Michigan State’s calling card for essentially the entire Mark Dantonio regime has been defense and that does not seem to be changing anytime soon. This morning, Phil Steele of ESPN Insider revealed that Michigan State was one of three teams in the top-5 of his defensive line rankings for the 2019-20 football season. Steele also listed Utah and Auburn with this group.
Michigan State is returning pretty much every key piece from a defensive line unit that led the nation in run stoppage last season, holding opponents to 77.9 yards-per-game. The next team, Mississippi State, allowed 17.2 yards more per game than the Spartans, which highlights just how dominant that group was.
Kenny Willekes put up an extraordinary, All-American season before breaking his leg while Raequan Williams and Mike Panasiuk combined to create one of the most impenetrable interior defensive lines in the league. Look for Mike’s brother Jacub to breakout this season at the opposite defensive end position to Kenny Willekes.
