Tag: msu football

Michigan State Players in the NFL Draft Preview: Kenny Willekes

We take a look at former Michigan State Football player Kenny Willekes’ NFL Draft chances and the buzz surrounding him.

To me, Kenny Willekes is the most interesting Michigan State player in the NFL Draft. Michigan State’s career leader in tackles-for-loss went from being a walk-on to being, in my mind, the best player on the team for the last two years. Now, he will look to overcome skeptics and make his way to an NFL roster via the 2020 NFL Draft. Below you will find a quick round-up of our thoughts on Willekes along with the thoughts of a few draft analysts.

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The SpartansWire Take:

In my opinion, I think many of the criticism of Kenny Willekes are overstated. For some reason, he has gotten tagged with narrative that he lacks athleticism. I personally don’t understand where that comes from, I’ve never seen it show up on game footage, but nonetheless, that is what Willekes is facing heading into next week’s NFL Draft. He went into this draft putting out an awesome highlight video of himself doing multiple athletic feats to quell these concerns, and one NFL GM was impressed by the showcase.

We might be biased, but to me, Willekes should be a second or third-round draft pick, however, I am anticipating that he will be drafted in the fourth round.

What analysts are saying:

DraftWire Big Board Draft Position: 4th round, No. 154

While DraftWire had Willekes as their top Michigan State player in the draft based on their Big Board, NFL Network Analyst Daniel Jeremiah had Willekes as the No. 3 ranked Spartan in the draft behind Josiah Scott and Joe Bachie.

Combine Results:

Height: 6-3

Weight: 264

Arms: 31 1/4″

Hands: 9 1/2″

40-yard dash: 4.87 seconds

Bench press: 32 reps (3rd among DL)

Vertical jump: 32.5 inches (9th among DL)

Broad jump: 119.0 inches (9th among DL)

3-Cone drill: 7.39 seconds (10th among DL)

Career Stats:

40 games played, 228 tackles, 49 tackles for loss (school record), 23.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries, 1 touchdown, 1 interception.

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Brian Lewerke ranked No. 11 QB in 2020 NFL Draft by The Athletic

The former Michigan State quarterback was ranked No. 11 of 20 by Bob McGinn of The Athletic.

Bob McGinn of The Athletic recently posted an article ranking every quarterback in the NFL Draft and former Michigan State Football quarterback Brian Lewerke came in at No. 11 out of 20.

You should definitely read the full piece (here) to see McGinn’s take on Lewerke, but here is an excerpt where he had a scout give feedback on the Spartan QB:

“He looked good in 2017. Then he had a rough year in 2018 and this year was awful. It’s like he had the yips. He couldn’t make routine throws. It was tough to watch. Can he play better? Yes, but if you have to make a decision right now I’m saying he’s not going to be a good NFL player.”

There were only two other Big Ten quarterbacks in the rankings and that was Nate Stanley at No. 12 and Shea Patterson, who came in at No. 17.

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Former MSU QB Brian Lewerke scored a 25 on Wonderlic test at NFL Draft Combine

The former Michigan State QB scored above average on his Wonderlic test at the annual scouting combine.

Back in February, former Michigan State Football QB Brian Lewerke attended the NFL scouting combine where he, along with other quarterbacks and offensive line in attendance, took the Wonderlic Contemporary test. While those scores are supposed to be kept private, many have been released by Bob McGinn of The Athletic. In his NFL Draft preview post ranking the quarterbacks in the draft, McGinn revealed that Lewerke scored a 25 on the test.

The Wonderlic test is used at the NFL Draft combine to test the cognitive abilities of quarterbacks and offensive lineman in three areas: vocabulary, reasoning, and math.

The average score of a football player is supposedly 20, while the average score of a quarterback is 24, so that would put Lewerke just above average.

Nate Stanley of Iowa led all QBs with a score of 40, Jake Fromm of Georgia had 35, and Joe Burrow was at 34. Tua Tagovailoa of Alabama might have hurt his lofty draft expectations with a score of 13.

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Tracking every Michigan State Football commit for the 2021 recruiting class

In this post we will track every commitment for the Michigan State Football 2021 recruiting class.

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The 2021 recruiting class presents an interesting challenge for Mel Tucker and the Michigan State Football team. Tucker was already behind the eight-ball from day one, taking over for Mark Dantonio and having to build out a staff while other teams were already knee-deep in their recruiting processes. Then, this little thing called the COVID-19 Coronavirus broke out in the United States, putting an end to any opportunities for in-person recruiting. Tucker has still managed to be extremely active on the recruiting front. We will be tracking every new recruit for the 2021 class in this post.

One thing that is very clear about this class is that Mel Tucker is looking for size and athleticism. Ethan Boyd is 6’7″, Tyson Watson is 6’6″, and Harmon and Nealy are both 6’4″. At 6’4″, Nealy will be one of the tallest defensive backs in the country and that length should be very interesting to watch in coverage.

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Australian Punter Mitchell Crawford officially joins MSU Football as Grad Transfer

Michigan State Football has a new punter that has officially joined the team in UTEP Grad Transfer Mitchell Crawford.

At the beginning of April, Michigan State released their Spring Football roster. On that roster, there was one surprising piece of information revealed and that was the absence of presumptive 2020 starting punter Jack Bouwmeester. Instead, he was replaced on the roster by UTEP Grad Transfer Mitchell Crawford and walk-on Bryce Baringer. The addition of Crawford the MSU roster was made official today when the Spartans announced that Crawford has officially signed on to join the team.

Bouwmeester, also an Australian, was in line to be the heir apparent to Jake Hartbarger but instead decided to return home, opening the opportunity up for Crawford.

