New Year, New Offensive Line For Michigan State
In the middle of December, the mood surrounding Michigan State football centered around the unknown. Now, a month later, there is more optimism towards the Spartans than we’ve seen in two years.
After 26 players entered their names into the transfer portal this offseason, Jonathan Smith and his staff have convinced nine to withdraw their names and stick with the program, eight of whom were key contributors these past two seasons. Michigan State also added 11 transfers from other programs to their roster over the past month, and has just about reached the scholarship limit.
Smith has emphasized recruiting offensive line talent early in his tenure, as well as retaining several players at the position who dabbled in the transfer portal. After losing two starters from last year’s front, the Spartans’ O-line could have a completely new look in 2024. While there will be a handful of new faces and contributors, there’s optimism the returning and incoming lineman can mold together quickly and make large improvements up front.
New offensive line coach Jim Michalczik is highly regarded in coaching circles. The Broyles Award nominee comes over from Oregon State and is tasked with building a strong rushing attack in East Lansing. The Spartans averaged just 89.5 rushing yards per game last season, while Michalczik’s unit helped Oregon State rush for 167 yards per game. Michigan State has talent at running back in Nathan Carter, Jalen Berger and others, and now has a running threat at quarterback in transfer Aiden Chiles. Over the past month, the Spartans have added valuable pieces to open up better running lanes.
Michigan State was able to retain offensive linemen Geno VandeMark, Ethan Boyd, Kristian Phillips and Brandon Baldwin after they entered their name in the transfer portal. VandeMark and Baldwin were starters when healthy, and Boyd saw significant playing time in 2023. When the Spartans did have success running the ball last season, it was often behind the younger linemen recruited by the previous staff. Those young players now have experience, and Michalczik has brought in several transfers to bolster depth up front.
Oregon State transfer guard Tanner Miller was a second team All-Pac 12 selection, and Holy Cross transfer Luke Newman was named first team All-Patriot League in three consecutive seasons, and an FCS All-American in 2023. It’s likely both newcomers will start for MSU next season but, at worst, both will be rotational players.
What makes Miller and Newman valuable is their ability to play multiple positions along the front. Baldwin and Boyd will likely be the starters at the two tackle spots, which is what Newman has played at Holy Cross. However, Newman was labeled as an interior offensive lineman coming out of high school and has experience at guard. Miller, an All-Conference selection at guard, also has experience at center, which is a position of need for Michigan State after 2023 starter Nick Samac graduated.
While the season-opener against Florida Atlantic is a long way off, I would project Michigan State’s starting offensive line to look like this — Baldwin (left tackle), Newman (left guard), Miller (center), VanDeMark (right guard), Boyd (right tackle).
It wouldn’t be surprising to see Miller and VandeMark swap the guard and center spots, or another younger interior lineman step up and move Newman back to tackle. The Spartans’ new look offensive line will have a lot of versatility, giving Michalczik a lot of options for various starting combinations and rotations. We’ll get a better idea of who is emerging up front once Michigan State begins spring practice, and hopefully will get our first look at how the pieces fit in the spring game.
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