Michigan State football's Luke Newman ranked No. 1 returning Big Ten OT

It is no secret how important having a solid offensive line is to finding success on the football field. It's nearly impossible (unless someone like Kenneth Walker III is in your backfield) to have a great season without an elite offensive line.

Another thing that hasn't been a secret is the lack of production on the offensive line in the past few years for Michigan State football. That is likely one of the leading causes for Michigan State's struggles the last two years.

However, this position group may be becoming a stength right before our eyes, thanks in large part to an incoming offensive tackle transfer. In fact, this new Spartan is the No. 1 ranked returing offensive tackle in the Big Ten, according to PFF.

Luke Newman is a transfer offensive tackle from Holy Cross. Newman has spent four seasons with Holy Cross, before entering the transer portal and returning home for one final season.

Newman is from Bloomfield Hills, Mich., and was a two-star recruit out of high school. In fact, he was only the No. 85 overall player from the state of Michigan out of high school. However, he has shot up the rankings in this year's transfer portal as he comes in as the No. 38 offensive tackle in the portal.

According to PFF, Newman has an 87.9 grade, and if you aren't familiar with PFF, that is an elite grade. Sure he went up against much weaker competition at Holy Cross than he will see at Michigan State, but this shows us that the potential and skillset is there.

Jonathan Smith earned an early commitment from Newman on Jan. 20 which has allowed him to become very familiar with his new teammates and coaching staff already. Time will tell if he'll be a starter or not, but the absolute worst scenario is that Newman will be a solid backup in the two-deep which is never a bad thing to have.