Head coach Mark Dantonio and senior players met Wednesday afternoon at the Clara Bell Smith Center to determine the two teams, Green and White, in the eighth annual spring game player draft.
MSU’s seniors split up into teams and picked underclassmen based on who performed best in practice. The seniors drafted by position until all players were selected.
The White team was awarded the first pick after senior offensive lineman Travis Jackson beat senior wide receiver Keith Mumphery in rock-paper-scissors. Jackson selected junior quarterback Connor Cook with the first pick.
And the players already are drawing lines in the sand and offering up predictions.
Senior safety Kurtis Drummond predicted a 46-0 blowout of the Green team on Saturday by the White team.
“I don’t see my defense giving up many points so I’ll go out on a limb and say a shutout. I’ll give our offense a lot of credit, we got Connor Cook, some explosive receivers ... I’ll go out on a limb and say we’re putting up about 45, 46 points. It sounds good to me,” he said.
Following Cook, sophomore quarterback Tyler O’Connor was taken by the Green team. The pick is intriguing with O’Connor and redshirt freshman Damion Terry battling all spring for the backup quarterback spot. Terry will play for the White team in the first half and the Green team in the second half.
Another interesting position battle is the one for Isaiah Lewis’ starting strong safety spot. The position is up for grabs after Lewis graduated following MSU’s win in the 2014 Rose Bowl. Although junior R.J. Williamson and sophomore Demetrious Cox are the more experienced players, redshirt freshman Jalyn Powell was the first safety taken by the Green team.
Senior linebacker and Green team captain Taiwan Jones said Powell knows where to be on the field.
“He’s hungry for the ball, he knows how to find the ball,” Jones said.
The cornerback position opposite of junior Trae Waynes also is available.
Sophomore cornerback Darian Hicks was the second cornerback off the board for the White team after Waynes.
Junior wide receiver Aaron Burbridge was the first wide receiver taken for the second year in a row. The second wide receiver taken was sophomore R.J. Shelton.
The winning team gets a steak dinner, while the losing team gets beans and franks.
