Here's Your Shield, R.J. Shelton

The Spartans picked up their fourth commitment Sunday from Wisconsin running back R.J. Shelton.  Most of the recruiting sites haven't yet evaluated .  Only 247 has a rating for him -- 3 stars.  It also looks like the Spartan coaches got out ahead of other programs.  MSU was the first B1G program to offer Shelton, shortly thereafter he was noticed and offered by Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.  It appears that Bielema personally called Shelton to try to keep him instate, but MSU's early interest seems to have paid off.

Shelton has good size (5'11" and 185 lbs), and he is listed as running the 40 in 4.5 seconds.  That seems about right; he looks like a 4.5 guy in his video:

The immediate reaction is to see Shelton as the next Edwin Baker, as they move in a similar way.  If you look at this next video of Baker (at the 1:15 mark), you can see that Baker was bigger and more powerful in high school.  He may also have been faster -- according to Scout he ran the 40 in 4.4 seconds. 

Shelton was only a junior in his video, so some physical improvement seems likely. Nonetheless, Shelton already shows some excellent talent and athleticism.  He's another guy who makes you realize that it's too early to panic about recruiting.  After all, how can anyone be upset about taking a running back with competing offers from Iowa and Wisconsin?

Shelton's commitment should wrap up the running back recruiting, between Shelton and Holmes the Spartans have secured a speed/power back combo.  The Spartans now have 5 young guys who could step in for Caper after 2012 or Bell should he leave early for the draft.  

Here's Your Shield, Jalyn Powell

The Spartans have picked up their 3rd commitment from Ohio safety,  Jalyn Powell.  Powell attends Warren G. Harding high school, home of former Spartan DB Chris L. Rucker. Once again, it looks like the Spartan coaches have jumped ahead of most of the recruiting services, so the information on Powell is limited, and in some cases conflicting.  Only 247 has a rating for him, and they consider him a 3-star guy.  Otherwise, Scout says that Powell received offers from Michigan, and West Virginia, and that Ohio State is showing interest in him.  All of the other sites, however, list MSU as his only offer.

Powell has great size for a safety (6'1" and 185 lbs.).  If you believe ESPN, which is the only site that has a 40 meter time for him, he seems to be a little slow (at 4.86 seconds).  But folks, you tell me if you believe this guy is slow:

In this video, Powell looks like the best athlete on the field.  There are several moments where he makes everyone else look like they're standing still.  On defense he shows some pretty good instincts and he brings the lumber when he tackles.  I have to say, this is some of the best highlight video I've ever seen.  That makes Powell one of the most exciting prospects I've ever reviewed.

Powell is being recruited as a safety, but to me he looks like a guy that could excel at many other positions, including wide receiver, linebacker, and running back. He fits the mold of a Dantonio safety and will be a great addition to the class of 2013 for the Green and White.

Here's Your Shield, Gerald Holmes

The Spartans have received their first commitment for the 2013 class in the form of Gerald Holmes, a running back from Flint, Michigan.  Holmes is very much under-the-radar, at this point.  None of the recruiting sites have rated him, yet, and he only has offers from Central Michigan and Toledo.  The only other data available on Holmes is about his size.  He is approximately 6 feet tall and weighs about 200 lbs, which suggests that Holmes is slated to become the successor to Larry Caper or Le'Veon Bell.

In fact, there are moments in his high school video highlights when Holmes looks a little like Caper and a little like Bell.  Here's Bell as a senior in high school (unable to embed video, unfortunately), and here's Caper as a senior in high school:

And here's Holmes' as a junior in high school:

We can see that Holmes is not quite as big as either Bell or Caper, yet.  In his senior year Bell was listed as approximately 6'2" and 215-220 lbs (currently he is listed as 6'2" and 237 lbs.) and Caper was listed as 5'11" and  215-220 lbs (currently he is listed as 5'11" and 223 lbs.).  But Holmes is only a junior in high school, so it's quite possible that he could grow a little taller and that he could add some weight in the next 6 months or so before he enters his senior year.

In the videos we can also see that Holmes is probably in between Bell and Caper in terms of speed.  He looks faster than Bell but not quite as fast as Caper.  When you consider that guys like Monty Madaris and MacGarrett Kings looked a little faster in their senior year highlights relative to their junior year highlights, it's possible that Holmes could get closer to playing at Caper's speed by his senior year.  Of course, we'll have to wait for Holmes' senior year highlights to come out before we can re-examine his speed.

We can also see that in terms of power, Holmes runs more like Bell.  He doesn't get brought down by arm tackles and there are even moments where he tries to hit tacklers before they hit him (check out 1:37).  Holmes is not yet as punishing a runner as Bell; in Bell's video we can see that many tacklers just bounced off of him and in many cases they just get out of the way.  But Holmes is pretty physical.  Holmes also moves a little like Bell.  He has a similar array of moves, including a nice spin move (at about 0:50).

One concern I have about Holmes is that in a lot of the highlights he's running outside the tackles, kind of like Larry Caper.  In the Big Ten he'll find he doesn't have the speed to do that -- perhaps even Caper is struggling with that.  A bigger concern may be that we can't tell if Holmes can do all the little things well, the way Bell was able to do right away as a freshman.  As the video below points out, Bell was able to contribute right away because he was good at running, catching, and blocking.  I should note, though, that Holmes does make some nice catches and blocks in his highlights.  But it's hard to know from highlight videos if he can do everything consistently well.

So the upshot is that there's a lot to like about Holmes.  There is a good possibility that he could end up around the same size as Caper and perhaps even Bell, and there is a good possibility that he'll end up slightly less speedy  and agile than Caper.  If so, he should eventually end up with at least 3 stars and perhaps even move up to 4-star territory.  On the other hand, there is always the possibility that he could struggle to add size and speed, and that would pretty much mean that he ends up a 2-star recruit.

So now the Spartans have recruited 3 running backs in the last year, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them go after another big back.  They are well stocked with the smaller, quicker running backs (Nick Hill, Nick Tompkins, Marcus Horne), but they'll be losing Larry Caper this year and Le'Veon Bell the next year (if he doesn't leave early for the draft).  The only big back they have coming in is Holmes, so adding one more big back could be in the offing.

Friday Morning Hot Links

Outback Bowl Film Study: The Only Colors has it. The always excellent Heck Dorland does an outstanding job breaking down a third quarter drive in MSU's comeback win against Georgia in the Outback bowl. Required reading if you miss MSU football.


Divination, Tea Leaves and Real Estate Speculation: The class of 2012 was officially signed, sealed and delivered to MSU this week. If you want an excellent and quick overview check out the Little Brother Blog's write up on 2012 MSU Defensive Recruits and 2012 MSU Offensive Recruits.If something a little more official is your bag, MSU Spartans, has all the quotes about athleticism, change of direction and toughness you could want to read. If you want the super deep dive on MSU recruits hit that link for all of the write-ups we did this week. It's lame to link your own stuff in a links post, but there are some people who only read on the weekends. Chris Vannini points out that making predictions for the class of 2012 is not possible. He also hates freedom, joy and puppies. However, he wisely points out that a retrospective recruiting ranking would be more accurate. Luckily, if you're interested in such a thing, it exists. Spartan Nation examines a retrospective ranking of the class of 2008.

Urban Warfare(Pt. 2)

This is not 'Nam, Urban. This is recruiting, there are rules.

Bret Bielema thinks that Urban Meyer is "OVER THE LINE!" So, he's going to have Alvarez talk to "the league office. I don't know maybe have them forfeit the match." The point I was trying to make in yesterday's post was if you want to say the B1G has a Gentleman's Agreement, fine.When people don't adhere to that agreement, they are not gentlemen. That's fine too. But to publicly complain that decorum has been broken but no actual rules were violated makes you look less gentlemanly.  Also, the reason so many villains are southern gentlemen is because they do their dirty work behind closed doors.

I'm done talking recruiting until camp season or the next commit.

The BasketBOWL is Sunday and MSU really needs a win. Luckily Draymond appears to be ready to go. I wouldn't count on him at full strength. No previews are up on either side yet. Go Green. Beat the Wolverines.

