GREEN & WHITE FOOTBALL

Michigan State's vacant linebacker job has four potential suitors

Chris Solari
Detroit Free Press

EAST LANSING — Linebacker remains a position of strength for Michigan State. Always has been under Mark Dantonio. For his coaching predecessors as well.

And for a Spartan defense that hopes to make the leap from exceptional to elite this season, finding one more starter in the middle will be challenging.

But not due to a shortage of capable linebackers. The opposite, actually.

At least four players — Tyriq Thompson, Brandon Randle, Byron Bullough and Jon Reschke — are competing to fill the open strong-side spot vacated by the graduation loss of Chris Frey. And all have impressed coaches and teammates through the first two weeks of preseason camp.

“If one of them was having a bad camp, I’d be able to tell you who was doing good right now. But all three of them are playing really well,” junior middle linebacker Joe Bachie said after practice Tuesday. “They all have their strong suits and they’re all smart, so they can talk the game and also play the game. … It’s a good competition to have”

Linebacker: Tyriq Thompson, junior.

Fourth-year junior Thompson and third-year sophomore Randle battled for snaps during spring practice, but neither has started a game in their college careers.

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Thompson made 11 tackles in 112 snaps last season and has played on special teams the past two seasons. The 6-foot-1, 245-pound Detroit King product finished the year at No. 3 on the depth chart behind Frey and Shane Jones, who also graduated.

“Oh man, in the perfect world, (starting) would be ideal,” Thompson said. “But we got a lot of depth at linebacker right now, a lot of good depth. … We’re all just working and competing and getting each other better every day. If I’m playing good, that’s gonna make Brandon better. If Brandon’s playing good, that’s gonna make Jon better.

“We’re just getting each other better every day, critiquing each other and just trying to make the defense as good as it can be.”

Randle played 204 snaps last season as a redshirt freshman, but they came predominantly as a speed-rush end in MSU’s third-down “Delta” packages. That is a spot the 6-4, 232-pounder said he continues to get work at while still pushing for playing time at linebacker.

“I’d say it helped me dealing with bigger O-linemen,” Randle said of playing defensive end. “It helped me use my hands better. And it helped me with experience. I feel like I’m gonna get to the quarterback a lot this year.”

Michigan State's Brandon Randle pressures Penn State's Trace McSorley during the first quarter Nov. 4, 2017 at Spartan Stadium.

Bachie said figuring out Randle’s specialty and best fit could determine how many reps he gets at linebacker and how many the Battle Creek Central grad takes as an edge rusher on the line.

“He’s got talent. He can play anywhere,” Bachie said. “His athleticism can put him out of the box, it can put him in the box, he can play D-end if he has to, and he’s obviously one of our third-down rushers. He’s got the tools to do it all.”

The wildcard is Reschke, who has the most experience of the group but has barely played since the 2015 season.

Reschke recently was granted a return by his teammates and a sixth-year of eligibility by the NCAA after leaving the program in February 2017 for a racist text message. He has been practicing full-go despite suffering a serious knee injury shortly after leaving the program.

Michigani State linebacker Jon Reschke goes through drills during practice on Thursday, August 2, 2018, in East Lansing.

The 6-3, 235-pound Sterling Heights native has started 16 of his 24 career games at MSU, including 14 during the Spartans’ Big Ten championship and College Football Playoff season in 2015. Reschke had 101 tackles, 6.5 for loss and two sacks from 2014-16, but he played in just two games in 2016 before suffering a foot injury.

“Well, he’s been out of football for a year,” Dantonio said. “But I think he’s healthy, and he’s coming.”

Dantonio said Thompson “has had a good camp thus far,” while Randle “had a very good scrimmage.” And the 12th-year coach said Reschke has worked at all three linebacker positions this month.

Thompson worked in the first group Tuesday along with weak-side returning senior starter Andrew Dowell and Bachie, who Dantonio said “has been tremendous” in camp so far. MSU also has sophomore Antjuan Simmons and seniors Byron Bullough and Grayson Miller in competition for roles in the heart of a group that finished last season No. 2 in the nation against the run and No. 7 overall in total defense.

“Byron’s a good sideline-to-sideline runner. Tyriq can fill a gap better. Jon’s got a little bit of both,” Bachie said. “And they all talk. Byron knows a lot about the Mike (middle linebacker), so he knows the defense very well. … Antjuan, you just can’t take your eyes off Antjuan. He’s a smart player, and he plays fast.”

However, Dantonio was careful not to anoint anyone as the top choice for the open linebacker spot, as he did with Tyler Higby at center earlier Tuesday.

“That’s just gonna work itself out,” Dantonio said. “We got guys we can play — we can go three or four deep at that position. It’s been a positive.”

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Download our Spartans Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!