Can this unit protect the quarterback and open running lanes better than 2023?
Happy Friday, TOC. We (side note: it feels great to be able to say “We” again) have concluded our previews on the defensive side of the ball. Hopefully we were able to provide you all with some sense of optimism that the Spartan defense won’t be a massive debacle again this season. Now we will move to the offense and see if the 2024 team can perform better than the 15.9 PPG they averaged last year. In case you were wondering, that was the third lowest mark in the FBS in 2023, ahead of only Iowa and Kent State.
Our analysis of the offense will begin with the offensive line. Like their defensive counterparts, there is not much talent returning from last year. I am sure many of you are relieved to hear that, though, considering the utter lack of production they gave us. The good news is that Jonathan Smith probably did his best recruiting in this unit. There are a number of incoming transfers and freshmen, not to mention a few redshirt freshmen, all looking to prove themselves and make Michigan State’s offense a potent force. This influx of talent is a credit to the success that Smith and the OL Coach he brought from Oregon State, Jim Michalczik, have had together in developing talent and instituting schemes that made the Ducks one of the better running teams in the country these past few seasons. In 2021, they were #19 in the land, averaging 212 yards per game; they have not averaged under 165 rushing yards per game since the last decade. This is all the more impressive considering that Oregon State is not a traditional football school (as evidenced by them being in a two-team conference now) and really does not get the level of recruits that many of their PAC-12 foes could get. Fun fact: Coach Michalczik’s mother is an MSU graduate.
Returning Players: Brandon Baldwin, Kristian Phillips, Dallas Fincher, Gavin Broscious, Ashton Lepo, Jacob Merritt
Departed Players: J.D. Duplain, Nick Samac, Spencer Brown, Ethan Boyd, Geno VanDeMark, Keyshawn Blackstock, Evan Brunning, Braden Miller, Kevin Wiggenton II, Andy Hartman
Transfers In: Luke Newman, Tanner Miller
Recruits In: Rustin Young, Rakeem Johnson, Mercer Luniewski, Charlton Luniewski, Payton Stewart, Andrew Dennis, Kyler Brunan, Hayden Lorius
Redshirt Freshmen: Cole Dellinger, Stanton Ramil, Cooper Terpstra
To summarize, there are six experienced players coming back, a pair of incoming transfers, and three redshirt freshmen and eight true freshmen looking to break into the rotation. Ten players on the 2023 depth chart have left the program.
Three of those departed players were full-time starters – Duplain at LG, Samac at C, and Brown at RT. Geno VanDeMark and Kevin Wigenton II split the RG starting role. That leaves Brandon Baldwin, last year’s starting LT, as the only returning starter. He is a near-certainty to resume that role in 2024.
The two incoming transfers, Newman from Holy Cross and Miller from Oregon State, both of whom have one year of eligibility left, could both slot into the starting lineup. Newman is a two-time All-FCS player at LT, but he could slide inside to LG for the Spartans. Miller has experience starting at both guard spots as well as center under MSU’s new coaching staff.
Among returning players, Fincher has started in the middle for this team and is the main competition for Miller for that role in 2024. Fincher did play guard in his high school career, so this could be a case of them both starting and the coaches figuring out which arrangement makes the unit best. Ashton Lepo, though he did not start any games in 2023, did receive playing time at left tackle. As right tackle is the biggest hole on the line, at least in terms of collegiate playing experience, he may have an edge on all the freshmen, true and redshirt, behind him and take the other end of the line. Gavin Broscious is a name to look out for. He missed his redshirt freshman season last year due to an injury, but he was considered a big name back in the ‘22 class. He should at least earn a spot on the two-deep at guard.
Looking at the fresh talent, Rustin Young is the most promising. A four-star recruit from the Hawaiian Islands, Young can play anywhere on the line but should be an OG for MSU. Cole Dellinger sat out last year, but he could be another solid depth piece on the interior after being a four-star member of the ‘23 class. Mercer Luniewski and Payton Stewart are both high three-star recruits who can help seal the edge, but they are going to have to try surpassing Stanton Ramil on the depth chart. Ramil, from the 2023 class, was the top OT out of the state of Alabama where he was a two-time state champion at Thompson High School in Alabaster, the same school where Taulia Tagovailoa played.
Predicted starting offensive line (from left): Brandon Baldwin, Luke Newman, Tanner Miller, Dallas Fincher, Ashton Lepo
Predicted second string: Payton Stewart and Stanton Ramil at tackle; Gavin Broscious and Cole Dellinger at guard. I assume that if whoever ends up as the starting center, Fincher or Miller, were to go down, the other would slide over to replace him. In that case, Rustin Young is probably the next man up in the interior.
Certainly, the offensive line has a lot of unproven talent. Hopefully that makes some of these guys hungry and the competition just brings up the overall level of play. We have heard that this new coaching staff brings a history of strong offensive line play with them. We will need them to continue that trend in East Lansing. This is not the best unit on the team, but I am certainly feeling better about it than I am the defensive line.
21 days until kickoff.
GO GREEN! GO WHITE!