After the departure of Jaden Mangham, MSU was suddenly thin at Safety. Malik Spencer has been solid and more of an in-the-box safety vs. a center fielder. Tatum has bounced from Corner to Safety to Corner and is now back to Safety. Behind them was thin depth in Majeed, the Grose brothers, and Amarion Smith.
Considering this, the staff wanted to add depth and upgrade the room. Well, welcome Nikai Martinez! Martinez is the latest addition to a renovated DB room. At 5-11 / 190, Martinez has good size. The transfer from UCF has two years of eligibility left. So he will play a role this year and next. This isn't a case of taking a flyer for depth, Nikai is a proven player (see Al's Tweet below) - with a 73.1 Cover Grade, 13th among Big12 Safties in 2023. with two strong seasons under his belt. In the past two seasons at UCF, Nikai has played 27 games and logged 75 tackles, to go along with 3 INTs.
DB Room Refresh
Once again, the staff identified a proven player with multiple years of eligibility remaining.
He now adds to a DB room that's already gained CB Ed Woods (grad transfer from ASU), who is likely our new CB1. And CB Lejond Cavazos (transfer from UNC) who is likely CB2-3 tier (coming off injury).
The "Why" for Adding so many DBs in the Portal
MSU finished second to last in the B10 Defense for Yards Per Game and Passing Yards Per Game Given up last year.
We lost Mangham in the portal. A solid player.
Good news, multiple players with significant playing time - Tatum, Spencer, Rucker, Coley, Brantley and Willie all returned.
Bad news, that's the same group that let up the horrible numbers. Help was desperately needed.
How does he fit in?
Martinez gives us 3 solid Safety's. And like Tatum, he has the versatility to play Corner as well. This gives us another piece to move around, mix up looks, and keep guys fresh. Referencing the Tweek Link Above, Al noted he played 731 Snaps in 2023: 320 Box Safety, 197 FS, 165 Slot CB, 32 Wide CB.
Assuming Martinez is a better coverage player than Spencer, Spencer can kick to the Nickle spot.
Dare we look ahead to 2025
Looking ahead to the 2025 season, Martinez, Tatum, Spencer, and Cavazos will be seniors.
Experienced players like Rucker, Coley, and Brantley will be Juniors. On paper, that's as good as it gets.
Not Done Yet
MSU is linked (and the favorite) to land Kobee Minor (transfer from IU) who was Honorable Mention All-BigTen last year. Minor would immediately slide into a starting role opposite Ed Wood. Likely backed up by Cavazos.
Jeremiah Hughes is currently on a visit to MSU. Hughes is coming off a true freshman season where he played quite a bit at LSU. Adding a young player (3 years eligibility remaining) with game experience would be a nice move
TL;DR
With Martinez's addition, we added a solid Safety to the mix. We are set at S1-3.
The staff isn't done, going after Minor and Hughes to complete the CB overhaul. Potentially adding CB1-3 in the portal. And pushing Rucker, Coley, and Brantley down the depth chart to CB4-6 slots. In my opinion, those are VERY good CB4-6, so we should have excellent depth, pending any pre-season departures.
In the meantime, with the additions of Martizen, Wood and Cavazos, I give the DB room a solid B grade. Adding Minor would boost it to a B+.
Overall, this is another great get by the staff that will have benefits in 2024 and 2025.
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