What Spartans Saw with Transfer EDGE Santiago

Michigan State had some needs this offseason, and the rush end position was probably the area the Spartans wanted to address most.

And that they did, as the program brought in several new edge rushers, both in the winter and the spring.

One of the first edge rushers Michigan State added this offseason was veteran David Santiago from Air Force. The redshirt sophomore appeared in 10 games last season but saw a ton of action, taking the field for over 500 snaps at linebacker.

Experience was just one of a few key things the Spartans were looking for when they recruited Santiago.

"One of the things they saw that they needed was batting balls down," said the transfer. "I've batted a good amount of balls down. And then, they needed pressure, they needed someone who played a lot, and I played a decent amount last year. So, experience, and then, they knew that people -- going into the offseason, you don't know (who is staying). Couple of guys leave last year, so they knew they needed someone to come in."

Along with Santiago, the program also brought in key additions like Anelu Lafaele from Wisconsin, who also came in in the winter, and Isaac Smith from Texas Tech and Cam Williams from Georgia State, who came in in the spring.

How are Spartans trying to improve pass rush?

Together, the group will be tasked with leading the Spartans' pass rush effort, an area it struggled in last season as Michigan State went on a long drought where it couldn't reach the quarterback to save its life.

"I take it personal, I'll tell you that much," said rush ends coach Chad Wilt. " ... One personnel. The room turned over a little bit. That's personnel-driven. ... I spent time (in) preseason camp grabbing all of these guys after the walk-throughs at night, each one of them, let's sit for 30 minutes, watch, build your individual plan.

"Even today in individual period, I had a period, it was a 'You call it period.' 'What are you working on? And they do a drill for that, and we work a different situation because Santiago's going to rush different than Gilly (Tyler Gillison), and Gilly's going to rush different than Cam. And so, let those guys -- different tools in the tool belt, but they got to be able to build for what their strength is as a pass rusher."

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