Week 1 Depth Charts

They had a great team that year.  I think it was Dantonio's best team.

I agree, credit where credit is due, they were probably playing better than anyone else in the country at the end of the season. Thank god there wasn't a playoff that year, they were ranked #4 going into bowl season, it's very possible they would've won it all.

I also hope The Fighting Nassars lose every damn game.

Flipping letters like that is a sign they might be dyslexic. 

If I recall, at least one of those scores in the 4th quarter was the result of a short field on a turnover.   

And yes, when taking into account how good their D was we have to take into account how much time they spent on the field due to their anemic offense.   One knock on MSU is they don't have a whole lot of depth on either side of the ball, so by the end of the game when the O is 3 and out after 3 and out the D starts to get gassed.   It happened to our D in '17.  

UM and OSU by double digits.

They won't be a pushover but their defense will only be good for not letting them getting blown the fuck out.

Bachie and Willekes would have been likely first rounders had they left last year.  But no!  They just had to come back.

With you except for here. MSU LBs don't get drafted. They've had 3 drafted this millennium. Bachie is probably better than any recent LB they have had, but he will be a mid-round pick. He's a downhill, old school LB that plugs running lanes between the OTs. The NFL wants guys like Bush now who go sideline to sideline.

Their defense was top-5 last year and they return everybody.

So there's a difference between being overrated and being bad. MSU's defense, when they go up against teams who can throw and not in shitty weather, still get sliced up pretty good. When they get teams who want to run the ball or have to throw in bad weather, they kill offenses because it covers their weak points. Just like how Michigan's defense was really good in 2017, but couldn't cover a slot fade. When they ran up on teams who could hit a slot fade, they'd give up chunks. 

They do not return everyone, not even close.  They lose 50% of their production, compared to 53% for Michigan.  They lose: #2 tackler and excellent LB Andrew Dowell, #3 tackler and very good (but slow) safety Khari Willis, #5 tackler and best cover corner Justin Layne, and #8 tackler and viscous Racist John Reschke.  That is a lot. 

The "MSU returns everyone" take is BTN-level low value and incorrect commentary.  They do return their 3 primary pieces in R. Williams, J. Bachie, and K. Willekes.  This is accurate and a great trio to start with any defense.  If they have replacements who are as good as those I noted above, I'd be surprised.  

It's easiest to attack their CBs on the outside. Anything in the middle gets clogged up because they have 3 LBs and their Safeties sitting in or right outside of the box.

2016 Darboh and Butt on the outside specifically got them for chunks. Anything else in the middle was swallowed up pretty well.

So, some RPOs if they can get the LBs to step up on the run action and otherwise let your A+ athletes at WR beat their 5'10" starting CB and Safeties who don't like to be in man coverage.

I don't think they're back 7 is quite the athletic level as it was in 2013 so a more pass-happy spread that can effectively option may be better against that D.  That said, an elite DL can pretty much destroy any offensive attack.  And they have an elite DL.  All UM's offense has to be is good enough.  And hope their DL depth is not enough that they wear a bit down nearer the end of the season.  I don't think Wilikes or Williams like ever came off the field last year.

I missed that.

Thank you.

I'm interested to see how their coaching shuffle works for them. I was under the impression that Mark Staten was a decent O line coach. Doug Skene always spoke highly of him. Now he is the TE coach.