Recruiting Wars, McJimbers and the Gentleman's Agreement

Earlier in the week, an article was written on Cantonrep.com titled "Buckeyes-Spartans Recruiting War Heating Up". In it, the author goes on to make Pat Narduzzi sound like an angry ex who felt he's been cheated out of things that rightfully belong to him. Further, Narduzzi goes on to talk about a gentlemen's agreement which existed between Dantonio and Tressel that involved leaving recruits unpoached.

Actual photographic evidence of when this agreement was made. Tressel, McJimbers and Dantonio

Normally, this wouldn't be cause to write a post, Narduzzi makes Dantonio look like Matt Lauer in front of a mike so you can't take him too seriously. However, this all came up yesterday again in the introductory press conference for the new recruits. In a Detroit News article titled "Mark Dantonio says recruiting committed players 'unethical'" It contains transcript from yesterday's press conference referencing the Urbaning of former MSU commit Se'Von Pittman.

It didn't sit well with the Spartans coaches and a few days ago defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi spoke about a "recruiting war" beginning.

On Wednesday, the feelings hadn't changed, though the Michigan State coaches were careful not to single out any team or coach.

"I would say it's pretty unethical," Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said. "You ask people for a commitment, you ask for people's trust, ask for people to make a commitment to you, but then you turn around and say it's OK to go back after somebody else's commitment. That's a double standard.

"Everybody's got a job to do, there's a lot of pressure, but we're all grown men and we're trying to do a job, just like society today in every respect, whether it's a reporter or doctor or lawyer or somebody else. People are gonna try and do their job, they're gonna do what they have to do to get it done sometimes."

Look, I get that we're all pissed Meyer stole Pittman, but this seems over the top to me. Complaining about the poaching of an admittedly marquee recruit during your Signing Day PC seems petty. Pittman would have been a valuable addition to this class, but MSU will do without him as well.

I've never believed that Dantonio lives by this uber-ethical recruiting code as it pertains to committed kids. He may well have had a Gentlemen's Agreement with Tressel but both OSU and MSU fans can agree the greatest evil of the Big Ten lives in Ann Arbor. For Dantonio regarding committed kids, I've had the feeling that he'll put in a call and if they say no then he lets it go. Coincidentally, this is exactly what Meyer said yesterday.

"Sometimes they say, 'How can you go recruit a young guy committed to another school?'" Meyer said. "You ask a question, 'Are you interested?' If they say, 'No,' you move on. If they say, 'Yes, very interested,' then you throw that hook out there. If they're interested, absolutely [you recruit them], especially from your home state. Is it gratifying to take a guy from another school? Not at all."

Something tells me the process of saying no to Urbz goes a bit more like this though.

 I want to have Se'Von Pittman play football here. Call him and see if he's interested.

No Urbz. No Dice.

 Deploy the hookers and coke, ask if he's interested now.

No Urbz. No Dice.

Cars and tats?

No Urbz. No Dice.

Offer my heartfelt allegiance and this Simpsons Yo-Yo

Se'Von Pittman is on the phone.


What's always surprised me most of this adherence to an ethical code is that it is so counter to Dantonio's on the field attitude. On the field, Dantonio will gamble the whole game on a trick play because he knows he has a chance to play on the assumptions of others that a FG will be a FG and a punt a punt. Why does it surprise him so that someone would be willing to do the same thing in recruiting?

The class of 2013 needs to be man-by-man one of the strongest at MSU since he came here in 2007. MSU has enjoyed the on-field success of an elite program the past four years using elite recruits from the class of 2009 and 2010.  The classes of 2011 and 2012 are solid and 2012 is not far off from 2010 from a rating perspective, but if we want to continue having eleven win seasons and playing for Big Ten titles MSU needs to recruit at it's 2009 and 2010 level consistently.

In short, if Dantonio needs to ask a second time if a recruit means "No" when he calls, that's fine with me. Given the Urbaning of the Big Ten it's going to become part of what's necessary to win in November.

Pledge Week: Tight Ends

Here's what you need to know, for all of the bagging on Roushar, he runs a fairly similar offense to Scott Linehan of Detroit Lions fame. That involves frequent, early and wacky use of the Tight Ends. This year MSU lost two, Garrett Celek and Brian Linthicum. These are big shoes to fill and these two young men have their work cut out for them.

Josiah Price

Courtesy of Scout

Josiah Price committed to MSU on 6/23/2011 over offers from all of the MAC and Purdue, Minny, Illinois and Indiana. He was a recruit on the way up so I'm glad we snagged him when we did. Price was rated a three-star prospect by all three major recruiting services.

Price despite fitting the "Swiss Army Knife" profile (explained further below) he will certainly stick at TE. I remember Jim Comparoni reporting that Price had very, very soft hands and if there's anything MSU likes to do it's make sure their TE's are part of the passing game.




Success and YOUtube

What's to love about this guy? Well, he was the Keshawn Martin of his high school football team. He played in the slot, lined up at Split End, ran the zone read as the QB, but threw the ball as well as his Quarterback and he McGuffie'd a kid! He has great hands. What's not to love for all that athleticism his change of direction seemed a skosh unimpressive, but I'm really nitpicking. This is a great pickup.

2012 and Beyond Tea Leaves: Price will not redshirt in 2012. With Linthicum gone I think that Price has the best chance of stepping in and moving into that H-back role. This assumes no one from defense moves to TE in the Spring, I've got my eye on you Taiwan Jones.

Evan Jones

Courtesy of Scout

Evan Jones has a kingly beard. I am 32 and cannot grow facial hair so stately as the beard in this picture. Jones committed to MSU on 5/7/2011 over offers from WVa and a host of MAC schools. He is ranked a three-star prospect by all three major recruiting services and fits the bill of the Mark Dantonio Swiss Army Knife recruit.

The Swiss Army Knife recruit is typically recruited tall (6'4" - 6'6") and 240-250. They are recruited to be big, quick for their size and able to grow into a host of positions such as TE/DE/DT/OT. Ty's stony, rigid NFL mind is blown at the idea of recruiting someone of this size and seeing what he develops into. Yet, this is a specialty recruit of the more pro-style teams in the Big Ten, Ferentz and Bielema specifically.

For Further Examination We Turn To YOUtube

He has no youtube video. Here is Evan Jones the Singer/Songwriter singing Before That Bloody War.

I would expect a song called Before That Bloody War to be a bit more either light-hearted or more nostalgic. This just sounds tired, it could be that way because it's a tired war hero singing about better days, but that's not what I got out of it. He's got some hella-effects on that guitar and I don't think I've ever heard a song with a bass, accordion and acoustic guitar rigout only. So dap to him for not just going straight ahead on the typical folk rock stuff with just him and a guitar without some jazzing up.

2012 and Beyond Tea Leaves: MSU's Evan Jones will likely redshirt in 2012. It is my belief one Tight End will redshirt and it may be him or Price, but am going with Price based off his existent youtube video. This assumes that Dion Sims stays healthy which is a bit of a long shot(he hasn't yet). He will play significant minutes as early as 2013. What happens to singer/songwriter Evan Jones is that I suspect he will not see the field for MSU ever.

Here's Your Shield, Demetrious Cox

It's raining 4-stars in East Lansing!  The Spartans just received a commitment from Pennsylvania safety Demetrious Cox, who is a consensus 4-star recruit.  This is a really big one for the Spartans.  If we added up the ratings for all the recruits, it's quite likely that Cox might be the highest rated recruit this year, or perhaps tied with Aaron Burbridge.  Cox is generally considered a top-20 safety, and Scout actually ranks him the 8th best safety in the country.  Cox also received offers from just about everyone.  Some of his top offers include: Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, and Wisconsin.

