All-time Michigan State football defensive starters from Mark Dantonio era

Linebacker 2: Greg Jones

Next up is a linebacker who played at the beginning of Dantonio’s tenure, but did something that hadn’t been done since the 1960s.

Greg Jones was a linebacker for MSU from 2007-2010 and was the first Spartan to win back-to-back consensus first-team All-American honors on defense since the 1960s. He joined Bubba Smith and George Webster who have accomplished that honor.

In order to accomplish such an impressive feat he had obviously had to dominate on the field, and that he did.

Jones started 46 of the 52 games he played in including 40 consecutive starts to end his career. He posted double digit tackles 20 times in his career and is the only Spartan to ever lead the team in tackles for four seasons. Jones ended his career with 465 tackles, 46.5 tackles for loss and 16.5 sacks, all of which were top six in program history at the time.

We may never see another Greg Jones at Michigan State in our lifetime, but thankfully we had the chance to witness his greatness which helped propel Michigan State to the success they found in the years to come.