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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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Chase Carter, DE

DE room:

Losing: Jacub Panasiuk, Drew Beesley, Drew Jordan, Zach Slade, Jack Camper, Alex Okelo
Returning: Michael Fletcher, Brandon Wright, Jeff Pietrowski, Itayvion “Tank” Brown, Avery Dunn
Bringing in: James Schott, Khris Bogle (transfer)

Chase “Simba” Carter (No. 810 nationally, No. 52 EDGE), no relation to Quavian, is a tall (6-foot-6) edge rusher that the Spartans can use. He comes in at the perfect time, as the Spartans “losing” list is nearly as long as their “returning” list.

Fletcher received a considerable amount of playing time during Tucker’s first season, and Wright and Pietrowski each had their moments during the 2021 season. “Tank” Brown is also healthy again for the Spartans, but he is currently listed as a linebacker. Khris Bogle is coming in as a transfer from Florida, making it harder to predict a path to playing time for Carter.

The main concern for Carter must be his weight. At 215 pounds, Carter is the lightest edge rusher for the Spartans by 25 pounds. When he will be rushing off the edge against 330-pound behemoths at tackle, 215 pounds probably won’t cut it. He will get a full offseason to bulk up, however, so this weight concern can be revisited upon the publication of the fall roster.

Regardless, Carter’s talent will be maximized by having two coaches focused on the general area of an edge rusher’s specialty — getting after the quarterback.

Prediction

Redshirt. Carter is a player who will pay dividends for the Spartans in a few years, but I cannot see them trotting out a 215-pound edge rusher in a run-heavy conference like the Big Ten.

Unless Carter dazzles in camp this offseason, I would not expect to see much of him on the field. I am sold on Carter’s talent, and his path to the field will quickly clear up. Besides Avery Dunn, all current Spartan defensive ends are juniors and seniors. He is yet another freshman who will spend this season making a name for himself behind the closed doors of the Spartan practice facility.

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