Spartan Avenue
Fansided

Michigan State Football: Post-spring 2-deep depth chart projections for 2022

By Connor Muldowney

Michigan State player celebrate with a touchdown scored by Michigan State linebacker Cal Haladay (27) during the second half of the 31-21 win over Pittsburgh in the Peach Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021.
Michigan State player celebrate with a touchdown scored by Michigan State linebacker Cal Haladay (27) during the second half of the 31-21 win over Pittsburgh in the Peach Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021. /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 7
Next
Michigan State defensive backs Ameer Speed, left, and Xavier Henderson on the field during the spring practice on Saturday, April 16, 2022, at Spartan Stadium.Msu
Michigan State defensive backs Ameer Speed, left, and Xavier Henderson on the field during the spring practice on Saturday, April 16, 2022, at Spartan Stadium.Msu /

Defensive Backs

Starting cornerbacks/nickel: Ameer Speed, Ronald Williams, Charles Brantley
Backups: Marqui Lowery, Caleb Coley, Chester Kimbrough

I actually like Michigan State’s cornerbacks this season and adding Ameer Speed from Georgia definitely helped matters. He looks to be a starter after getting a little starting time for the national champion Bulldogs last season. He has great size and athleticism. And Michigan State is apparently going with more of a cover nickel so a three-cornerback look rather than two corners and a hybrid. This is why Darius Snow moved to linebacker.

The other two cornerbacks — or cornerback and nickel — will be Ronald Williams and Charles Brantley, in my opinion. I could see Chester Kimbrough starting again, but he has a lot to prove after a forgettable 2021 season. Brantley is, however, coming off a season-ending injury so that may cause him to slide into a backup role. Williams got better as last season went on.

I like Marqui Lowery as a backup because he plays physically and can come in and have an impact immediately and incoming freshman Caleb Coley just has the look of a future lockdown corner.

Starting safeties: Xavier Henderson, Angelo Grose
Backups: AJ Kirk, Jaden Mangham

Xavier Henderson decided to come back for one last season after leading the team in tackles with 96 and he also had 10 tackles for loss, three sacks, two picks, and a pass breakup. He wants to improve on a forgettable 2021 season by this secondary as a whole and he should be the clear leader of the defense. Angelo Grose, too, should be solid but he had a tough 2021 season. A lot to improve on there.

I thought we’d see a little more AJ Kirk last season but I think we will this year and he should be a really solid backup safety. Dillon Tatum and Jaden Mangham will be battling it out for that other backup job and you really can’t go wrong with either one because both are very talented freshmen.

Home/Spartans Football