BREAKING: MSU Lands Former Florida State DL
The Michigan State Spartans wanted to bolster the defensive side of the ball this offseason. The secondary was ravaged by injuries and the defensive front was lackluster.
Michigan State will need to generate a far better pass rush in 2025 than they did in 2024, and losing Ken Talley, Maverick Hansen and Khris Bhogle won't make that goal any easier for the green and white.
The Spartans have made good gains during the winter window of the 2024-25 transfer portal, and now the defensive line is getting attention with the commitment of Florida State defensive lineman Grady Kelly.
Kelly announced his commitment on social media on Thursday.
Committed ⚪️🟢 #GoGreen pic.twitter.com/j7YZnXia9G
— Grady Kelly (@Grady_kelly96) December 20, 2024
The 6-foot-2, 295-pound defensive tackle was an unheralded prospect who originally committed to Colorado State out of high school and became a standout talent for the Rams. As a redshirt freshman, Kelly played in all 12 games and started in 10, finishing seventh on the team in tackles with 43 and notching a sack, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery.
In doing so, he earned Freshman All-American honors from College Football News. Kelly transferred to Florida State in the winter of 2023, and this past season he played nose tackle for the Seminoles, playing in all 12 games as a reserve.
He is a good addition for the Spartans' interior.
The portal is different this winter, per Corey Robinson of 247Sports:
"The winter window of the NCAA transfer portal opened on Monday, December 9th at midnight Eastern. Prior to that time, only grad transfers and players who have had a head coaching change could enter the portal. Upon entering, players can commit anytime between now and the start of their school's Spring semester - if they so choose to be eligible to practice with their new team in the spring. Enrollment is the only binding component of the transfer portal, so all commitments are technically tentative in nature. The window of new players being allowed to enter the portal will end on December 28th at 11:59 EST, even though compliance departments will have an additional 48 hours to submit the paperwork that was submitted to them prior to that deadline. After that, the next chance for players to enter the portal will be the spring window that will be open between April 16th to April 29th, 2025."
Michael France is Sports Illustrated's Michigan State recruiting beat writer, covering all things Big Ten recruiting for Spartan Nation. Be sure to follow him on Twitter/X@michaelfrancesi for exclusive Spartans recruiting coverage.
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