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Get to know the 2017 Michigan State football roster

We’ve got you covered — names, numbers, positions, etc.

By Ryan O'Bleness
NCAA Football: Ohio State at Michigan State Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

Can you believe it? It is almost football season y’all! That means we can all put that disastrous 2016 season, and even worse 2017 offseason, behind us.

In less than two weeks the Michigan State Spartans will kick off the regular season against Mid-American Conference foe Bowling Green.

There are a lot of new faces on this year’s roster, and a lot of underclassmen from last year who are no longer here. While you are watching the game, you’re likely going to come across a player who you don’t know by name or position.

We’ve got you covered. Listed below is every one of the players who is currently on the 2017 roster (listed by number). So, be sure to reference this article when you need to find out who made that play on special teams, or who is breaking out in a game.

Be sure to use the chart below as a guide throughout the season.

2017 Michigan State Football Roster

Name Number Posiiton Class Hometown
Name Number Posiiton Class Hometown
Justin Layne 2 CB SO Cleveland, Ohio
LJ Scott 3 RB JR Hubbard, Ohio
C.J. Hayes 4 WR FR Bowling Green
Matt Coghlin 4 K RS FR Cincinnati, Ohio
Andrew Dowell 5 LB JR North Ridgeville, Ohio
Hunter Rison 5 WR FR Ann Arbor, Mich.
Jack McKenna 6 K/P FR Commerce Township, Mich.
Damion Terry 6 QB SR Erie, Pa.
Brett Scanlon 7 K SR Dowagiac, Mich.
Cody White 7 WR FR Novi, Mich.
Lashawn Paulino-Bell 8 DE FR Tamarac, Fla.
Cole Hahn 8 K FR West Des Moines
Dominique Long 9 S FR Westerville, Ohio
Messiah deWeaver 10 QB RS FR Huber Heights, Ohio
Matt Morrissey 10 S JR Lincolnshire, Ill.
Connor Heyward 11 RB FR Duluth, Ga.
Rocky Lombardi 12 QB FR Cliva, Iowa
Mickey Macius 13 QB JR Arlington Heights, Ill.
Brian Lewerke 14 QB SO Phoenix, Ariz.
Emmanuel Flowers 14 CB FR Chino Hills, Calif.
Tyson Smith 15 CB JR Southfield, Mich.
Brandon Sowards 16 WR JR Wyandotte, Mich.
Austin Andrews 16 S RS FR Columbus, Ohio
Laress Nelson 17 WR FR Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Tyriq Thompson 17 LB SO Detroit, Mich.
Felton Davis III 18 WR JR Richmond, Va.
Josh Butler 19 CB SO Mesquite, Texas
Nick Krumm 19 WR SO Commerce Township, Mich.
Davis Lewandowski 20 WR SO Okemos, Mich.
Jalen Watts-Jackson 20 S JR Detroit, Mich.
Cam Chambers 21 WR RS FR Sicklerville, N.J.
Josiah Scott 22 CB FR Hamilton, Ohio
Chris Frey 23 LB SR Upper Arlington, Ohio
Gerald Holmes 24 RB SR Flint, Mich.
Tre Person 24 CB FR Atlanta, Ga.
Darrell Stewart Jr. 25 WR SO Houston, Texas
Jake Hartbarger 25 P JR Waterville, Ohio
Brandon Randle 26 DE/LB RS FR Battle Creek, Mich.
Weston Bridges 27 RB FR Copley, Ohio
Khari Willis 27 S JR Jackson, Mich.
Madre London 28 RB JR Little Rock, Ark.
David Dowell 28 S SO North Ridgeville, Ohio
Shakur Brown 29 DB FR Stockbridge, Ga.
Tanner Hallock 30 FB FR Grand Rapids, Mich.
T.J. Harrell 31 CB JR Tampa, Fla.
Corey Pryor 32 DB RS FR Jackson, Mich.
Antjuan Simmons 34 LB FR Ann Arbor, Mich.
Joe Bachie 35 LB SO Brook Park, Ohio
Noah Sargent 36 RB SO Fenton, Mich.
Dante Razzano 37 LB RS FR Niles, Mich.
Byron Bullough 38 LB JR Traverse City, Mich.
Collin Lucas 40 FB JR Avon Lake, Ohio
Reid Burton 41 FB RS FR East Lansing, Mich.
Gerald Owens 41 DL JR Thorofare, N.J.
Hussien Kadry 42 TE SR Dearborn, Mich.
Brent Mossburg 42 LB FR Carleton, Mich.
Jack Mandryk 43 S FR Hudsonville, Mich.
Grayson Miller 44 S JR Georgetown, Ky.
Max Rosenthal 44 FB FR Winnetka, Ill.
Joe Palange 45 FB SR Cleveland, Ohio
Darien Tipps-Clemons 45 LB FR Piqua, Ohio
Noah Harvey 47 LB FR Hartland, Wis.
Ryan Armour 47 SN SO Traverse City, Mich.
Kenny Willekes 48 DE SO Rockford, Mich.
Shane Jones 49 LB SR Cincinnati, Ohio
Sean Harrington 50 LB SR Commerce Township, Mich.
Kyonta Stallworth 51 DL SO Detroit, Mich.
Dillon Alexander 52 DE JR Forsyth, Ga.
Peter Fisk 53 LB RS FR Grand Rapids, Mich.
Mitchell Sokol 54 LB FR Rochester, Mich.
Jordan Reid 55 OT FR Mt. Clemens, Mich.
Matt Carrick 56 OG FR Minerva, Ohio
Collin Caflisch 57 SN SO Canton, Mich.
Devyn Salmon 58 DT SR Plant City, Fla.
David Beedle 59 OG JR Clarkston, Mich.
Casey Schreiner 60 OG JR Bethel Park, Pa.
Cole Chewins 61 OT SO Clarkston, Mich.
Luke Campbell 62 OT RS FR Lewis Center, Ohio
Noah Listermann 63 OT SO Cincinnati, Ohio
Matt Allen 64 OL RS FR Hinsdale, Ill.
Brian Allen 65 OL SR Hinsdale, Ill.
Blake Bueter 66 OT FR Howell, Mich.
Bryce Wilker 67 C SO Belding, Mich.
Jeremy Schram 68 OL JR White Lake, Mich.
Tommy Liesveld 69 OL SO Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
Tyler Higby 70 OG SO Houston, Texas
Chase Gianacakos 71 OL JR St. Charles, Ill.
Mike Panasiuk 72 DT SO Roselle, Ill.
Dennis Finley 73 OT SR Detroit, Mich.
Jack Henrichs 74 OL FR Thiensville, Wis.
Kevin Jarvis 75 OG FR Park Ridge, Ill.
AJ Arcuri 76 OT RS FR Powell, Ohio
Nick Padla 77 OL JR Berrien Springs, Mich.
Mustafa Khaleefah 79 OT FR Dearborn Heights, Mich.
Matt Seybert 80 TE SO Traverse City, Mich.
Matt Sokol 81 TE JR Rochester, Mich.
Jack Camper 82 TE FR Virginia Beach, Va.
Mufi Hill-Hunt 83 DE RS FR Sandy, Utah
Brock Makaric 84 WR SR Saginaw, Mich.
Noah Davis 84 TE RS FR Cincinnati, Ohio
Khylin Barton 85 WR RS FR Zeeland, Mich.
Trishton Jackson 86 WR SO West Bloomfield, Mich.
Drew Beesley 86 DL RS FR Rochester Hills, Mich.
Jahz Watts 87 WR FR Belleville, Mich.
Andre Welch 88 WR FR East Kentwood, Mich.
Matt Dotson 89 TE FR Kenwood, Ohio
Robert Bowers 91 DE JR Columbus, Ohio
DeAri Todd 92 DE FR Lorain, Ohio
Naquan Jones 93 DT RS FR Mount Prospect, Ill.
Jacub Panasiuk 96 DE FR Roselle, Ill.
Justice Alexander 97 DE SO Macedonia, Ohio
Demetrius Cooper 98 DE SR Chicago, Ill.
Raequan Williams 99 DT SO Chicago, Ill.