Cox does possess good size for a safety (6'1" and 190 lbs.), but like Madaris his speed is unclear. Rivals has him running the 40 in 4.48 seconds, while ESPN has him running it at 4.71. Scout also says, "Cox is not a player who is going to light up stopwatches" and rates his backpedal speed as an "area for improvement." But on the other hand, ESPN also says, "Cox is a really explosive athlete with terrific play speed, sudden change-of-direction and the ability to be a homerun threat in space."  It's hard to tell what's going on here, so let's look at some video:

First of all, we can see that Cox did just about everything for his team.  He played quarterback, safety, and punt returner (anything else?).  His speed looks pretty good in this video.  He's not a 4.3 guy, but he looks like he has good speed, and most importantly he plays fast.  He plays with confidence and aggressiveness, especially when he's taking on the role of a running back.  There's not much video of him at safety, but the few clips there are show that he seems to have good instincts.  He seems to be near the action and looks like a solid hitter.  He also has the ability to go up for the ball, so he should be able to challenge taller receivers.

Since Cox appears to have played a lot of positions in high school, I suspect he'll be a little raw at safety as a freshman.  Moreover, safety is one of those positions that requires some tactical awareness to play well.  You just don't see many freshmen safeties.  So as highly-regarded as Cox is, I think he's not going to get much playing time until his second year in the program and at that point he probably still won't be a starter -- unless his athleticism and instincts turn out to be too outstanding.  Regardless, the secondary looks to be set for several years.

This may just about do it for the 2012 class, unless Dodson, Johnson, or Jackson commits.  We had to wait a long time for these final commits and it's been worth it.

Here's Your Shield, Monty Madaris

I had my doubts for a minute there that the Spartans were going to get anyone else this recruiting season, but it looks like the suspense was worth it. Today, the Spartans received a commitment from Ohio wide receiver Monty Madaris.  Folks, Madaris is an exciting pick-up.  All of the recruiting sites (except Rivals) consider him a 4-star recruit and they all consider him a top-60 receiver.  Scout rates him the highest, ranking him the 26th receiver in the country.  Madaris also had some pretty solid offers from places like Boston College, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Florida State, Illinois, Michigan, and Nebraska.  So basically, he's good.

Madaris has excellent size for a receiver (6'2" and 190 lbs.), but there seems to be some concern about his speed.  None of the sites have a 40-time recorded for Madaris and Scout lists his speed as area for improvement.  The only 40-time that is available come from one of his videos, which says he runs the 40 in 4.5 seconds.  

Actually, whether his speed is a concern or not depends on which of his videos you watch.  In one video, his speed does seem to be less impressive and then there is this one: 

In this one Madaris looks like he possesses all the tools to be a great receiver.  He looks athletic.  For a 6'2" guy, he looks quick and elusive; he is able to put moves on tacklers and has the burst to get by them.  When he gets to the second level he shows great top-end speed.  He also shows the ability to go up and win jump-balls and shows some grit, diving into the end-zone.  I am hoping that this video is from Madaris' senior year and the other video I saw was of his junior year.  That would show some serious development on his part.

Madaris' commitment wraps up the Spartans' wide receiver recruiting.  The Spartans picked up four wide receivers in this class, including two 4-star guys.  Aaron Burbridge is the most likely of the four to see playing time as a freshman, but to me, the Madaris in this video looks like someone that could compete for some playing time.  We'll have to see.  Even if he doesn't play as a freshman, Madaris should eventually become one of the Spartans' best receivers.  

Kirk Cousins Will Be A Success on Sundays

In a happy coincidence of random awesomeness, new MSU blog "On the Banks of the Red Cedar" wrote about this very topic yesterday, so go check it out.

It feels bold to predict Kirk Cousins success in the NFL, after all, most mocks have Cousins going somewhere between the late second and the early fifth. He finished 30th in overall passing efficiency in 2011 and 13th among players who will be candidates in the 2012 NFL Draft. His best apparent analog really seems to be Ricky Stanzi who was an efficient and careful QB by his Senior Year. Stanzi was drafted in the fifth round in 2011 and didn't take a live snap in the 2011 NFL Season(he did miss chance due to injury though in late November).

Physically, Cousins has most of the traits you need to play the position. At 6'3" and 205 he is tall enough to play the position and injury has never been an issue for him. At 205-210 he's big enough to take a hit and wasn't seriously injured during his time at Michigan State. Is there another way to examine his deep arm than this?

 

That throw was about 60 yards and while there was a dude about to hit him in the face just before release and I get the sense he has another five to ten yards in his arm. This is adequate but not elite distance. The "Big-Armed" Quarterbacks in the League can throw 70 to 80 yards. I mention arm strength first because it is the most unchangeable asset in a Quarterback's development at 23 years old. So arm strength: Adequate, but not elite.

Cousins has some things he does really well in the passing game. He sells the playaction pass as well as anyone in college football. *Cousins also has a knack for audibling into the right play. He reads coverages really well pre-snap and can make tight throws into tight spaces if he's made the right read on the play. This also exposes one of his shortcomings as a passer, which is of course that he locks onto his pre-snap read and throws to them whether they are open or not. So Student of the Game: Very Good.

*- I found this google Cousins Play Action Pass. Some people have the Dumb real fierce.

In terms of accuracy, this is a number we can actually measure! In 2011, Cousins passer efficiency dropped from 150.7 to 145.1. He had a drop-off in yards per attempt from 8.36 to 7.91 and threw the same number of picks as in 2010 at 10 on the season. So did he get worse? No, not really. His yards per completion dropped from 12.5 in 2010 to 12.41 in 2011 which IMO is negligible and despite having thrown the same number of picks he threw five more TD's. He also threw 81 more times despite having played in only one more game which averages out to an additional four more attempts per game 26 in 2010 to 29.92 in 2011. While it might be foolish to assume that Cousins improved in this arena, it would be fair to say that he did not regress. The argument could easily be made that with MSU's diminished run game in 2011 that Cousins was responsible for being more accurate in better pass coverage.  Accuracy: Hard to tell how this will measure up to pro guys, but certainly very good at the collegiate level.

Schematically, Cousins has a huge advantage that only Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson have in front of him. Cousins plays and has played in a pro-style offense for three years now. One could even argue that Luck is the only one who has this since Wilson had a disappointing cup of coffee at Wisconsin. While the NFL is finally starting to acknowledge the Spread as a friend, not foe taking snaps from under Center is still a very big deal. Especially for a guy like Cousins who is apt to get happy feet when he feels pass rush pressure.

This familiarity with taking snaps from under center has served Brian Hoyer well in his capacity as back up to King Brady. As an undrafted rookie he beat out a field of QB's to win the sole backup job to Brady. In 2010, the Pats didn't even seriously audition anyone else and in 2011 they brought in Problem Child Ryan Mallett to challenge Hoyer for the job. Hoyer remains the number two even today. This familiarity with throwing the ball from under center will give him an advantage over most of these other QB's who will have to learn to make their reads from under center.

This advantage that only Cousins and Luck have is what will put Cousins in a position to succeed in the pros if he is given time to develop. They've played NFL offense for a couple years already.

So What Would Cause Him To Fail?

- Getting tossed onto a team where he ends up the immediate starter.(Very Unlikely) Teams who would fit such a bill:  Redskins, Seahawks, Browns. The odds that a guy drafted as a 3rd rounder or beyond would get a chance to start his rookie year are pretty slim. I wouldn't worry about this a whole lot.

- Getting put on a team where he is going to sit behind a young well-paid or franchise QB. (Packers, Colts with either Luck or Manning, Saints, Eagles, Chargers, Falcons, Giants, Rams, Lions, Jaguars, Vikings, Carolina,Titans) In either of these scenarios playing time would really be an issue for him.

Where should I root for him to land?

In no particular order:

Chargers - I know I said above that he doesn't want to land with the Chargers, but, the Bolts gave Rivers the keys to the team when they sent LT over to the Jets. Rivers has pretty much gone on to not lead his team to victory and he can be kind of a jerk. Coach Norv Turner and GM AJ Smith are on their last legs in SD. Cousins could be uniquely positioned in a 2012-2013 regime change. I don't like his odds here, but it's better than somewhere like Carolina.

Steelers - Big Ben has always seemed kind of, eh, as a QB, but he finds a way to win. Great out of the pocket, big arm. Charlie Batch is the backup there, but he's like 600 now, so it'd be a good place for Cousins to win a back-up job and proceed from there.

