Michigan State football: Terry Roberts adds much-needed DB depth

Last week at a camp at Wayne State, Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker hinted at a potential transfer addition to the defensive backfield.

On Thursday, news broke about Michigan State landing former Iowa defensive back Terry Roberts from the transfer portal. He showed up in an Instagram story about Michigan State football and Justin Thind broke the news shortly after.

This was an interesting addition from the portal because Roberts had chosen Miami earlier in the offseason after entering the portal in the winter and spent about five months with the Hurricanes before going right back into the portal. He then chose the Spartans.

Michigan State arguably gave him the best chance to play meaningful snaps as the secondary has been a weakness for a while.

He now joins Semar Melvin (Wisconsin) and Armorion Smith (Cincinnati) as the other two defensive back transfers to Michigan State this offseason. The Spartans would have had another if Kee’yon Stewart didn’t suddenly commit to Arkansas 11 days after announcing his transfer to Michigan State. But then again, if he’s still here, Michigan State probably doesn’t land Roberts.

Depth won’t be a huge concern for the Michigan State football secondary

For the first few years under Mel Tucker, the secondary had zero depth. Now? It looks like this unit may actually have some capable bodies past the starters.

Outside of the three incoming transfers, Michigan State has some young talent in the defensive backfield such as Jaden Mangham, Caleb Coley, Ade Willie, Malik Spencer, Dillon Tatum, Malcolm Jones, and Chance Rucker. Along with them are veterans like Charles Brantley, Marqui Lowery, Chester Kimbrough, and Angelo Grose.

The secondary may not be the most talented group on the field, but there’s some depth there for once and maybe that will lead to improvement. One can only hope.