Michigan State football: Jacob Slade graded as second-best returning DL in nation

Michigan State football’s Jacob Slade has been listed as the second-best returning defensive lineman in the nation, according to PFF.

The hires of Brandon Jordan and Marco Coleman are going to lead to plenty of positives for the Michigan State football program, especially when it comes to recruiting.

But the two new defensive line coaches for Michigan State football have plenty to work with already.

Michigan State has one of the top defensive lines in the Big Ten and it only improved this offseason with the addition of Khris Bogle. Coleman has sung the praises of guys like Jacob Slade and Simeon Barrow already, stating that those two could be some of the best interior defensive linemen in all of college football.

The hype surrounding this group seems to be real.

In fact, Pro Football Focus (PFF) College posted its top returning defensive linemen for the 2022 season and Slade comes in as the second-highest graded from last season.

He’s behind just Will Anderson Jr. of Alabama who many consider to be a linebacker.

You love to see these Spartans getting some national recognition like this and seeing Slade’s name right behind Anderson and ahead of guys like Nolan Smith and Jalen Carter is impressive. It just goes to show how highly he’s thought of outside of East Lansing.

Slade had a solid 2021 season, posting 40 tackles, five tackles for loss, and 2.5 sacks and pretty much everyone is expecting him to surpass all of those numbers in 2022.

Michigan State’s defensive line is ready to wreak havoc on backfields all season long.