Coach Jonathan Smith has done a solid job of assembling a Michigan State University football team with talent at many key positions.
However, most of the talent on Michigan State’s football team has only been working together this offseason. Coach Smith is adding many new faces to Michigan State’s remaining roster from last season at key positions. One of those new players that Michigan State will rely heavily on this season is linebacker Wayne Matthews III.
Matthews transferred from Old Dominion to Michigan State earlier this offseason. According to 247Sports, Matthews was a four-star linebacker in the transfer portal this past offseason. He was one of the main additions to a Michigan State transfer portal class that was widely ranked as one of the best transfer portal classes in the country this offseason. After working more closely with his teammates, Matthews praised Michigan State’s defensive line for what he has seen from them so far.
“All those guys, I love having them in front of me,” Matthews said Monday. “I do. I feel like linebackers are almost like quarterbacks in terms of having guys protecting you. Linebackers, we help them as much as they help us. So they protect us with guards, tackles coming at us, double coverages and stuff like that. So I’m thankful for those guys for doing that.”
Smith has begun rebuilding Michigan State by building the roster in the trenches. After losing several talented defensive players to the transfer portal in the offseason, Smith secured a respectable defensive line that he hopes to improve over the next few seasons, again through the transfer portal and the recruiting trail.
While Matthews is grateful for how much he and Michigan State’s linebackers have benefited from their teammates on the defensive line, he also points out that the linebackers do their best to reward the hard work of the defensive line.
“Linebackers help them too,” Matthews said. “We run to the ball, sometimes we get over the top, and that leads to us double-marking them and we can make them play as well. It goes hand in hand, but I love these guys.”
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