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Michigan State Football: Andrew Dowell makes Saints’ 53-man roster

By Connor Muldowney

Michigan State's Andrew Dowell celebrates after a defensive stop during the fourth quarter on Saturday, Nov. 24, 2018, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.181124 Msu Rutgers 405a
Michigan State's Andrew Dowell celebrates after a defensive stop during the fourth quarter on Saturday, Nov. 24, 2018, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.181124 Msu Rutgers 405a /
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Tuesday was a good day for a number former Michigan State football stars.

Although guys like Brian Lewerke and Cody White were cut from the Giants and Steelers, respectively, there were a handful of others who made headlines for all the right reasons.

Obviously, you have the guys who were expected to make rosters all along like Kirk Cousins, Jack Conklin, Brian Allen, and William Gholston, but there were some fringe Spartans who had some work to do such as Justin Layne, Josiah Scott, Malik McDowell, and Andrew Dowell.

All four of those guys made their respective rosters as final cuts were made on Tuesday afternoon and Dowell may have been one of the most surprising (well, maybe McDowell was).

The Saints released their final cuts and official 53-man roster for the opener and Dowell made the cut along with six other linebackers at one of the deepest positions on the team.

Dowell had a really strong preseason and many Saints writers predicted that he would make the cut and the fact that he did just goes to show the fact that he was undrafted was a mistake by every team in the league.

There’s a clear path to the field this season for Dowell as none of the linebackers are truly “proven” and each is looking to really fight for a regular rotational spot.

Tuesday was a mixed bag for former Michigan State football stars

Lewerke and White were on their respective teams heading into the final week of preseason camp and the fact that they both narrowly missed the cut shows that they’ll probably find their way onto a practice squad this season. Shakur Brown was cut days earlier by the Steelers.

Layne and Scott had bright futures coming out of Michigan State but had to fight for roster spots this offseason and this might be the push they need to take that next step.

McDowell is the feel-good story of the offseason as he went from NFL afterthought to Browns star in the preseason. He hasn’t played football in four years and now he’s on a 53-man roster in Cleveland.

Michigan State will be well-represented in the NFL this season.

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