Michigan State football: 5 reasons to be optimistic about the 2023 season
2. The defensive line
Yes, I’m including the entire defensive line as a reason for optimism ahead of 2023.
Michigan State easily has its best defensive line during the Mel Tucker era and probably the best since the glory days of the Spartans’ defense.
Looking at the roster, there are at least 10 guys who could legitimately play starting snaps this season and contribute heavily. It’ll be tough for Scottie Hazelton to trim down his playing rotation and he may not have to. If everyone in this group plays well, they’re all going to see the field.
Just look at this list of absolute monsters:
- Zion Young, DE
- Tunmise Adeleye, DL
- Khris Bogle, DE
- Simeon Barrow, DT
- Derrick Harmon, DT
- Maverick Hansen, DT
- Jarrett Jackson, DL
- Bai Jobe, DE
- Brandon Wright, DE
- Ken Talley, DL
- Dre Butler, DL
- Andrew Depaepe, DE
- Jalen Thompson, DE
- Alex VanSumeren, DL
- Avery Dunn, DL
- Jalen Sami, DT
Try narrowing that playing group down to 5-10 guys who can play starter’s snaps. It’s going to be virtually impossible.
Michigan State’s defensive line has been rumored to have been a massive strength through the first two fall camp scrimmages and that’s really not a surprise given the fact that this group is loaded from top to bottom.