Staten optimistic as MSU shapes new-look O-line

EAST LANSING – Mark Staten just lost one of the best offensive tackles in MSU history, but he isn’t feeling as depleted there as one might expect.

“Cole is gonna be great,” the MSU offensive line coach said of redshirt freshman Cole Chewins. “(Tyler) Higby has a chance (this year). If you want to just talk pure Tuesday’s workout, (Miguel) Machado and David Beedle were phenomenal. The two guys that stood out, competing, running, hand stuff, O-line foot stuff, those two guys really did well. Because they both understand that they are needed to be part of the rotation this year for us to continue the things that guys like Fou Fonoti laid down, and Danny France laid down, Travis Jackson. There’s a lot of pride in that room.”

Left tackle Jack Conklin is off to the NFL a year early, and MSU loses All-America senior center Jack Allen and senior staple Donavon Clark. So it’s a big offseason in Staten’s room.

Finley looking to secure MSU's now-open OT spot

The guy he didn’t mention, Dennis Finley, might be the favorite to replace Conklin if he can fully recover from a broken fibula and tibia. If he comes all the way back, “it will be a smooth transition,” Staten said, and it might even allow starting right tackle Kodi Kieler to move inside.

MSU will look at Kieler at center this spring, just as it will look at early-enrolled freshman tackle Thiyo Lukusa at center, Staten said. Kieler has worked there before and could be a candidate there along with two players who relieved Allen at times last season, Brian Allen and Benny McGowan.

The third Allen brother, Matt, is part of the 2016 class along with tackles AJ Arcuri and Luke Campbell – both of whom will get early looks on both sides of the ball.

MSU scholarship count: Over the limit, for now

Staten said the 6-foot-5, 330-pound Lukusa “will be a tackle,” but that the work at center “helps younger guys understand quicker, conceptually, what’s going on.”

Notebook: MSU’s season opener against Furman at Spartan Stadium has been moved from Sept. 3 to Sept. 2, which will make it MSU’s sixth straight opener on a Friday. Time and TV have yet to be announced.