Crawford averaged 39.7 yards per punt over two seasons at UTEP. Before his time in the States, he was a standout in the AFL (Australian Football League) where he was the leading goal kicker in the Black Diamond AFL while playing for the Newcastle City Blues back in 2016.

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NFL Network analyst ranks MSU Football’s NFL Draft prospects

Daniel Jeremiah of the NFL Network took the time to rank the top MSU Football NFL Draft prospects for 2020.

Leading into the NFL Draft, NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah has been hosting calls with media members to give his thoughts on the 2020 draft class. On a call with media members on Thursday, Jeremiah gave his thoughts on the various Michigan State football players who will be involved in the draft this year and, interestingly, took the time to rank them by their draft potential.

He ranked them like this:

  • CB Josiah Scott
  • LB Joe Bachie
  • DE Kenny Willekes
  • QB Brian Lewerke
  • DT Raequan Williams

Some interesting takeaways here:

  • I would not have expected Lewerke to be above Raequan Williams, who I think has a solid chance at a future NFL career, but I think this goes to show that Lewerke does have some solid NFL skills that might have gone under the radar given a pretty anemic offense the last two years at Michigan State that wasn’t entirely his fault.
  • Willekes being below Bachie also surprised me. Bachie is a tremendous player but Willekes is probably underrated by many draft analysts. I personally think he has a ton of upside, and at least one NFL GM was impressed by his virtual pro day.
  • Jeremiah said he considers Scott to be a day-one starter at the nickel corner position. Not surprising but awesome to hear from an analyst. Scott will be one of the last defensive backs in the NFL to come from the Dantonio system and the defensive backs were certainly a point of pride for his administration.
  • Jeremiah didn’t comment on a few players including Darrell Stewart, Cody White, and Matt Seybert.

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Former MSU Football center Brian Allen first NFL player diagnosed with COVID-19

Former Michigan State Football center Brian Allen is the first NFL player diagnosed with Coronavirus.

The first NFL player has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and it is, unfortunately, a former Michigan State Spartan. Brian Allen, now playing for the Los Angeles Rams, was reported to have been diagnosed with the illness by Jay Glazer of FOX.

Brian played for Michigan State from 2014-2017 and was a four-year letter winner. He started in 28 consecutive games to finish his career at MSU before heading to the NFL, where he was drafted in the fourth round by the Los Angeles Rams.

Brian’s brother Jack also played for Michigan State before heading to the NFL where he played until 2018. Their brother Matt will be entering his fourth season at Michigan State this year.

Here is Jay Glazer’s announcement of Brian Allen’s COVID-19 diagnosis:

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Michigan State Football offers 2021 3-star LT Zenuae Michalski

Michigan State football has made an offer to 2021 3-star Zenuae Michalski from Indiana. Read more about this potential prospect here.

Michigan State football has made yet another offer for the 2021 class. This time, 3-star 2021 LT Zenuae Michalski announced he has received an offer from the Spartans. Michalski hails from Floyd Knobs, IN and plays for Floyd Central high school.

Michalski stands at 6’6″ and weighs 265 pounds. According to 247 Sports, he ranks as the No. 81 LT in the nation in the 2021 recruiting class. Furthermore, he ranks as the No. 14 prospect in Indiana in the 2021 recruiting class.

He currently has offers from Louisville, Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Syracuse, Cincinnati, and Boston College.

You can check out some of his highlights here.

Stay with us on Spartans Wire for more coverage of Michigan State football’s recruiting efforts.

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NFL GM impressed by Michigan State Football DE Kenny Willekes virtual Pro Day

Kenny Willekes’ virtual Pro Day stood out to at least one NFL GM, who told Ian Rapoport that it was the “most effective” one he saw.

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With the current pandemic canceling Pro Days around the country, we have seen a massive influx of NFL Draft hopefuls taking to social media to host their own virtual Pro Days or post highlight tapes in an effort to showcase their skills. Back in late March, Michigan State defensive end Kenny Willekes put out his own highlight reel, featuring him doing a series of impressive athletic demonstrations. At least one NFL GM was impressed by Willekes’ showing, telling Ian Rapoport of NFL.com that his version of the virtual Pro Day was “the most effective.”

Here is Rapoport’s tweet:

To me, what makes this such an effective video isn’t just that the display itself was impressive (which it was), but the video was made in a very deliberate, effective manner. While Willekes was highly regarded as a college football defender, he hasn’t received the same respect in the draft process, with most critics citing a lack of athleticism.

Well, Willekes certainly silenced a few doubters with this video. For someone who also broke their leg the season prior, this is an impressive workout.

Watch it below:

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2021 3-star DB Gabe “Spida” Nealy commits to Michigan State Football

Michigan State has landed their third recruit of the 2021 class in Gulliver Prep’s Gabe Nealy.

Michigan State Football now has its third official commitment in the Mel Tucker era, as 2021 3-star defensive back Gabe “Spida” Nealy announced his decision on Twitter on Saturday. Nealy comes out of Miami, Florida and Gulliver Prep.

Nealy is listed as a 6’4″, 175-pound safety on 247sports, which is quite tall for a defensive back. 247sports has him as the No. 67 safety in the 2021 class and the No. 133 in the state of Florida.

Here is Nealy’s announcement, posted on Saturday afternoon:

As we mentioned, this is the third commitment of the 2021 MSU recruiting class. All three players are well-regarded three-star prospects.

Here is the full 2021 class:

With Tucker coming in at an awkward time of the recruiting process, it took a few weeks for his staff to pick up momentum on the recruiting front, but after sending out a bevy of offers it looks like some of those efforts are starting to pay off.

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