Cowboys - Romo is a great QB on paper and not so good at closing the deal in games. The patience for him is running thin. He needs to start winning or else. Drafting the best QB has not really been a high priority for Jerry Jones since Aikman. He pretty much goes out and buys someone in free agency or he drafts a mid round QB like Cousins and promotes from within.

Jets - The depth chart is favorable. Sanchez obviously isn't going to be Sanchize. So there's a crack at PT in a year or two. But God, I wouldn't wish being drafted to the Jets on someone I don't like.

Broncos - Yep, I said it. The Broncos. Tebow caught everyone napping this year and I do not think the Broncos continue their success in 2012. It would be a ripe situation for a young QB to take over in 2013. Cousins needs to impress Elway to pull this off.

Dolphins - I think the Dolphins go QB before they get to Cousins, but if they haven't I could see him getting snatched up. The Fins just hired the Broncos OC so this too would not be a bad spot for Cousins. He'd get a developmental year because with an all-new staff the Fins won't be in a huge yank to win games this year.

Notice a trend here? For an optimal crack at success, Cousins needs to land somewhere that wouldn't ask him to start his first year and that he also wouldn't be expected to sit behind an entrenched starter for the next five years.

Cousins Will Succeed Regardless of Who Takes Him

Cousins couldn't be landing in a more optimal situation for him as a mid-round QB. He's not Captain Swaggerballs, so I don't know that a first round NFL Game 1 Starting Job would be best for him anyway. He'll get a year or two to learn the offense whereever he goes. He has the physical tools to succeed at the next level, but they are not so plentiful that he can skate by on them. He has the added advantage of having taken many snaps under center which puts him ahead of many rookie QBs. He's never been short on right attitude or smarts, the only thing I see jeopardizing his career would ending up on a team full of "me first" asswipes like the Jets or Redskins.

Couple of Weekend Game Highlights First

- B.J. Cunningham had two catches for 26 yards including a nice TD grab on a 17 yard hitch in the East-West Shrine Game on Saturday.

- Keith Nichol had one reception for 37 yards in the NFLPA Bowl. Here are some highlights below, I'm pretty sure Nichol's catch is in the middle, but, it's a pretty craptastic video so I'm not really sure.

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

Confirmed Visitors from This Weekend

- Kyle Dodson, Aaron Burbridge, Tyler O'Connor, Monty Madaris, Jamal Lyles, Riley Bullough, MacGarrett Kings, Kodi Kieler, Mark Meyers. More about this on Wednesday.

- Mark Meyers and David Fennell committed to Michigan State on Sunday Afternoon. Leonidas over at what is your profession has the goods on Meyers and Fennell. Either of these guys fits the bill of a Dantonio "late in the recruiting process" guy like Le'Veon Bell or Keshawn Martin. Fennell had zero offers prior to his MSU offer, but read Leonidas article on him. No one thought Meyers would qualify, but he has and you should peep his film too. I'm going to skip doing a write-up on both guys for the time being in favor of doing an en masse write up around Signing Day.

Weekly Wednesday Wrecruiting Wrap for January 18th, 2012

Quick explanation of how the recruiting cycle works at the beginning of this article.

Early Defections & Scholarship Count

Transfers are looking more and more unlikely by the day. If you haven't enrolled for classes at most universities by Tuesday the 17th, you pretty much can't anymore. So if you're in today, you're likely in for the remainder of the semester. Which is cool with me, I like our team.

Still think that MSU has three schollies to go although there would be no shame in quitting while ahead.

Official Visits Lined Up For This Weekend


It's a big thing for Dantonio to have a huge weekend where he gets a bunch of his committed prospects on campus along with a couple of key uncommitted prospects to try and get them to sign up. This year, that weekend is this upcoming weekend. Lots and lots of great prospects.


Riley Bullough(Committed) - Riley Bullough is a LB prospect from Traverse City. He comes from a long line of Bullough's that have attended Michigan State University. They pretty much are the closest thing that college football has to a lineage of family members playing a position. Bullough currently projects as a strongside linebacker and will likely take Denicos Allen's place when he leaves in 2013.

Zach Higgins(Committed) - Zach Higgins is an Offensive Tackle prospect out of Marlington High School, Ohio. Higgins in true MSU Offensive Tackle prospect fashion has already injured himself in a career-jeopardizing sense. The rumor being he tore an ACL and MCL. For a lament I wrote on our Offensive Tackles click here. Anyway, Dantonio honors scholarships, if the injury is recoverable and since 17 year olds are built out of rubber it may well be, you want him here. If it is not, he'll get a medical scholarship. Higgins has impressed when on the field and we can never have enough Offensive Tackle prospects.

Marcus Horne(Uncommitted) - Horne is a RB prospect out of Milwaukee. At 5'10" and 190 he's built very similarly to our already committed Nick Tompkins. Tompkins was promised that he would be the only running back we take in the class of 2012, however, I don't think anyone counted on Edwin Baker leaving the program after this year. Horne was talking a grey-shirt with MSU, but with Baker leaving obviously that changes things a bit. (A grey-shirt is when a kid pays their own way the first year, but then gets put on scholarship as a sophmore or beyond). Horne doesn't have an offer for a full-ride, if he gets one, I think he jumps, if he doesn't, I don't think he commits.

Terrell Jackson(Committed, to Duke) -  Terrell Jackson is a DT prospect at 6'3" and 255 he does not meet the requirement needed to Be An Instant Worthy Replacement. Frankly, his offer sheet is kind of eh and if MSU takes him this would fall into the bucket of "might be a reach". He is currently committed to Duke which honestly is nice. I'm a little tired of the notion that MSU doesn't recruit players who are committed. MSU recruits kids who are interested in being recruited, "committed" or otherwise. That's what they should do.

Evan Jones(Committed) - I could copy and paste the description of JP Holtz I did last week, but I won't. Jones is a 6'6", 240 lbs dude who could end up playing a host of positions in college. He will likely end up at Tight End though since Tight End is among our more thin positions in the upcoming year or two. Jones offer sheet isn't stunning, but he also committed very early in the process.

Jamal Lyles(Committed) - Lyles is a DE prospect that will have kind of a similar trajectory to Lawrence Thomas IMO. A big-bodied dude who has the frame to put on a lot of good weight. Lyles is one of two Rivals four star recruits committed to MSU. He will continue to improve our already impressive Defensive Line.

Benny McGowan(Committed) - Here's what you need to know about OG/C prospect Benny McGowan, he is the first Offensive Lineman to ever score over 100 on the SPARQ rating. What is SPARQ? It's Nike's moderately unsuccessful attempt to create a standard scoring mechanism for all positions in football to measure Quickness, Agility, Strength and something else that starts with P and R. The fact of the matter is that you cannot reasonably compare the physical attributes of an offensive lineman and a defensive back. That said, no Offensive Lineman has scored over 100, ever. Except this one. Even in a flawed rating system, that speaks to a positive outlier.


Mark Meyers(Committed, to Toledo) - Meyers is a safety prospect currently committed to Toledo. With the departure of Tim Beckman to Illinois Meyer started waving his commitment around. Currently he is pursuing offers from MSU and Illinois and currrently he has offers from neither. Meyers is coming to MSU in the hopes of getting an offer and if he does, he will be in green and white.

Tyler O'Connor(Committed) - O'Connor is the MSU QB commit for 2012. He has a very nice but not elite offer sheet and selected MSU over Northwestern. It's a damn good thing he did too, he is the NW QB that makes you want to throw a brick through your TV. Accurate with quick feet that can get you a few yards on the ground, he'll provide a nice challenge to Cook in the QB battle of 2014 which is as ridiculous to type as it is to read.

Josiah Price(Committed) -  When constructing the two-deeps due to go up over at the Only Colors this week, Price and Burbridge were my picks for kids who will not redshirt in the class of 2012. Burbridge because he'll choose not to, Price because the staff will need him catching passes and playing Tight End. Price is one of the gems of the 2012 class.

