Michigan State football stays hot in transfer portal, lands LB Aaron Brule

Michigan State football remained hot in the transfer portal, landing its second linebacker in two days in Mississippi State’s Aaron Brule.

How does Mel Tucker continue to do it? How does the Michigan State football coach continue to dominate in the transfer portal?

Just a day after landing All-Mountain West UNLV linebacker transfer Jacoby Windmon, Michigan State landed Mississippi State transfer linebacker Aaron Brule. The two linebackers will join Freshman All-American Cal Haladay, former four-star freshman Ma’a Gaoteote, and Tennessee transfer Quavaris Crouch in next year’s linebacking corps, assuming everyone returns.

Brule had a breakout 2020 season, putting up 74 tackles, eight tackles for loss, four sacks, and three pass breakups. Before the 2021 season, he was projected as a second-round draft pick by some NFL draft experts, according to Justin Thind of 247Sports.

This past week, he took a visit which came just days after he entered the transfer portal. East Lansing was all he needed to see as he committed on Thursday afternoon.

Although Brule’s 2021 season was somewhat disappointing, he still has a ton of potential and could be an immediate upgrade to this defense. He finished the season with 53 tackles, eight tackles for loss, and three sacks with a pass breakup.

So over his final two years at Mississippi State, he accounted for 127 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, seven sacks, and four pass breakups. Not too shabby.

Along with Windmon and Brule, the Spartans have also landed former top-150 running back Jalen Berger in the transfer portal and they now have three instant contributors.

Michigan State football’s defense is setting up nicely

The defense for next season is setting up quite nicely and with the addition of two solid linebackers, there’s a chance Michigan State could switch to a 4-3 defense or even a 3-4, depending on the fit. If that’s the case, we could see a linebacking unit with Haladay, Brule, and Windmon along with Crouch and Gaoteote to add depth.

Michigan State has a decent line up front and the secondary has some returning talent but the portal will be utilized to fill some needs in both position groups.

Add some defensive backs and depth in the trenches and Michigan State’s defense should be vastly improved.