Former Michigan State football DE becomes household name after huge SEC win

Mel Tucker may have been mediocre while in East Lansing, but at least the former Michigan State football coach had some incredible talent evaluations.

While I won’t give him credit as a plus recruiter because he lost a ton of close battles for Plan A guys, he did strike gold on a few underrated players and late commits. Guys like Katin Houser, Germie Bernard, and Sam Leavitt are making names for themselves around college football, but there’s another former Spartan who just became a household name after a huge win this past weekend.

Zion Young, a former three-star defensive end from Georgia, committed to Michigan State in the 2022 class following a Peach Bowl year, and it looked like he was going to be a star.

Unfortunately, he decided to transfer out after Tucker was fired, and he didn’t stick around with the new staff. He played 20 games for the Spartans over two seasons, recording 47 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, and 2.5 sacks. He was a menace on that defensive line.

Heck, the Spartans could use that production now.

Instead of sticking around with Jonathan Smith, Young decided to hit the portal, and he transferred to Missouri where all he’s done for the past two seasons is become a star. He’s one of the best defensive ends in the SEC, and he just became a household name this past weekend after putting on a show in an overtime win at Auburn. He had five tackles and two sacks in the win.

But he really became an overnight sensation for his coin-toss interaction before the first overtime. His confidence was caught on a hot mic, and he backed it up with a huge sack in overtime.

After the win, head coach Eli Drinkwitz called his star defensive end “unblockable” while shouting him out on ESPN.

Add Young to the list of “what ifs” that seems to be growing by the week with former players who transferred only to become stars at their next stops.

Young is Mel Kiper’s sixth-best defensive end prospect for the 2026 NFL Draft.