Anfornee Stewart(Uncommitted) - What can I say? This kid's recruitment has Keshawn Martin/Le'Veon Bell written all over it. A kid who sends out film after his senior season and gets looks from a bunch of schools.

Rumory Rumor Internet SOPA Rumors

- Monty Madaris will decide sometime this weekend or shortly thereafter. He is rumored to be planning a visit to MSU.



- MSU is getting involved with another 2012 Safety recruit, Jordan Moore, at the 11th hour.


- The kid at the top of MSU's Safety board, Demetrious Cox is rumored to be visiting OSU this weekend.

Best Guess On Finishing Out The Class

TE - JP Holtz, WR - Monty Madaris, S - Anfornee Stewart

It's pretty obvious with how hard MSU has been hitting the safety types in the past week that getting a safety is high priority right now. I don't think the big-bodied kid to replace Worthy is there right now, so MSU will address their most pressing defensive need.

The Offseason Road Map

With yesterday's inebriatingly awesome win we set to the grimy, crappy part of college football. The off-season. In the off-season there will be scandal, there will be boredom, there will be a review of "Death to the BCS"(great book so far, btw).The MSU schedule of events is roughly thus, we'll take a look at the  recruiting things in this post.

• Recruiting and National Signing Day(Now - First Tuesday in Feb)
• Spring Ball(Late March- Late April)
• Fall Practice(Beginning of August - August 31st)
• 8/31 - Boise State and the Smurf Turf Parade comes to town.

Recruiting and National Signing Day

To truly capture what work is to be done here this effort needs to split into two pieces. Efforts to retain/recruit current college and JUCO players and then efforts to continue recruiting High School kids.

Current College Players And Their Odds of Wearing Green and White Against BSU on 8/31

• Jerel Worthy(25%)
• Johnny Adams(80%)
• DeAnthony Arnett(50%)

I think Worthy is gone. There seem to be two camps on him, one that thinks he's a devastating DT because he just manhandles the opposition and another that thinks he has a weird knack for timing the snap count and that's what makes him good. Whether or not his ability to blow up a play is based on a knack for the snap count doesn't really matter. He still does the work. Worthy is a sure top 10 pick barring injury if he stays another year, but we'll see.

Adams potential draft entry came out of nowhere. He's played well this year, but still has gotten an excessive number of penalties IMO. He's gotten them for talking mess to people, PI when he gets burned on a play and I believe penalties for hitting QBs out of bounds. The PI when getting burned on a play is ok in college, but in the pros it's a spot of the foul play instead of 15 yards. I really think he needs to stay another year and clean that up.

DeAnthony Arnett was granted an unconditional release from Tennessee about two hours ago. In his initial decision, MSU finished second to UT, but this was based at least in part because he said he didn't want to play in a spread. Well, UM at least pretends not to run a spread anymore. Arnett will transfer to either MSU or UM, hence the 50 percent, anyone telling you they know which of the two right now is straight lying.

Recruiting High School Kids

Most have calculated 18 spots available on scholly coming into the offseason, this includes the loss of Worthy but not Adams. MSU currently has commitments from fourteen students and if Arnett joins the class that leaves three remaining. I believe MSU looks to take one more in the secondary, one more WR (if no Arnett), one more DL type to replace Pittman and another OL/DL type if the opportunity presents itself.

The picture of who those kids are will change significantly between now and signing day. Be elated at Defcon 5 if those four kids are: Arnett, JP Holtz(DE/TE) prospect, Demetrious Cox(S) prospect and David Perkins(DE). Knock off one level of excitement for each of those kids MSU does not get.

The 2013 Class

So far MSU has zero commitments for the class of 2013, this is not atypical. Usually the first commitment comes between spring ball and summer camps so fear not. A couple of contenders for first commitment in the class of 2013 are Johnny Reschke(ILB), Riley Norman(OT) and Cameron Dillard(OG). All are Michigan prospects and all have shown good interest in MSU. Norman and Reschke already have MSU offers. 


To me, the 2013 class will represent just how far MSU has come under Dantonio in Michigan, Midwestern and National Recruiting. With a revived Michigan program, an OSU head coach from the $EC, Notre Dame looking respectable again and a Wisconsin team that has played in the Rose Bowl two years running, the Big Ten is as strong as ever. For MSU to continue it's success in the past two years, it will have to win some of these recruiting battles against the traditional powers. MSU will have continue to capture the high three star kids, but I think getting a Gholston type in this class is a must. One of the things that set MSU's defense apart this year were the two defensive lineman(Worthy and Gholston) who could blow a play up single-handed. Kirk Cousins put the team on his back several times this year. That playmaker is a must.

Enjoy the offseason folks. It should be a great run-up to the 2012 season. Also, if you don't have season tickets and can afford them, you want to get them next year. MSU plays OSU, ND, Iowa, BSU, NW and Nebraska at home. It should be a great season for a team attempting to get it's third consecutive 11-win season.

Here's Your Shield: Ezra Robinson

MSU received it's 16th commitment on Thursday from Sarasota Florida's Ezra Robinson. Robinson was recruited as a Defensive Back and select MSU over a host of Big Ten and ACC schools including Boston College, North Carolina and Wake Forest. Robinson is ranked a 3 star prospect and #51 CB in the nation according to rivals.com. Scout disagrees slightly, listing him also as a 3 star prospect, but 103rd in the nation.

Here's an interview with him from his sophomore year.



He hit that 10 foot broad jump.

The Takeaway: Robinson is a corner recruited by Dantonio who as a former Defensive Backs coach obviously has an eye for the position. The lack of an offer from any Georgian, Floridian or South Carolinan school would have me a mite skittish if it weren't for Dantonio's aforementioned reputation for making good cornerbacks.

Athleticism won't be an issue for Robinson. With a 31 inch vertical and over 10 feet in the broad jump. He has the leaping ability to play the position. Still not convinced? He's the Sarasota County record holder of the triple jump with a 44' 4" jump and an 11.46 in the 100 Meter Dash at the County Championship meet. The 100 meter dash time is not stellar, but given Robinson's destruction of all events jumping I think explosiveness is a strength for this young man.

Robinson's commitment likely closes out our Cornerback recruiting for 2012. It looks like MSU would take one of Demetrious Cox or Jordan Diggs, both highly sought after recruits for the Safety position. Both are A-List DB prospects, but if neither wants to come to MSU I suspect we're done in the Secondary for this year.

Welcome Ezra Robinson.

Gah! There was a bunch of stuff wrong on this write-up. He apparently did have offers from Clemson, GT and South Florida. I only found these things after reading What Is Your Profession? so go check out their write-up which is fairly similar, except more accurate.

Assume the Position: Wide Receivers

This is part 4a of an ambitiously stated seven part series. This series will focus on introducing MSU fans to their position group players. It is not intended to replace the quality analysis that media types can provide, but we give it our best shot. We'll work backwards from the most stable position groups to the more dynamic ones so we can write about the most volatile groups last.

The Spartans return all but one starter last year from the Wide Receiver position. Mark Dell is now catching passes from Tim Tebow in Denver. The core group of BJ Cunningham, Keshawn Martin and Keith Nichol returns for 2011 and is looking to mess some folks up. This group at first glance should be as talented as any in the big 10. As always we proceed alphabetically.

Juwan Caesar

Juwan Caesar is a Floridian transplant who is going to learn what cold is this winter. He committed to Michigan State in January over offers from West Virginia, Illinois and Minnesota. Despite his "meh" offer sheet, the staff and media seemed particularly excited for his commitment. He sports elite size at 6'4 and 210 and seems to run pretty fluidly.



2011 Prediction

Caesar seems far from a shoe-in to play this season. With a deep WR group in front of him there's no moral imperative to burn his redshirt. He would be a logical backup to Cunningham, Fowler and Nichol so if the injury gods strike maybe he sees the field. Otherwise it's probably a redshirt this year.

