Michigan State likes Brandon Randle at DE, but he continues to see his future at LB

EAST LANSING – Mark Dantonio approached Brandon Randle this summer with a pitch.

Michigan State was thin at defensive end. Randle had played there in high school. How about a position move?

“We talked about what would be the best for the team, what would be best for me as a player to make plays,” Randle said Monday. “That’s how the conversation came about.”

Dantonio applauded the redshirt freshman’s transition as one of the surprises of preseason camp, saying the former Battle Creek Central star also continues to work at linebacker as well as defensive end.

“I think Brandon Randle is a guy that you look at right now and is a guy that you see doing some things at defensive end and at linebacker and that give you some indication that he’s going to be a very good player for us,” Dantonio said.

With MSU already deep at linebacker, returning starters Chris Frey and Andrew Dowell outside and mixing in sophomore Joe Bachie in the middle, Dantonio and his staff have been looking for a way to improve the Spartans’ pass rush that generated just 11 sacks last season. They also lost Malik McDowell to the NFL and potential rising stars Josh King and Auston Robertson to dismissal this summer after both were charged in separate sexual assault cases.

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Enter Randle, who spent last season at Star linebacker. The 6-foot-2, 231-pound former 4-star recruit had eight sacks as a senior at Battle Creek Central. He said he is seeing second-team reps right now at defensive end behind Kenny Willekes.

“The adjustment for me wasn’t that bad because I played end in high school,” Randle said. “I’m still a linebacker. I’m just playing two positions. We only had 11 sacks last year, and I plan on making that ratio better this year.”

Randle cited Von Miller and Khalil Mack as two of his inspirations as a pass rusher and said right now he is lining up at standup defensive end in third-down packages. He also is playing Star linebacker and could see time at the Sam spot in the future.

Co-defensive coordinator Mike Tressel said he plans to move Randle around the defense and likes his improved attention to detail and focus.

“We’ll try to keep whatever he does as simple as we can because he will be a first-year player,” Tressel said. “But we need to find out where he can make the most impact.”