Michigan State’s 2026 defense is going to look a lot different, and that’s putting it mildly.
Across the defensive line, linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties, the Spartans lost 32 players from the 2025 roster, brought back 23, and added 28 more through the transfer portal and the high school ranks. That leaves MSU with a net loss of four on that side of the ball, but the bigger story is how much of the projected starting lineup is expected to be new blood.
At this point, the only returnees expected to be in the starting 11 are Ben Roberts at defensive tackle, Jordan Hall at middle linebacker and Nikai Martinez at safety. Charles Brantley could make that list, too, if you count his return to East Lansing after spending a year at Miami. He would be the asterisk on the board, but still a returner.
That kind of turnover naturally comes with questions, especially when the 2025 defense wasn’t exactly setting the standard. Even so, there were a few Spartans who did enough to leave a mark and now have to be replaced.
Up front, Alex VanSumeren, Jalen Thompson and Quindarius Dunnigan all showed they could get into the backfield and make life uncomfortable. Wayne Matthews III was a solid running mate for Hall at linebacker.
In the secondary, Malcolm Bell and Malik Spencer are now trying to see whether they have professional football ahead of them.
The hope in East Lansing is that new head coach Pat Fitzgerald can find answers - and maybe even upgrades - in the portal. The high school class doesn’t look like it will provide much immediate help, with only two single 4-star recruits per ESPN, one quarterback and one wide receiver.
And even in the transfer market, the picture isn’t exactly overflowing with wins. According to 247Sports’ transfer portal grades, MSU lost five players to the portal who were ranked higher than, or the same as, the top player it brought in.
That top addition is cornerback Tre Bell, whom this source lists as a 3-star.
Still, there are reasons to think the 2026 unit won’t be stuck in the same place. Roberts, Hall, Martinez and Brantley should all benefit from another year of development, and possibly a better coaching staff guiding the offseason work.
Those four are expected to lead their position groups, and it would not be a surprise if at least three of them drew all-conference consideration. Brantley is the biggest question mark of the bunch, though, since he barely saw the field for the Hurricanes.
There’s also the fact that a lot of these incoming defensive transfers are arriving from non-Power 4 schools. That comes with the obvious adjustment question, but it also suggests the staff believes these players can handle the jump.
Coaches tend to know more than online rating sites, and that matters here. A number of outgoing Spartans, especially lower on the depth chart, are headed to lower-level schools after not cutting it at MSU.
Sometimes players need more time to grow into P4 bodies, and sometimes evaluations miss. Either way, this feels like a reset of sorts - the kind of do-over that lets you see whether the “big fish in a small pond” can swim once the water gets deeper.
The numbers from 2025 explain why this matters. MSU finished 15th in the Big Ten in points allowed at 29.9 per game and 14th in yards allowed at 378.7. A leap into the conference’s elite would be a stretch, but a move into the middle of the pack - somewhere in the 7th to 12th range - does not sound out of reach.
Some parts of the defense should be stronger than others, and every position group should have at least a few players capable of producing highlights. The linebackers probably would have run away with any “best group” vote, so the better question is which of the four units causes the most concern.
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