B.J. Cunningham

B.J. Cunningham is a redshirt senior who will be one of our starters this upcoming year. Last year BJ really emerged as a redzone threat for us scoring 9 TDs in 2010, tied with Titus Young and A.J. Green for 27th nationally. Cunningham is a big-bodied wide receiver at 6'2" and 215. The most amazing thing about Cunningham in 2010 though was how he became a clutch receiver for us. Need a 3rd and 6, BJ Cunningham will catch that slant for you.

2011 Prediction

Cunningham will be the man this season. I look for a Devin Thomas type dominance from him when the ball goes his way towards the end of the season. I do not expect his numbers to be as gaudy on account of the plethora of targets that Cousins has to throw to. Cunningham will catch touchdowns, he will get us out of 3rd and long and he will run block. Expect big things from him this year.

Bennie Fowler

Bennie Fowler is another man among children in terms of physical stature. As another 6'2" 215 lbs kind of guy, he'll be another of those big bodied wide receivers that Dantonio loves. He saw limited action in 2010 as a redshirt freshman in a VERY deep playing group. He amassed 14 catches for 175 and a TD.

He also was the recipient of the other trick play in 2010.



I felt like Dantonio was a bit overly smug about the success of this play. It was a well-thrown ball by Bates coupled with a good catch by Fowler with impending collision that made the play. I'm pretty sure everyone knew the fake was coming.

2011 Prediction

Fowler will see increased playing time in 2011 although I don't know if he'll be a full-time starter. He showed some promise as a kick returner towards the end of the season in 2010. If Cunningham, Martin and Nichol are injury-free this season, you might see a smaller dose of Bennie Fowler this year. If they get dinged up even an average amount you'll see plenty.

This year as a redshirt sophmore I expect him to get plenty of touches as a WR, KR and even a few at RB, his high school position. Think WR sweeps to the Nichol/Cunningham side of the field. Bennie Fowler will be a star on this team in 2012, the question is will he be one in 2011? Magic 8-ball says.... Yes.

Takudzwa Kubvoruno

Kubvoruno is a walk-on to MSU starting in 2011. He had interest in MSU, CMU and Army but no scholarship offers from those three. He has probably the raddest YouTube highlight reel of any walk-on in MSU history.



I've seriously seen actual non-pornographic movies with worse production than this.

2011 Prediction

I do not expect Kubvoruno to contribute in 2011. While he or any other walk-on WR could be the next Blair White, for him to see the field this year would really need to involve major catastrophe. Even worse than the 2008 Michigan Offense.

Keshawn Martin

It's simple. Keshawn Martin is the most fun I have had watching a Spartan football player since Drew Stanton. You just do not know what he's going to do next. Each play could be the play where he pulls up and gets his Denard on, or he might just have Nichol block out for him while he slips around for 10-20 yards. Statistically, Martin has never been a huge producer for MSU, but you cannot leave him unattended or you will pay.

2011 Prediction

Martin will continue his defense-frustrating ways in 2011. Offenses will need to account for all of the various ways he can get you. He is our jack of all trades and honestly just a boatload of fun to watch. In short, expect his trend of 500 yards and 5 or so TDs to continue, but expect to watch him continue to abuse defenses that he catches napping. I expect a grand sendoff for this young man on Senior Day.

Keith Mumphery

Keith Mumphery was a member of the class of 2010. He selected MSU over Arkansas, the other MSU and Nebraska. He's another 6'0, 200 lbs guy but what makes him an interesting future WR is that he's very fluid and speedy in and out of his cuts. Mumphery comes into this season as a Redshirt Freshman and may push for playing time.

As with all freshman that have yet to hit the field....



2011 Prediction

Keith Mumphery will definitely see playing time against some of the preseason tomato cans and perhaps more if injuries or he REALLY excels in the position. Like Caesar though, he will spend most of 2011 being developed to really be someone in 2012 and beyond.

Keith Nichol

Nichol like Kirk Cousins has one of the most interesting stories on the team this year. Originally committed to Michigan State, he switched his commitment to Oklahoma, played against Sam Bradford to win the starting job. Lost to the eventual first pick in the NFL draft, and ended up transferring back to Michigan State to compete against Kirk Cousins in the QB position. There he battled valiantly to win the spot in 2009 and ended up at WR after rathergate. He started at WR in the bowl game against Texas Tech and did a nice job playing a position there was no design on him playing later in the season.

Last year, he had 22 receptions for 264 yards and a TD. These numbers are not particularly impressive. What is impressive though is that Keith Nichol is a supremely good run-blocker.



Keith Nichol in run blocking is like all three Hanson brothers. Also, Glenn Winston on the off chance if you're reading this, fighting is better done on the field.

2011 Prediction

Keith Nichol will be our third receiver this year and figures to spend a lot of time playing against teams where we run a lot. I suspect he'll go around 4-5 hundred yards and 4-5 TDs. I'd suspect he'll remain our third-string QB as well.

Kyle Nichol

Kyle is a walk-on and Keith's younger brother. At 5'9" and 180 he's not really got the physical stature to compete for playing time. I have every confidence he's every bit the warrior his brother is, but I suspect we'll never really find out.

2011 Prediction

I suspect you'll see Kyle on the field for a "brothers" play on Senior Day.

Chris D. Rucker

The "other" Chris Rucker was a member of the class of 2007. He was brought in at receiver although he too has dabbled at Corner throughout his career at MSU. Brought in as a speedster his role was going to be to stretch the field. He didn't play in 2010 and played in only two games in 2009. He had one catch against Montana State, the third MSU, for 21 yards and one catch against Wisconsin for 8 yards and all I remember is probably 3-4 drops with one or two in the end zone.

2011 Prediction

If you haven't seen the field in four years at MSU, you're probably not going to see it in the fifth. Rucker is one of the guys a team depends on behind the scenes, but his play this year should be limited to special teams and senior day.

Andre Sims Jr.

Sims is kind of a carbon-copy of Chris D. Rucker although the early word out of camp is that he is turning some heads already. At 5'8", 180# he's a guy who will need to find the hole in the zone and get there before everyone else. His highlight film would indicate he has the ability.



2011 Prediction

It sounds like Sims might be making enough noise that he may not be redshirted. That would REALLY be saying something given the playing group in front of him. If he's not redshirted, expect him to spend some time returning kicks and playing special teams with the occasional appearance in a 4 or 5 wide set. Sims could be playing the role of Keshawn Martin in 2012 and I'd be a-ok with that.

Brad Sonntag

Sonntag is another walk-on for MSU. A program guy who has played all 5 years at the WR position. He's primarily been a special teams guy in 2009 and 2010. I believe he played WR in the Rather Bowl in 2009, but he did not catch a pass. Sonntag is an effort guy and effort guys always make the team a bit better.

2011 Prediction

Expect Sonntag's contribution on Special Teams to continue this upcoming year. I don't expect him to see the field at WR except perhaps on Senior day.

AJ Troup

Troup is a true freshman walk-on for Michigan State this year. At 6'2 and 202 he has the body frame to play the position. I was going to drop his Senior Year highlight reel here, but he put his home phone number in it. A two-star recruit with offers from Northern Iowa and North Dakota, he decided to eschew all that and play for the Spartans.



So this will have to do...

2011 Prediction and Beyond

AJ Troup is the kind of kid that has Blair White written all over him, he'll redshirt this year, play some special teams next year and maybe in a couple of years crack the two deeps at the WR position. This is the kind of kid that makes teams great. The kid who works 3-4 years to get the chance to play and when he does, look out. This year, just a redshirt, in 3 years though, maybe a pleasant surprise starter.

Best Case Scenario: We have between four and six Wide Receivers who would start for most Big Ten teams. With that in mind, the coaching staff is able to distribute catches such that no one is getting the ball too much. This with a dominant ground game makes our offense impossible to stop as Dantonio has pointed out, every defense has a weakness. The deep and varied array of talent makes it too difficult for teams to stop our WR group.

Worst Case Scenario: Cunningham and Nichol are injured early on in the season, which leaves no one to participate in run-blocking for our running backs. Martin and Fowler while extremely talented are asked to do too much. Also, Kirk Cousins DOOM.

