2026 Michigan State Spartans Football Defense Overview

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EAST LANSING, MI - SEPTEMBER 06: Boston College Eagles tight end Jeremiah Franklin (17) gets tackled by a host of Spartan defenders during a college football game between the Michigan State Spartans and Boston College Eagles on September 6, 2025 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, MI. (Photo by Adam Ruff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

This past week, we previewed the defensive line, the linebackers, the cornerbacks, and the safeties. Between those four position groups, Michigan State lost 32 players from the 2025 roster, while returning 23 names and welcoming 28 new guys to the team from the transfer portal and the high school ranks. That leaves MSU with a net loss of four players on the defensive side of the ball.

At each level, we are expecting the majority of the starting lineup to come from new Spartans. In fact, the only players from last year’s team that we expect to be among the starting 11 are Ben Roberts at DT, Jordan Hall as our middle linebacker, and Nikai Martinez at safety. I suppose you could put an asterisk next to the name of cornerback Charles Brantley to make it four returnees amongst the starters as he returns to East Lansing after a year playing for Miami.

While no one is going to pretend that MSU had a strong defense in 2025, there are a few names from that team that were positive contributors that will need to have their shoes filled. Up front, the likes of Alex VanSumeren, Jalen Thompson, and Quindarius Dunnigan all had the ability to get into the backfield and be disruptive. Linebacker Wayne Matthews III was a strong running mate for Jordan Hall on the second line of defense. And in the secondary, Malcolm Bell and Malik Spencer are now trying to find out if they have what it takes to be professional footballers.

Can new head coach Pat Fitzgerald find worthy replacements, and perhaps even upgrades, from the portal for the departed names? With just two single 4-star recruit (per ESPN) coming from high school in this year’s class – one a QB and one a WR – it feels safe to say that we won’t see much in the way of contributions from this group of freshmen. But even from the portal, it looks like MSU lost more than it gained. 247Sports’ transfer portal grades show that MSU lost 5 players to the portal that were ranked higher or the same as the top player they brought in. That top incoming transfer is CB Tre Bell, who is labeled a 3-star player by this source.

So far, I am probably painting a picture of a defense that will once again struggle. But there are some reasons for optimism. We can reasonably expect to see some of our top returnees level up with another year under their belts (and perhaps a better coaching staff leading them through the offseason). Roberts, Hall, Martinez, and Brantley will be counted on to be the leaders among their position groups and it should not surprise anyone to see at least three of those names get consideration for all-conference status. Brantley is the one I have the most concern about among those four as he hardly saw the field for the Hurricanes.

The other thing to be hopeful for (perhaps full-blown optimism would be a step too far) comes from the fact that many of these defensive transfers that are joining the Spartans in 2026 are coming from non-Power 4 schools. While there is always going to be the question of whether these players can make the adjustment to a higher level of competition, we should assume that the coaching staff who extended offers to them believe they are up for the challenge. I will generally go with the opinion of coaches over online rating websites. A number of outgoing Spartans, especially from lower on the list, are heading to lower-level schools now after not cutting it at MSU. Sometimes it takes kids longer to develop and grow into a body big and strong enough for the P4 conferences, and sometimes those initially thought to be capable were misevaluated. This should be a correction of sorts, like when sports writers do a redo of previous NFL drafts. These new Spartans were “the big fish in a small pond”, so let’s see how they do in a bigger body of water.

In 2025, MSU was 15th of 18 in the Big Ten in PPG allowed at 29.9 and 14th in yards allowed with 378.7. While I don’t expect MSU to suddenly be among the conference’s best, I don’t think getting to a more middling rank (7th-12th) should be out of the question. Some parts of the defense should be better than others, naturally, but each group has its guys who will be supplying us with some highlights. I initially planned on asking which defensive position group would be the best, but I assume that would probably result in one group – the linebackers – getting 95% of the vote. So instead, I am asking which of the four groups that we previewed this past week gives you the most concern. Please vote in this survey and leave your comments below with what kind of stats you are expecting this year.

TOC will begin previewing the offense tomorrow.

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