Michigan State Football Top 30 Players: No. 18 Brings Versatility
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Linebacker could very well be Michigan State’s biggest strength this coming season.
The Spartans held onto star linebacker Jordan Hall this offseason (he’s much further up than 18th on my list here), which was one of the biggest victories for Pat Fitzgerald in the early days of his tenure. MSU did a lot to help load up the area around Hall, though. One of the transfer portal additions Michigan State made was Caleb Wheatland. He’s the one at No. 18 on my top 30 players list for the coming fall.
How Wheatland Fits Into MSU’s LB Corps
Wheatland may not even be considered to be a starter this coming season. Hall is a certainty to be the Spartans’ MIKE linebacker, and incoming Buffalo transfer Dion Crawford is probably going to start at WILL.
Depth is still very important, though. Backups Darius Snow (now at Texas) and Aisea Moa (now at Michigan) received 232 and 180 snaps last season while appearing in 12 and 11 games, respectively. The top two guys aren’t going to get every single snap. Plus, injuries are bound to happen somewhere on the field.
Wheatland will likely be the linebacker No. 3 on the depth chart. It’s tough to get a linebacker who is on the more proven side of things to potentially accept a role like that in the transfer portal era, especially when it’s a player in their final season of eligibility.
He could probably be a starter at plenty of places. Wheatland was among the first players to commit to MSU during the transfer portal, doing so back on Jan. 5. The addition of Crawford back on Jan. 11 complicates the number of snaps Wheatland will receive, but his history still suggests that he’s somebody the Spartans can feel good about in a rotational role.
More on Wheatland’s Career Thus Far
Wheatland technically transferred from Auburn to Michigan State, but Maryland is where he has played the vast majority of his football. The only reason Wheatland is still eligible is that he only played in three games for the Tigers in 2025. That allowed Wheatland to redshirt and preserve his fourth and final season of eligibility.
The seasons before that at Maryland were quite productive, particularly in 2023 and 2024. Wheatland totaled 83 tackles during those seasons combined. That’s a relatively modest number, but it came with 12.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. Wheatland actually finished second in sacks for the Terrapins with 3.5 in 2023, and led the way in ‘24 with 4.0.
That ‘24 season is the largest sample size of football where Wheatland showed off what he can do. He started all 12 games that season for Maryland, which went 4-8. Wheatland graded out pretty well that season with an overall defensive mark of 67.5 on Pro Football Focus.
His strongest areas as a linebacker that year were pass rushing and coverage. Wheatland got a pretty decent 74.4 coverage grade from PFF in 2024 and a 72.2 mark on pass rushing. He hasn’t been considered to be a strong tackler, though. Wheatland got a 36.0 grade in that area that season, with a missed tackle rate of 28.8% (the average is around 15%). The year before that, he got a 48.9 tackling grade.
The good part about Wheatland’s poor tackling numbers is that Michigan State probably won’t need him too much there. MSU has Hall and Crawford there to eat up most of the tackles — they both had missed tackle rates below 10% last fall.
Wheatland’s numbers as a pass rusher open up some interesting avenues, though. The Spartans have struggled mightily in that department recently. Wheatland really might be a more proven sack-getter than anyone Michigan State got at rush end or defensive end, too.
MSU’s Pass Rushing Woes
Quarterbacks didn’t have to sweat as much as they should’ve when they faced MSU during the Jonathan Smith era. The Spartans averaged just 1.83 sacks per game last fall; that ranked 83rd in the FBS and 14th in the Big Ten. This was actually an improvement from the year before, when Michigan State’s 1.58 sacks per game were good for 103rd in the FBS and 15th in the conference.
What didn’t help MSU last season was that no go-to pass rusher emerged whatsoever. Six different players last year finished with either precisely 2.5 or 2.0 sacks. There was a three-way tie at 2.5 between Hall, Jalen Thompson, and Quindarius Dunnigan.
It’s tied for the lowest number by a sack leader in program history since the stat first started being recorded in 1984. Demetrius Cooper also led the Spartans with just 2.5 sacks during the 2016 season.
Another six players had either 1.5 or 1.0 sacks during the 2025 season. Having depth in that area can be great, but there also needs to be some separation at the very top. I sincerely doubt Wheatland will be that 10-sack player every college football program would absolutely love to have.
If Wheatland is to be Michigan State’s top sack-getter this fall, as he was at Maryland in 2024, it probably wouldn’t be the greatest sign. But if he’s second or third or fourth at that 4.0-sack pace or so, that would be a much more welcome omen.
Wheatland’s abilities in coverage also shouldn’t be ignored. One of the big separators between linebackers in college and the NFL is how they act in coverage. Plenty of college linebackers struggle at it, since they’re so used to being physical and focusing on the ball, rather than covering a wide receiver or a tight end.
This is part of what makes Hall such a valuable linebacker for MSU. His tackling is great, but he also had a very nice 83.1 coverage grade on PFF last season. Crawford, who also has some pass-rushing roots, had a poor 28.9 coverage grade in 2025 at Buffalo.
Getting Wheatland gives the Spartans another linebacker who can play both inside and outside linebacker, another pass-rushing option, and another guy who can drop into coverage when needed. That versatility is very valuable.
Other Top 30 Articles
No. 30, WR Samson Gash | No. 29, WR Charles Taplin | No. 28, S Devin Vaught | No. 27, KR Kenneth Williams | No. 26, OL Luka Vincic | No. 25, OL Rakeem Johnson | No. 24, CB Tyran Chappell | No. 23, DL Derrick Simmons | No. 22, TE Carson Gulker | No. 21, WR KK Smith
No. 20, DL Eli Coenen | No. 19, OL Nick Sharpe
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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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