Overall Assessment:

The Spartans have probably the deepest group of Wide Receivers in the Big Ten this year. They can kill you in possession, they can kill you with speed, they can kill you in run support. Barring significant injury, you can expect this group to be among the nation's most dangerous WR groups. They will contribute significantly towards Michigan State's final record this year. They are flatly excellent.

Assume the Position: Fullbacks

This is part 3a of an ambitiously stated seven part series. This series will focus on introducing MSU fans to their position group players. It is not intended to replace the quality analysis that media types can provide, but we give it our best shot. We'll work backwards from the most stable position groups to the more dynamic ones so we can write about the most volatile groups last.

The fullback can be a very important position in the pro-style offense we run. Faster than an offensive lineman but still can deliver a punishing hit to break a running back free. If a defense is napping and loses sight of the fullback, they can kill you in play action. The first play of the Mark Dantonio era offensively was a 16ish yard pass play to the fullback in play action.

MSU currently has five fullbacks on the roster: Todd Anderson, Jeff Bobek, Niko Palazeti, Trevon Pendleton and Adam Setterbo. Of the five, only Niko Palazeti was recruited out of high school and offered a scholarship at the fullback position, Todd Anderson and Adam Setterbo I believe are scholarship players this year as well. Like years prior, I expect Dantonio to use the fullbacks on a rotational basis to try and keep defenses guessing.

Todd Anderson

Todd Anderson played DE last year and made some noise earlier in the season. At 6'2" and 260 he's got ideal size to play fullback and a nasty streak forged on the MSU defensive line. Anderson emerged as the top fullback candidate during Spring Practice and figures to be the likely starter in this position.

2011 Prediction

Anderson should be the starter and go-to guy at Fullback this season. It's rumored his pass-catching and blocking are coming along smashingly. After last year, where the fullback position seemed to be down a bit I think he can bring back some of the nastiness that'll get you a 3rd and 1 conversion when you really need it. Which is always. You always really need a 3rd and 1 conversion.

Jeff Bobek

As a member of the class of 2009 Jeff Bobek was recruited as an inside linebacker. He decided to walk-on at Michigan State. His brother Brian was a four-star recruit for the Buckeyes and will be a true freshman this year.

2011 Prediction

Bobek is not expected to contribute significant minutes at this time.

Niko Palazeti

Palazeti was recruited and accepted an offer to play fullback for Michigan State. To my knowledge he is the first Dantonio recruit to receive a scholarship offer at the fullback position. While other fullbacks have been on scholarship, he is the first I know of to be recruited as such. Palazeti was a late commit in the recruiting class of 2010. This year he will be eligible as a redshirt freshman. At 6'1 and 250, he's got the solid build you're looking for in a blocking and receiving FB.

2011 Prediction

Palazeti will see minutes on the field this year. I don't believe he is the present of the fullback position, but I think he is the future. With four years left to play he's gonna be blowing holes open for running backs not yet committed in 2014. I'd expect him to be part of the fullback rotation and see significant minutes in run-heavy games and/or blowouts.

Trevon Pendleton

Pendleton was the third ranked fullback and a three star recruit according to rivals in the class of 2011. He had scholarship offers from Air Force and Ball State. Sadly, no school starting with the letter C or below elected to offer him. He has come to Michigan State as a preferred walk-on. He and Palazeti are without question the future of the fullback position probably starting in 2012. At 5'11 and 230 he's really going to be in a good position to bowling ball his way through a LB or two.

2011 Prediction

I suspect Pendleton will redshirt this year.

Adam Setterbo

Setterbo is entering his fifth year as a Spartan. He was also a preferred walk-on coming out of high school. He has been a valuable member of the scout team in the past few years and that should translate to some game time this year.

2011 Prediction

Setterbo will see the field rotationally this year although I suspect it'll only be a handful of times. Still, despite limited game time, guys like Setterbo are what teams are built around. Hardworking dudes who keep coming back even if they don't have all of the physical talent in the world.

Worst Case Scenario: As always depth is a bit of an issue although not as severe as at other positions. If we lost Anderson and Palazeti odds are we'd just go to more single-back sets and rotate in Setterbo more often as well as use some of our TEs in an H-back type set up. The offense could survive some losses at this position.

Best Case Scenario: Really fullbacks are about what they ADD for a team. A good fullback can pop your running back free for an extra 2 yards between the tackles. A good fullback can sneak away when no one is looking and grab a pass for a first down. Anderson has shown a knack for making plays when he's on the field in the past, if that continues at the FB position this could be an immediate strength for us. If Palazeti shows promise immediately and quickly we could begin converting 3rd and shorts easier against the Iowas and Wiskys of the world.

Overall Assessment:The fullback position is under a period of quiet transition. Palazeti and Pendleton represent a young future at the position which will help us convert 3rd and 1s with even more consistency in the upcoming 2-3 years. 2011 will serve as a valuable transition year to start breaking in these young guys who will be making our opponents D black and blue for years to come. Anderson seems to be in a position to play the position well right now, but I think will aid in developing our young guys.

Here's Your Shield: Kodi Kieler

The "Here's Your Shield" series will be monitoring MSU football and basketball commitments. We'll try to do a detailed breakdown of who the kids are and how they'll be helping the teams they've committed to.

On Monday night, when my car broke down and I was sitting in the parking lot of VG's where I held my first job as a teenager waiting for someone to come pick me up, I saw the Spartans had picked up a commitment from Kodi Kieler a 6'6" 305 athlete from Gibraltar Carlson. Kieler was offered at Offensive Tackle and accepted.

Kieler has a pretty so-so offer sheet consisting of Minnesota, Purdue and the MAC. You might think I mean all of the schools offered, but I don't. I mean the MAC sent a single offer redeemable at all 12 schools. With this commitment, I believe MSU has closed out their OL recruiting for the 2012 cycle. Scout lists Kieler as a three-star prospect, Rivals as of yet has no rating.

This has led to a pretty goodly amount of hand-wringing from the MSU faithful as some fans believe that we could have vetted some "better" prospects before offering a kid who did not come to MSU summer camp. The last recruit I remember this much hand-wringing about was LeVeon Bell, and he sure sucked.* While hand-wringing about the quality of recruit does not inversely correlate to the recruits success, I remember similar whining about Trenton Robinson, Darqueze Dennard, Trae Waynes(haven't seen him play yet)and Derek Hoebing. Congrats Kodi Kieler, if Spartan questioning of ability is any indication of future success you have a 75 percent chance of starting by your senior year. **

* - Sarcasm.
** - True Fact.

In the Big Ten, the Iowas, MSUs and Wisconsin's of the world love to pick up 6'6 240 lbs type TEs because they can grow into TEs, OTs, DEs, DTs and even sometimes OGs. With Kieler, I think they saw another Dan France type where France was projected as a DT but might be more successful as an OT. Kieler is listed with Rivals as a Strongside Defensive End, but it's clear the intent is for him to play OT.

If YouTube video existed it would go here. Since there is not, there is video behind the Rivals paywall here

The BDF BFD Take: Kieler is a kid with a so-so offer sheet who from what I can tell did not attend any camps this summer. This smacks on a much smaller level of the Keshawn Martin situation where he did not attend any camps and thus was not noticed. If the staff was willing to offer despite the lack of a camp appearance and no pressing need to fill the spot(it is only August after all) you can bet Dantonio and crew want him. That's good enough for me.

Kieler appears to have good feet and a nice quick burst, he's got the right kind of frame to put on a few more pounds, but doesn't need to put on a lot of weight to be effective at the next level. I'd expect him to redshirt his freshman year as most of his best highlights appear to be on the DE side of the ball. Additionally, if you're starting a true freshman OT you're usually in trouble. By all accounts Kieler looks to be a solid pickup with some boom potential if the transition from DE to OT goes smoothly.

Assume the Position: Quarterbacks

This is part two of an ambitiously stated seven part series. This series will focus on introducing MSU fans to their position group players. It is not intended to replace the quality analysis that media types can provide, but we give it our best shot. We'll work backwards from the most stable position groups to the more dynamic ones so we can write about the most volatile groups last.

