Grading Each Spartans Defensive Group at Season's Midpoint

Off the top here, let's start with the defensive tackles, your nose guards and your three-techs.

I'm gonna go with a B-plus here.

Uh, more specifically, it's generally with the starters, uh, in the game right now, because it, it's Ben Roberts and Eli Coonan have been a surprisingly good duo.

There ha- isn't much to be super excited about with Michigan State, uh, these days, but I, I mean, right now, you can feel good about, uh, the, the two players on the, on the very middle o- of Michigan State's defense, because Ben Roberts and Coonan have been two of MSU's best players, just overall, regardless of position, uh, you know, up to this point.

Roberts is usually the nose tackle or the two-eye.

He eats a lot of the double teams.

And Coonan, again, he has three sacks.

He's the...

All of that was in the first two games against Toledo and Eastern Michigan.

Uh, but still, like he's been one of MSU's best pass...

He's really been MSU's best pass rusher, uh, from a, from a defensive tackle, which is, you know, you don't see many teams for better...

It's probably a bad thing that your best pass rusher is a defensive tackle.

I mean, we'll talk about that a little more when we're talking about the edge rushers.

But Coonan has, has been a pleasant surprise, uh, as well.

He's a transfer from Illinois.

Uh, he began his career at, at a Division II school, Bemidji State.

Uh, went to Illinois last year.

You know, he played, but not a ton.

Now he comes to Michigan State, he's a starter, and, and he's been, he's been fantastic.

He, he's a redshirt junior, so he has another year of eligibility left.

Coonan will be on the list of players where, like, MSU, unless he has a certain amount of NFL stock, it's hard to know exactly where a lot of these guys stand right now.

But Coonan, y- you have to keep him.

You really have to keep him.

He'll be on the list of guys where if MSU really is that serious about being competitive as much as they kind of say that they're gonna be, uh, this coming season, Coonan needs to be wearing green and white, uh, this season.

And I don't mean that as...