MSU Football Offers Rising LB
The Michigan State Spartans are targeting the Midwest heavily, looking to leave a deep impression on the region and establish a firm foothold. A pipeline. Such a thing was lost to the Mel Tucker era's poorly executed SEC recruiting project.
The linebacker position is one of the most important positions on the entire roster and the Mike is the quarterback of the defense. Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Joe Rossi knows this and has made the linebacker room a priority.
Hence, it is probably the strongest position group of this season's iteration of the Spartans.
Rossi landed two 2025 linebackers and he is looking for more in future classes. He just offered 2026 linebacker Kasen Thomas of Sioux City, Iowa. Thomas has an 87 grade and is the No. 40 linebacker in the class. He is the 5th-ranked prospect in the state, too.
Thomas has offers from in-state Iowa and Iowa State, along with Kansas State. All are reputable programs that have a knack for finding gems on defense and developing them into long-term, high-output impact players.
Thomas is 6-foot-2, 195 pounds and had a dominant sophomore season for Bishop Heelan Catholic -- 56 tackles, 17.5 for loss, and 7.5 sacks. On offense, he had 442 rushing yards and three touchdowns and seven receptions for 61 yards.
Thomas is athletic, obviously, and fits the bill for what Rossi wants in a linebacker.
"Long, athletic, and smart. That's what we look for and that's a sliding scale, OK," Rossi told reporters in August. "And what I mean by that -- if a guy's 6-foot and runs 4.4, that's cool. But if you're going to be a low 4.8, you better be 6-foot-3 and a half. So my point is -- it slides, but the ideal thing, if I'm just giving you three, it's length, it's athleticism, and it's intelligence. Not necessarily in that order."
Rossi runs a hybrid 4-3 defense with a standup rush end, and he utilizes a lot of three-off-ball linebacker sets. Typical strong, Mike, and weak side backer looks.
Thomas has the size and athleticism to fit the Mike position under Rossi, though the instincts and intangibles will have to be there.
"You gotta have guys that are comfortable in space," Rossi said. "You wouldn't even think that I would say that to start with the Mike, but you know, the Mike ends up out of the box all of the time in three-by-one formations, and so the guy has got to be physical and he's got to be able to stop the run, all those things, I got it. You know, if you're getting recruited as a Mike, you gotta have that skillset but you gotta be comfortable in coverage. Doesn't mean you're playing man-to-man on people all the time, but it just means you got to be able to go out there play in space and function."
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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