After a largely forgettable year for MSU football, head coach Mark Dantonio blatantly answered a question about when offseason plans will begin.
“Seven o’clock a.m. meeting with our players that are coming back,” Dantonio said after the 45-12 loss to Penn State, referring to the Monday after the game.
As the weeks waned down in the dismal 2016 campaign, Dantonio divulged portions of his offseason plans for preventing another 3-9 season and a further regression next year. Much of the offseason work will be spent on younger players, many of whom will be coming out of redshirt years and will be expected to contribute.
“We’re going to totally evaluate everybody,” Dantonio said. “We will make exclusive tapes on Justin Layne exactly, where he played and how he played throughout the whole season, and he will have a tape, and everybody will have a tape, and that tape will get evaluated.”
As for the specifics of the offseason, Dantonio was mum wanting to keep roles and improvements internal.
“That will get all laid out to our football team,” Dantonio said. “Our players will know it starts here, as we always have said that, there is a starting point and ending point.”
Where it starts and ends will be with nearly the same batch of players who gained worthwhile experience down the stretch of the season. MSU however, will lose some meaningful senior leadership in key areas.
MSU will again lose another quarterback who took the majority of the snaps in Tyler O’Connor. While O’Connor’s season was anemic and widely criticized, MSU will again face having to find a replacement who has little starting experience.
Next year’s options will include junior Damion Terry who turned in a 7-for-12, 101 yard start against Penn State before being sidelined with a concussion. He finished the year 22-for-46 with 253 yards, a touchdown and one interception.
Brian Lewerke who earned two starts in four games played, showed flashes of his arm and legs but was never able to develop further in the year after breaking his leg against University of Michigan in October. He threw for 384 yards on 31-of-57 passing for two touchdowns and an interception.
Lewerke will battle Terry for the starting spot as well as highly touted recruit Messiah deWeaver. deWeaver did redshirt last season.
In front of the quarterbacks, MSU loses approximately 62 starts combined on the offensive line between Benny McGowan, Kodi Kieler, Brandon Clemons and Miguel Machado. Returning starters on the line will include junior Brian Allen (25 starts), redshirt freshman Cole Chewins (three starts), sophomore David Beedle (five starts).
MSU loses both fifth-year senior Josiah Price and Jamal Lyles. Price played in 51 games finishing his career with 104 receptions, 1238 yards and 21 touchdown receptions. Lyles amassed 30 receptions for 410 yards and two touchdowns in 52 games.
On the receiving end MSU mainly loses R.J. Shelton who caught 116 passes for 1471 yards and 11 touchdown passes. MSU will miss Shelton’s versatility as he added 84 rush attempts for 549 yards and four rushing touchdowns over his career.
Donnie Corley showed sparks of his ability playing both sides of the ball while recording 33 receptions for 453 yards and three touchdowns. He’ll be a big factor heading forward for MSU. Expect increased roles for receivers sophomore Felton Davis, freshman Trishton Jackson and sophomore Brandon Sowards.
Touted recruit freshman Cam Chambers could crack the lineup after redshirting.
LJ Scott will again lead the trio of running backs after a stealer 2016. London and Holmes will battled for a backup spot but don’t be surprised if Holmes cracks the starting lineup.
On the defensive end MSU will have to replace at least two starters on the line as Evan Jones and Kevin Williams depart from the team. Guys like Dillon Alexander, Mike Panasiuk, Raequan Williams and Robert Bowers stepped into roles at the end of the year and will compete for starting spots. Also in the mix for spots are freshmen Josh King and Auston Robertson.
Junior Malik McDowell said he would not leave MSU for the NFL unless he was a top three pick. He currently sits at the No. 7 spot in Mel Kiper Jr.‘s big board as of Nov. 22. If McDowell leaves, Demetrius Cooper will be the sole veteran on the line.
In the secondary Demetrious Cox, Darian Hicks will be gone while freshman Justin Layne, sophomore Khari Willis and junior Montae Nicholson will lead the way for MSU next season.
Grayson Miller, Tyson Smith and Matt Morrissey will vye for secondary positions and Corley may end up playing corner as well.
Riley Bullough recorded over 200 tackles in his career at linebacker and will leave a leadership void on the defense. Jon Reschke will be back after an injury to his ankle. Chris Frey and Andrew Dowell saw increased attention this season and gained valuable experience when both Reschke and Bullough were out simultaneously.
Freshman Joe Bachie, sophomore T.J. Harrell and junior Shane Jones will fight for starting roles.
MSU loses Michael Geiger in the kicking game and kickoff specialist Kevin Cronin. Geiger was 56 for 76 in career field goals, his longest being a 52 yarder. He is expected to be replaced by junior Brett Scanlon or freshman Matt Coghlin.
