Michigan State Football Positional Preview: Defensive Ends
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Michigan State has an interesting crop of defensive ends this year.
This portion of the Spartans' roster is largely filled with either transfers or young guys. Below is a quick breakdown of each defensive end (not to be confused with MSU's rush ends) who could feasibly become a contributor on Michigan State's defense this season.
Starter: Keahnist Thompson
The starting defensive end this year is expected to be Keahnist Thompson. He transferred to East Lansing this season after spending the past three seasons at Weber State. Thompson led his team with 4.0 sacks last fall, getting those sacks in nine games and starts. The interesting game for Thompson last year was his 1.5-sack performance against Arizona. He also had a tackle for loss against eventual CFP participant James Madison.
PFF credited Thompson with 15 hurries and 25 pressures across 242 pass-rushing snaps last year. That big Arizona performance came with three hurries and a season-high six pressures. Thompson has made 80 total tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, and 7.0 sacks across his career, spanning 32 games at Weber State and one appearance at UCF. He and MSU safety Nikai Martinez were both part of UCF's 2022 recruiting class and were teammates as freshmen.
Next Up: Cal Thrush
Rising through the ranks of Michigan State's roster is redshirt freshman/second-year player Cal Thrush. He didn't appear in a game during his first season with the program in 2025, but he was a Scout Team Player of the Week three times. Thrush looked good during this spring's open scrimmage, though, and he seems to be the second guy up at defensive end.
Thrush wrapped up his high school career at Upper Arlington in Columbus, Ohio, ranked 1,419th overall in the class of 2025, according to the 247Sports Composite. He picked MSU over other offers from Cincinnati and a litany of offers from MAC programs and service academies.
Other Potential Contributors
Isaac Smith
The role of Isaac Smith on this year's defense is up in the air. He's been splitting time and reps during practices with both the rush ends and the defensive ends, but he doesn't seem to be topping the depth chart for either spot. Smith started every game for Michigan State last year after transferring from Texas Tech, making 26 total tackles with one sack.
Smith just wasn't particularly effective as a pass rusher with MSU last season. He only recorded six pressures across 105 pass-rushing snaps, according to PFF, which was a tie for 10th on the team. A few other EDGEs -- Cam Williams and Anelu Lafaele -- had fewer pass-rushing snaps and more pressures than Smith.
Kekai Burnett
Third-year player/redshirt sophomore Kekai Burnett could also get some burn this season. He appeared in 10 games last year for Michigan State, logging 70 total defensive snaps. Burnett also got a spot start and 32 defensive snaps against UCLA in Week 7. His 12 snaps against Indiana the following week were the only other game where Burnett's snap count on defense was in the double digits.
Leonard Ah You
One other interesting piece of the Spartans' roster is Leonard Ah You. He's entering his second year in college, but is the age of a redshirt junior or a true senior. Ah You originally signed with Oregon State and Jonathan Smith's staff as part of the 2023 recruiting class, but he then served a two-year Latter-day Saints mission, flipping to Michigan State and joining its 2025 class.
Ah You appeared in three games last year (Minnesota, Penn State, and Iowa) during his first season with the program, playing 11 snaps on special teams. As a recruit, Ah You finished ranked 1,079th in the class of 2023, according to the 247Sports Composite. He was also the No. 5 player to come out of Hawai'i that year. Some of his other notable offers came from Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Utah, Hawai'i, and San Diego State.
Recent Pass-Rushing Woes
No matter which players emerge at rush end and defensive end, MSU's pass rush has to be much better than it has been in seasons past. The Spartans only totaled 22 sacks last year, tied for the third-fewest in the Big Ten. Michigan State did have 16 of those sacks during conference play, though, which was pretty middle-of-the-pack at 10th in the conference.
The year before that, MSU had 19 sacks, the third-fewest in the Big Ten. That year featured a six-game drought without a single sack. Michigan State only finished with five sacks in its nine conference games. No other team in the Big Ten had fewer than 10.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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