Roster Fun:

Number of players by state:

  1. Michigan: 48
  2. Ohio: 26
  3. Illinois: 12
  4. Florida: 4
  5. Georgia: 4
  6. Texas: 3
  7. Pennsylvania: 2
  8. Wisconsin: 2
  9. Iowa: 2
  10. New Jersey: 2
  11. Virginia: 2
  12. Kentucky: 2
  13. Arizona: 1
  14. Arkansas: 1
  15. Utah: 1
  16. California: 1

Number of players by position:

Offense: QB: 5, RB: 6, FB: 5, WR: 15, TE: 6, OL: 21, LS: 2

Defense: DL: 17, LB: 14, CB: 7, DB: 2, S: 8

Special Teams: K: 3, P: 2

Coaches/Staff: 32

By Class:

True Freshmen: 35

Redshirt Freshmen: 17

Sophomores: 24

Juniors: 24

Seniors: 13

Number of player by weight (bonus!):

155 to 180 pounds: 10

181 to 200 pounds: 17

201 to 220 pounds: 24

221 to 240 pounds: 22

241 to 260 pounds: 10

261 to 280 pounds: 7

281 to 300 pounds: 9

More than 300 pounds: 14

My immediate takeaway is that the team has even more freshmen than I thought, with 52 total and 35 true freshmen. Total freshmen make up 46 percent of the roster. That is incredible. It’s not a new revelation that the Spartans are an extremely young team, but when you realize that 67 percent of the roster is made up of freshmen and sophomores, it is definitely a bit concerning when talking about experience and leadership.

Other things you can draw from this is, unsurprisingly, players form Michigan and Ohio dominate the roster. The two states make up more than 65 percent of it. The roster consists of 42 percent of players from Michigan and 23 percent of players from Ohio, with Illinois coming in at more than 10 percent.

Positionally, offensive linemen take up about 18.5 percent of the roster space, while defensive linemen are at about 15 percent and wide receivers are not too far behind at a little less than 14 percent.

Weight is not listed on the above chart, but I included it in another section. While the majority of players fall somewhere between 200 to 240 pounds, Michigan State also has quite a few big boys out there, with 14 players weighing in at more than 300 pounds.

I’m turning it over to you all now, The Only Colors community. What are your takeaways? Let us know in the comments.

Follow us on Twitter, @TheOnlyColors and @RyanOBleness.

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