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Michigan State football: Playing time odds for 2022 class defensive signees

By Emmett Matasovsky

Michigan State's head coach Mel Turner gives encouragement to players during football camp on Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021, on the MSU campus in East Lansing.210817 Msu Football Camp 121a
Michigan State's head coach Mel Turner gives encouragement to players during football camp on Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021, on the MSU campus in East Lansing.210817 Msu Football Camp 121a /
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Malcolm Jones, S

Safety room:

Losing: CJ Hayes, Emmanuel Flowers
Returning: Xavier Henderson, Angelo Grose, Darius Snow, Tate Hallock, A.J. Kirk
Bringing in: Dillon Tatum, Jaden Mangham, Malik Spencer, Quavian Carter

Malcolm Jones (No. 850 nationally, No. 70 safety) is, wait for it, another member of the defensive backfield for the Spartans. He was a one-time Virginia Tech commit who decommitted a few days prior to signing day. One day later, he was a Spartan.

Jones is another player facing an uphill battle for the Spartans, with the three starting spots of last year’s safeties (Henderson, Grose, and Snow) all returning. Additionally, he will be joining the team in the summer, while the remaining members of the safety room and classmates Tatum and Mangham will have the spring practices to make a statement on the ‘first’ spring depth chart, that of the spring game.

I trust Harlon Barnett to maximize Jones’s potential, but it might be a year or two before it plays out on the field.

Prediction

Redshirt. Jones has a high ceiling, but there are so many players to compete with this offseason. This team did not have a great defensive backfield last offseason, but nearly all of their members are returning with that experience. When five safeties are committed in one class, there will be a hard route to the field for the last men to the party, and Jones is among them.

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