Windsor: Michigan State DT Malik McDowell leaves uneven legacy

Michigan State defensive lineman Malik McDowell is considered a first-round NFL draft pick by nearly everyone with a mock draft board. Mel Kiper Jr., the ESPN draft expert, projects McDowell to get taken at No. 10.

Most college juniors with this sort of potential don’t return for their senior year. And they shouldn’t. Football is too violent to assume you’ll make it through a season unscathed.

McDowell, who played high school football at Detroit Loyola and Southfield High and was arguably Mark Dantonio’s biggest high-profile recruit, had trouble staying on the field this past fall. He took several shots to the ribs, and to his shoulders and head, often times stumbling or limping off the field after getting blasted by double- and even triple-teams. Finally, against Illinois, he hurt his ankle so thoroughly he was unable to play the final three games of the year.

McDowell was smart to declare for the draft this week and skip his final season of eligibility. If he can stay healthy – and keep the motor running – he has a chance to become a special player at the next level.

The question is: Was he a special player at MSU?

At times, absolutely. He had stretches of play in 2015 where he clogged up the middle of the field and acted as a battering ram while breaking down the pocket. But he was also surrounded by a handful of fellow linemen that are now on NFL rosters. Those talented veterans formed a cocoon of sorts around the enigmatic McDowell, allowing his breathtaking ability to tilt a football field.

This past season was much tougher for him without them. It is a sign of his remarkable potential that such an inconsistent junior year didn’t hurt his draft stock much. Though that said, he entered the season as a possible top-5 pick, and isn’t likely to get taken that high.

McDowell was never a leader at MSU. He was more of an island. But he hated to lose.

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When flanked by veterans who helped guide and push him, he was a difference-maker. Forgotten in last year’s College Football Playoff semifinals was a stellar first-half performance against Alabama, when his presence helped slow the Crimson Tide and keep the game close.

His coaches expected him to build off that effort this season. He couldn’t, and when he didn’t, he became the symbol of a struggling team and a defensive line that was unable to pressure the quarterback.

Perhaps that wasn’t fair. Yet his combination of size and strength and speed come with expectation, and will at the next level, too.

McDowell tweeted Tuesday that his decision to leave “was a very difficult (one) and I will always cherish my time in East Lansing.”

Still, he leaves campus with a resume that feels like it could have been so much more. He came to East Lansing as a five-star recruit, after a delayed courtship when his mother, Joya Crowe, wouldn’t immediately sign his letter of intent. She eventually jumped on board and McDowell joined a program coming off a Rose Bowl win.

His arrival was a symbol of MSU’s ascension. In fact, the two recruiting classes that followed McDowell’s (2014) were rated as Dantonio’s best. He represented the kind of player that was supposed to take the Spartans over the top.

That’s a lot of pressure for an 18-year-old, and for a while, playing alongside all those future pros, he performed at a high level, though marked by stretches of uneven play. Each of the last two summers, Dantonio talked about McDowell becoming the sort of dominant force that can single-handedly disrupt an offense.

In a statement released Tuesday, the MSU coach praised his star lineman: “He is an extremely gifted player who has demonstrated the ability and mind-set to succeed at the next level,” wrote Dantonio.

He thanked McDowell for his contributions and for helping the team reach the Playoff a year ago. But the coach also knows what he saw on the field the last three games of the season, when McDowell was out with the ankle injury. For the first time of the year, his team began to pressure the quarterback, relying on a bevy of freshmen and sophomores who were finally beginning to make a difference.

That surge in the trenches may have been coincidental to McDowell’s absence. (It’s hard to imagine his ability wouldn’t have helped.)

And yet, we are left to wonder why the Spartans coalesced late in the year without him, and wonder what kind of player McDowell might have been had he stayed healthy. He was good, at times great, but leaves with a story that was different than so many imagined.

It’s a tale of unmet expectation and a story of tough injury luck. These sorts of narratives can be cruel. Fortunately for McDowell, he gets a shot to tap into his gifts on Sundays, and to show the consistency that has eluded him.

As for MSU, they will miss him, or at least will miss what he might have truly become.

Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor. Download our Spartans Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!