Former Michigan State Defensive Lineman Joins the Chicago Bears
Michigan State football has been down the last few years, but it has still continued to get players into the National Football League, which is the goal of most college football players. While he didn’t finish his career with Michigan State, another former Spartan has landed with a professional team.
The Chicago Bears revealed last week that they signed former Michigan State defensive lineman Dashaun Mallory after he had participated in the team's rookie minicamp.
Although Mallory was a productive player while at Michigan State, he really took off after transferring to Arizona State. Mallory spent five seasons in East Lansing after initially signing with the Spartans in 2018 and redshirting his first year on campus.
Mallory entered the transfer portal following the 2022 season. He appeared in 19 games over the span of his five active collegiate seasons. Mallory recorded 43 tackles, five tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
He entered Michigan State as a three-star recruit from Boiling Brook High School in Illinois.
During his redshirt senior year at Michigan State, Mallory appeared in eight games. After making the switch from defensive tackle to defensive end halfway through the season, he started two games for the Spartans at defensive end. Mallory played 252 snaps during his redshirt senior year.
Coming out of high school, Mallory was rated as one of the best defensive linemen in the country. According to 247Sports, he was ranked as the second-best player from Illinois in the 2018 recruiting class. He was a three-year letterwinner while at Michigan State. Mallory’s hard work has brought him back to his home state of Illinois as a professional football player.
Mallory is another example of the possibilities for players who are successful while at Michigan State. While Mallory eventually transferred to Arizona State, most of his career was with the Spartans. Now, Mallory, a native of Illinois, gets to play in his home state.
The number of former Spartans finding their way onto NFL teams should be part of Coach Jonathan Smith’s pitch on recruiting trips that Michigan State can put players in the league even after a down few years. That should explain pretty quickly to recruits how easy it will be for them also to make it to the league if they are productive at Michigan State. Few programs can win that being their pitch.
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Ezekiel is a former Sports Editor from the Western Herald and former Atlanta Falcons beat writer.