Michigan State fans received some unfortunate injury news on Monday from head coach Jonathan Smith as he revealed that Brady Pretzlaff would be out for the season and starting left tackle Stanton Ramil would be out about a month after suffering an injury against USC.
The news wasn’t great, especially after learning that Luka Vincic would be out for the season before the USC game and then seeing Wayne Matthews III go down with a scary injury against the Trojans.
With the injury to Ramil, the offensive line is now down two starters for the foreseeable future, and that means that Smith is going to have to replace him with someone less experienced at the position.
Against USC, he went with redshirt freshman Rustin Young, and he held his own despite getting a relatively mediocre grade from PFF. He was out there performing at a similar level to Ramil, and potentially even better. He looked comfortable, and he’s an intriguing option to replace the veteran left tackle for the next four, or so, games.
Honestly, this may end up helping in the long run. While the Spartans could also go with guys like Conner Moore or Ashton Lepo at left tackle, Young gives the team a fresh look and a potential long-term starter there. He could take over and never look back.
If that does happen, Michigan State will have its starting left tackle of the future and that means Ramil could slide over to right tackle — or Young could — when he returns.
While the injury to Ramil hurts the team, it may actually help in the long term with the development of the former four-star tackle from Hawaii who redshirted a year ago. Young is likely the future up front, and he’s going to get that opportunity in Week 6 against Nebraska.
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