Michigan State football to host Wisconsin transfer LB Jordan Turner

Michigan State football will be hosting former Wisconsin starting linebacker Jordan Turner this weekend for an official.

Jonathan Smith and Michigan State football continue to stay hot on the recruiting trail in order to build the roster out prior to early national signing day.  As with any new coaching hire in the transfer portal era, the portal needs to be used to address immediate needs while recruiting high school to build for the future (welcome Aidan Chiles, by the way).

Jordan Turner entered the portal on Wednesday after two years with the Wisconsin Badgers. This season, Turner logged 61 tackles with 6.5 tackles for loss, and three sacks. The Farmington, Mich., native was a three-star recruit coming out of high school in the 2020 class.

Turner is set to visit Michigan State this weekend in a big recruiting weekend for the Spartans and multiple recruiting sites are already predicting that he ends up in East Lansing.

New MSU defensive coordinator Joe Rossi recruited Turner out of high school and has been in close contact since he entered the portal.

Anyone who spent just a minute watching Michigan State football in 2023 (or the three years prior honestly) understands that the defense has been a major Achilles’ heel for this team. Looking specifically at the linebacker position, the Spartans have fallen short from a pass coverage perspective. Darius Snow, MSU’s best pass-defending linebacker, suffered a major injury in 2022 and we’ve seen the likes of Cal Haladay fail to meet expectations in this area.

It’s unclear to me where Turner stands in defending against the pass but I trust Jonathan Smith to know the defense’s current weaknesses and address them via the portal. I have to assume there is at least potential there with Turner.

I’m excited to potentially go ‘Double Jordan’ in the second level in 2024 between Turner and freshman All-American linebacker Jordan Hall.

Keep an eye on news to become official in the next couple weeks (hopefully).