Coming into the season, Michigan State football fans were hoping that the offseason offensive line hype would come to fruition after years of hearing that this was going to be the most improved position group on the team.
Against Western Michigan, it was obvious that at least one aspect of the offensive line had improved drastically while the other still struggled.
The run blocking looked astronomically better. The Spartans were getting a massive push up front, and Makhi Frazier was gashing the Broncos left and right. Brandon Tullis came in and had similar success. The holes were enormous, and there weren't many hits behind the line of scrimmage.
The pass blocking? Well, that's been a different story.
Pro Football Focus ranked the best run-blocking teams in the country this week, and Michigan State was one of the best. While the Spartans are just eighth in the Big Ten in this category, they're No. 16 in the nation. It's pretty obvious that the Big Ten dominates up front.
National Run Blocking Rankings for Big Ten teams, per @PFF pic.twitter.com/FlCn0BgzYS
— The Big Ten Huddle 🎙️ (@TheBigTenHuddle) September 24, 2025
Michigan State is behind Iowa, Rutgers, Northwestern, Washington, Indiana, Penn State, and Minnesota in the Big Ten. The Spartans are also just ahead of Ohio State, Michigan, Illinois, Oregon, and USC -- all ranked teams.
While I'm not sure if I can trust PFF after they ranked Ryan Eckley as the No. 47 punter in the country after the second week of the season, it does show that the Spartans are vastly improved.
It's still early in the year, and the Spartans will be facing much better defensive lines, but it never felt like they could pick up a tough yard last season -- that's no longer the case.
Hats off to Jim Michalczik and the line, but let's get the pass blocking down, and the offense will really be cooking with gas.