Michigan State’s linebacker room has a chance to be one of the defense’s real anchors this fall, and Buffalo transfer Dion Crawford is a big reason why.
Jordan Hall is the headliner at MIKE, but Crawford gives the Spartans something valuable behind him: a versatile, proven piece who can line up in more than one spot and help Max Bullough’s group hold together. I’ve got Crawford at No. 13 in my Michigan State top 30 countdown, and his fit with the Spartans feels pretty straightforward.
Hall is the locked-in MIKE. Crawford projects next to him at WILL.
Auburn transfer Caleb Wheatland should also be in the mix, while true freshman Adam Shaw turned heads during spring ball.
Crawford was also getting work at MIKE in the spring, which matters because he could be the second linebacker to wear the “green dot” and handle direct communication with defensive coordinator Joe Rossi on the field.
That kind of flexibility is a big part of why Michigan State can lean on this room. Crawford can move around.
Wheatland can move around. And the depth behind them looks solid with Brady Pretzlaff, Albany transfer Cam Stodghill, and former 4-star recruit DeJae White all in the picture.
What makes Crawford especially interesting is how much his game has changed over time. He entered Buffalo as more of a traditional linebacker and played 11 games as a true freshman, with two starts.
In 2023, he was mostly a standard middle linebacker in the rotation, and PFF said he rushed the passer only 11 times on 278 defensive snaps. He finished that season with 31 tackles and one TFL.
Then came the leap. By his sophomore year, Crawford had become a full-time starter, but his job description shifted hard toward attacking the quarterback. His pass-rushing snaps jumped to 323, and he piled up 15.0 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks on the way to Third Team All-MAC honors.
Last fall brought another adjustment. Buffalo split the difference between those two versions of Crawford.
He still rushed the passer, just not nearly as often, with 169 pass-rushing opportunities. That helps explain why his sack total fell to 3.5 and his tackles for loss dropped to 5.0.
Even so, his tackle production climbed from 59 to 81, and he finished second on the Bulls in tackles behind Khalil Murdock, whose 142 tackles ranked third in the country.
The tackling itself has been steady, too. Crawford’s missed tackle rate has sat just below 9% in each of the last two seasons, which is a pretty good place to be for a linebacker. For comparison, Hall’s missed tackle rate over the last two years is 9.2%.
The bigger question for Michigan State is coverage. Crawford’s PFF coverage grade last season was 28.9, and the site said he allowed 20 catches on 26 targets for 199 yards and two touchdowns.
That’s a sharp contrast from his breakout 2025 season, when he posted a 79.0 coverage grade. He’s had at least 100 coverage snaps in each of the last two seasons, so this isn’t a tiny sample issue.
Still, that kind of drop feels hard to buy at face value.
Even if coverage remains the area to watch, the Spartans have some help there. Hall posted an 81.4 coverage grade last season across 331 snaps, and Michigan State’s secondary also looks better with Charles Brantley and Tre Bell leading the way.
Crawford’s path to East Lansing also explains why he wasn’t one of the portal’s buzziest names. On3 ranked him in the 1,500s, and 247Sports had him in the 1,600s.
Neither outlet put him inside the top 100 linebackers available. His eligibility situation played a part in that.
He originally came to MSU with just one year left, but the NCAA’s new “5-in-5” rule gives him the chance to keep playing into the 2027 season.
That’s a call for later. For now, Michigan State is getting a player with a solid track record, real versatility, and enough production to matter right away.
As a high school recruit, Crawford was a mid-3-star prospect and shared a team at Collins Hill High School with future Heisman winner and No. 2 overall pick Travis Hunter. He also had offers from Florida State, Michigan, Arkansas, Georgia Tech, Missouri, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, and West Virginia before starting his career at Buffalo.
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