Michigan State football should take a look at elite Georgia DL transfer

Michigan State football has had defensive line depth issues this spring, and Georgia’s Bear Alexander could solve them.

Michigan State football’s defense left a lot to be desired last season. The Spartans finished 101st in total defense last year and gave up 416 yards per game. When the Michigan State football program was at its highest in the 2010s winning conference championships, the Rose Bowl, and adding a playoff appearance, the defense was their identity.

Mel Tucker is a defensive-minded coach and has experience coaching the defensive side of the ball, both in the NFL and at the University of Georgia.

According to On3, the top available prospect in the transfer portal is Bear Alexander, a freshman defensive lineman at Georgia. Snaps were hard to come by with the talent on the roster, and it’s rare any true freshmen get run on a national championship team. In just five games played, he had two sacks, including one in the national championship game, and five solo tackles.

To put that in perspective, two sacks would’ve tied Alexander for the fifth most at Michigan State last year.

Coming out of high school in the 2022 class, Alexander was a four-star prospect ranked 50th in the nation, and the ninth-best defensive line prospect in the class (247Sports).

Despite not having much to show for his very young college career, Alexander would be a huge pickup. Having a 6-foot-3, 325-pound defensive lineman would be huge to both stop the run game and apply more pressure on the quarterback in passing situations.

Here are some high school highlights of Alexander: 

Alexander just entered the portal on April 15 and probably will have a long list of suitors. Tucker has the opportunity to go for a home run swing here with Alexander and hopefully use his Georgia ties, defensive schemes, and MSU’s NIL opportunities to add a Bear on defense.