Michigan State’s defensive line flashing bright future after years of futility

Losing Alex VanSumeren and Jalen Thompson depleted Michigan State’s defensive line room — or so that’s what everyone was led to believe.

On Saturday against Northwestern, Michigan State’s defensive line dominated and had Aidan Chiles running for his life. This was the first time in years that the defensive line felt like the strongest position group on the team.

The Pro Football Focus grades also prove that Michigan State’s defensive line was dominating while the rest of the defense struggled — especially late.

Pat Fitzgerald lost his top two defensive linemen from Jonathan Smith’s final season but he turned right around and addressed the defensive line in the transfer portal. He also hired Winston DeLattiboudere which has turned out to be a huge steal.

Michigan State’s defensive line hasn’t quite had much of a pulse in years and sacks have been at a premium since the Mark Dantonio era.

The five we saw on Saturday from a portal-heavy group of veterans with a few young guys mixed in felt like 10. That’s how often Chiles was running for his life.

The room is veteran-heavy, but these guys are getting some really good coaching and the young guys like Derrick Simmons and Anelu Lafaele will definitely be next — Lafaele is already becoming a star edge rusher.

Major credit has to go to DeLattiboudere for this quick turnaround.

The Winston DeLattiboudere II effect is real

After years of futility, and a couple of really rough games in terms of tackles for loss, DeLattiboudere is clearly getting somewhere with this group.

And the future looks bright thanks to the sudden improvement.

Kenny Soares Jr. proved very early on that he was going to be a steal because the coaching staff couldn’t stop raving about him and the team voted for him to wear the No. 1 jersey. Eli Coenen has been a pleasant surprise and even though he didn’t have his best game against Northwestern, he still had a huge blocked field goal. Ben Roberts has been playing at an All-Big Ten level and NFL scouts are going to be kicking themselves for not attending Saturday’s game.

Lafaele was a monster off the edge, sacking Chiles twice, Isaac Smith played well, Kheanist Thompson had a half-sack and a tackle for loss, and Coenen’s “off game” included the aforementioned blocked field goal and another half-sack.

The young guys will benefit from this coaching, especially since it has only taken a half-season for Michigan State’s defensive line to go from a weakness to one of the strengths.

There’s a reason experts were raving about the DeLattiboudere hire in the offseason and that’s becoming more evident by the week.

He’s going to mess around and turn Roberts into a Day 2 NFL draft pick at this rate.

Imagine what another good portal haul will do for this group in 2027.

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