This entry should have about as much drama as a sleep laboratory. Kirk Cousins is our quarterback, a fifth-year senior and third year starter. Andrew Maxwell is not pushing to oust him from the position. Kirk Cousins will be your Youngstown State starter as well as take the final snap in our final game this year barring injury.

Kirk Cousins

The most interesting story about how Kirk Cousins came to be the player he is today is how much competition he's had to play through to get the job. The quick recap is that Keith Nichol accepted an offer to play football at MSU in 2005, then decommitted with the firing of John L Smith in November of 2006. Kirk Cousins committed to MSU in January of 2007 after the hiring of Mark Dantonio. Mark Dantonio then received a commitment from Nick Foles who decommitted from ASU after Dennis Erickson was fired. In fall of 2007, Dantonio had to redshirt one of the two QBs and selected Cousins. Foles would be the third string QB and Cousins the scout team QB.

Then... in 2008, Nick Foles left the program after it was Cousins shaping up to be Hoyer's backup and not Foles. A few months after this happened Keith Nichol decided it was time for him to come home and try to win back the MSU starting QB job. Over 2008 and well into game 5 or 6 of 2009 Cousins and Nichol battled to be the starting QB for the Spartans. Finally, he won the job outright mid-season in 2009 and hasn't looked back. The guy has proven himself over and over and over and over and will happily do it again from what I can tell.

Kirk Cousins is a leader and as much the leader of this team as anyone, he's a third year starter and a third year captain. His leadership qualities appear to be second to none, and he will probably be a Senator in the United States Congress someday.



He says it better than I do.

Captain Kirk's stats showed improvement from 2009 to 2010. His completion percentage went up from 60.4 to 66.9 percent, ypa went from 8.17 to 8.36, TDs from 19 to 20 and Int's went from 9 to 10. He took 8 more sacks in 2010, but I think this was part of knowing when to hold 'em and knowing when to fold 'em.

2011 Prediction: I suspect that with the departure of only Mark Dell and Charlie Gantt but the emergence of Bennie Fowler and Dion Sims that Cousins' throwing options will remain equally as competent for 2011. It seems reasonable to expect a slightly higher completion percentage provided he has time to throw behind his new OL (more on this later). Statistically, I'd expect him to be the best pocket QB in the Big Ten this year behind only maybe Dan Persa. **

The thing that makes Kirk Cousins special however, is not his completion percentage, nor his TD to INT ratio. He's not a swashbuckler, he's not a Brett Favre, you just get the sense when he's out there that everything will be ok. He might make a poor decision from time to time, he might take an unnecessary sack. I've never gotten the feeling that he's lost or can't convey that sense of calm to the remainder of the offense. He's the leader of these Spartans and the quality of his leadership will go a long way to determining our on-field success this year. I think he has it in him to take this team far.

** - Comparing Denard Robinson to Kirk Cousins in this regard is comparing apples to oranges, the zone read and pro style are just not the same offense, not even kind of. Denard would struggle in the MSU offense and Kirk would struggle in the Zone Read. Hence the qualifier "pocket QB". Both Robinson and Cousins are excellent football players, but they are such different QBs they cannot be adequately compared in my opinion

Andrew Maxwell

Backing up Captain Kirk is Andrew Maxwell. Maxwell has seen limited relief in his two seasons at MSU. In fact he only even took a snap last year for the first time. His stats for 2010 were 11 of 25 for 123 yards, no touchdowns, no picks and 4 sacks. In fairness, 16 of those 25 passes were against Iowa and Alabama in games we were getting our butts whupped in.

He was the starter for the Dow Chemics his sophomore, junior and senior year. Maxwell came to MSU after graduating the Elite 11 camp having earned the "Most Accurate Passer" award. After committing to MSU in March of 2008 he continued to work the national camp circuits to improve his technique, etc.

2011 Prediction

If Andrew Maxwell sees any significant time this year, you can assume that Cousins' has received an injury. Cousins' saw limited action in 2008 in situations where the outcome of the game was not yet decided, but the timing of his entry into the game likely would not have an outcome. Think early second quarter against a lesser opponent(CMU, Minnesota, etc). Expect this trend to continue for Maxwell this year against lesser opponents as well as traditional mop-up type duties.

I'd expect should Maxwell see more than just limited playing time to see our offense struggle at least initially. Accommodations would probably be made to shift the focus of our offense back to run-first and pass second as opposed to a mix of the two which is what we did under Treadwell. As far as projected stats, there is just not a valid foundation to make any sort of prediction. I do suspect in 2013 we'll be really happy with our redshirt senior Andrew Maxwell, but I just do not know how he'd do if thrown to the wolves this year. He has the tools to succeed, that's all I'll say.

Connor Cook

Connor Cook is a true freshman from Ohio. He had offers from a couple big ten schools and most of the MAC. His junior year his high school team ran a pro-style MANBALL offense, but switched to a more spread-like offense his senior year to highlight and take advantage of Connor Cook's arm. "completed 116-of-199 throws (.583) for 1,700 yards, 15 TDs and seven interceptions as a senior . . . rushed 79 times for 443 yards (5.6 avg.) and five scores in 2010 ". He honestly sounds a bit more like a Northwestern Quarterback than an MSU pocket back.

2011 Prediction

I would expect to see Connor Cook redshirt this year. I think if Cousins and Maxwell went down you'd sooner see Keith Nichol play QB to finish out a game than Connor Cook. If you're looking at multiple week injuries for both you MIGHT maybe see Connor Cook. With no offense meant to Mr. Cook, I hope we don't see him this fall.

Keith Nichol

Keith Nichol is a transfer from Oklahoma whose story was detailed a bit above. Currently he is going to be a starter at WR and is probably one of the best run-blocking WR I have seen in college football. He gets an honorable mention at QB because in an emergency situation he'd be our go-to guy. I suspect if injuries meant a more than single game loss of Maxwell and Cousins, you'd see Cook get the nod over Nichol.

That said, he scored our only touchdown against Alabama in our battle against Goliath. He also won us the Michigan game in 2009 when the game was on the line. I'd never count this guy out when the chips are really down.

2011 Prediction

Keith Nichol's time at quarterback should be limited to gimmick and wildcat type plays. That said, he and Keshawn Martin could give coaches fits if we do run any sort of wildcat type package with any regularity.

Peter Badovinac

Peter is a transfer from Drake University after being named Chicago Catholic League Offensive Player of the Year in 2007. He is a preferred walk-on at MSU and I suspect if you see him in the game beyond a senior day type scenario it's so he can kneel out the clock.

2011 Prediction

Badovinac is not expected to contribute significant minutes in 2011.

Tommy Vento

Vento was the QB at Farmington Hills Harrison last fall. He went 156-of-276 passes (.565) for 2,803 yards and 31 touchdowns as a senior. He is a preferred walk-on at MSU this year.

2011 Prediction

Vento is not expected to contribute significant minutes in 2011.

Overall Assessment:The Quarterback position remains in the good hands of Captain Kirk this year. Backing him up is the talented but unproven Andrew Maxwell. Behind Maxwell, is the also talented and hopefully redshirted Connor Cook. Our overall depth at QB is kind of thin right now, ideally you'd like to have three available scholarship QBs and we really only have two right now. Nichol and Cook both are on scholarship, but you'd prefer to keep both off the field at QB this year. As goes Cousins, so will go the offense.

Worst Case Scenario: Cousins is injured at some point before our murderer's row of an away schedule. Maxwell is not yet ready to take over the reins and struggles behind an OL that is seeing 3 of it's 5 starters replaced. We're forced to run more often than we were in 2010 or 2007, power defenses can key on the run and we won't be enough of a threat through the air to force them to stop. Our offense goes from being one of the big ten best to middle of the pack.

Best Case Scenario: Cousins remains healthy throughout the season and builds off of his 2010 success. He remains an effective game manager but shows improvements in throwing the ball away and continues to improve the TD to INT ratio. He gets the school record for touchdowns in a season(only 22). His good decision-making allows MSU to create long, sustained drives of more than 5 minutes that lead to touchdowns.