked signees ever. He looked like a budding superstar.

After a sophomore season, it seemed to be a lock that he would leave early for the NFL after his junior year but he said that unless he was a top-10 projected pick, he wasn’t going anywhere. Obviously, he didn’t stick to that word as he left and was chosen in the second round.

Off-field issues seemed to be the norm for him since he left and it looked like he went down a dark path after he was sentenced to prison in 2019, but he has turned it all around.

McDowell has put himself in a good position to not only make an NFL roster about four years since he was drafted but to work his way into the regular playing rotation as well.