It's been a whirlwind for MSU football the past to weeks. We had both starting DTs (Burrow and Harmon), starting Safety (Mangham) starting RG (VanDeMark), and depth Corner (Crump) leave. For a few days, this was offset by the addition of Lane at DT, but they mutually decided to part ways. We did add young OL depth in True Freshman Andrew Dennis. But with 10+ scholarships available, depth needed to be added.
MSU made some progress today, Monday, May 6th. This came in the form of Nebraska DT transfer Ru’Quan Buckley and Cincinnati Rush Edge Transfer Tyler Gillison.
Ru’Quan Buckley
The Husker transfer is a depth piece it seems, so we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. He is not going to be close to an equal replacement for Burrow and Harmon. But what he does bring is BigTen trained DT depth, likely slotting in at DT3-4. While that does not seem like much, right now, we only have Hansen and Douse with prior starting experience ahead of Buckley. Followed by Douse, who is a better edge player, and Alex VanSummerin who is often injured. Behind them are walk-ons, or D-Ends (like Douse) forced to play out of position. So we really needed to add depth, getting a body to fill the 2-deep is a win. And now the staff should be aiming for higher impact DTs.
Buckley logged 8 games last season. He transfers in as a R-Jr, with two years of eligibility. It's worth noting he did get some reps at the Offensive Line and could be a "break glass in case of emergency" depth piece there. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.
Tyler Gillison
Gillison is no stranger to MSU, his older brother Trenton was a TE back in the Dantonio days. The younger Gillison comes to MSU by way of Cinnanatti, where he played Defensive End. Rossi and the MSU staff targeted Gillison (6-4 / 245) to fill the specialized Edge Rush role.
This position is key to Rossi's defense. We currently have players who are more or less squeezed into the edge rush role rather than designed for it. The staff has already made efforts to get guys they like into the position, including Indiana transfer Anthony Jones.
Gillison adds to the young depth to grow into the position. Like Jones, Gillison comes in with some game experience. With a handful of tackles and TFLs last year as a R-Fr. He now joins a young and unproven D-line room. While likely a back-up to start the year, he's fit in a key position puts him in a position to earn more playing time as the season goes on. And with 3 years of eligibility left, he figures to be part of the defensive line rotation for a while.
Gillison joins a DE room with Bogle, Dunnigan, Thompson, Dunn, Jones, Schott, and Talley. Gillison is probably in the DE4-7 range, but the Rush Edge specialization could bump him higher and solidify him at the back end of the 2-deep.
Summary
These are two necessary depth additions. Neither will likely start this year, nor ever be Honorable Mention All-Big Ten level. But with so many 3rd string guys entering the portal, in addition to some starters, we needed to backfill. And they've done just that. It's a step in the right direction to filling in the D-Line. I still view DT as a top position of need for a quality impact player.
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