A solid secondary is one of the most critical elements to putting together an effective defense. Despite many different injuries to the team’s defensive backs last fall, Michigan State‘s passing defense improved from 86th in the FBS in 2023 to 46th in 2024 — surrendering about 30 fewer passing yards per game. The Spartans picked off nine passes last year, which is the same number as it had during the 2023 season.

The unit has gone through a fair amount of change this past offseason, though, and will look somewhat different in 2025. Last year’s cornerbacks coach, Demetrice Martin, left East Lansing to take a new job at UCLA. Still under defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Joe Rossi, MSU’s DBs now get a lot of attention from secondary coach Blue Adams and safeties coach James Adams, who was hired back in January. 

Michigan State is also going to have to replace some lost production from last fall. Some notable departures in the secondary include:

Charles Brantley (transferred to Miami) – top-rated DB for MSU last season, per Pro Football Focus (PFF).

Ed Woods (eligibility exhausted) – second-most defensive snaps played in 2024

Angelo Grose (eligibility exhausted) – 10 starts last season

Jaylen Thompson (transferred to Memphis) – started final three games of the 2024 season

That being said, there are several key returners for the Spartans in their secondary, along with a couple solid additions from the transfer portal, for the 2025 season. In no particular order, let’s take a look at some of the players that can be impact players for head coach Jonathan Smith in this upcoming season when it comes to defending the pass.

Safeties/Nickel Backs

No. 1 Nikai Martinez (Sr.)

One of Michigan State’s top returning players regardless of position, Martinez has the chance to build even further off of what was a very solid 2024 campaign for him individually.

For one, nobody on the defensive side of the football played more than Martinez last year. The former UCF transfer totaled 724 defensive snaps, which was 99 more plays than second place(the aforementioned Woods). 

Martinez’s availability has often been his best ability, as the cliche goes. During his time with the Knights, he got in all 27 games UCF played in during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. After starting all 12 of MSU’s games in 2024, Martinez is now 39-for-39 at getting into games and has now made 25 consecutive starts combined between the two programs. 

This past season, Martinez totaled 51 tackles on the year, along with three tackles for loss. He also picked off two passes and broke up another two passes. 

According to Pro Football Focus, Martinez also only allowed 11 completed passes all season and just two in the team’s final six games. He also was considered responsible for one touchdown pass and got flagged just once all year.

No. 43 Malik Spencer (Sr.)

Expected to start again alongside Martinez at safety, Spencer is also in a spot to become one of the cornerstones of the 2025 defense. Spencer has truly earned the program’s “SD4L” (Spartan Dawg For life) moniker, as he stayed through the turbulent coaching change from the Mel Tucker era to the Smith tenure and will have spent all four of his seasons in his college career in East Lansing. 

Spencer started each of MSU’s first nine games last fall before suffering a season-ending injury in that ninth game of the 2024 season against Indiana. He totaled 44 total tackles, one tackle for loss, an interception against Prairie View A&M and forced a fumble against Boston College. 

Another thing that makes Spencer valuable is his versatility. Not only is Spencer able to defend the pass as a free safety, but MSU has been very willing to roll him into the box to assist the team’s front seven in defending the run. After all, Spencer joined the program as a three-star linebacker prospect — not DB — out of Buford, Georgia, according to On3.

No. 34 Khalil Majeed (R-Jr.)

It may seem easy to forget about Majeed since he suffered a season-ending injury in Week One against Florida Atlantic last year, but he was a guy who played a fair bit in 2023 and was primed to take on an increased role in 2024. He can play the safety or nickel back positions.

Majeed has been with the program for a while, as 2025 will be his fifth season in East Lansing. His third season (2023) was the first time he saw some real action. That year, he played 151 defensive snaps across eight games. In that time, Majeed totaled 19 tackles, two tackles for loss and intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter against Nebraska. 

While he still remains behind in the depth chart to Martinez and Spencer, Majeed has proven that he can operate in a rotational capacity in the past, and he could see increased playing time at the nickel spot as well. In the past, he’s been used as a free safety and could fill in for Spencer at points. Majeed has also been used as a slot cornerback (nickel), and has also played in the box at points as well. 

Coming off of the major injury, how large Majeed’s role will be in 2025 is really yet to be determined. However, he’s a guy who has gotten two different coaching staffs to put him on the field and could certainly see playing time if/when Martinez or Spencer aren’t out there, or if he needs to sub in at nickel back.

No. 12 Justin Denson Jr. (So.)

#12 Justin Denson Jr. (So.) – As a true freshman, Denson saw his playing time increase as the 2024 season progressed. His defensive snap count climaxed during two of MSU’s biggest games last year: 32 snaps against Oregon and 50 reps versus Rutgers when the Spartans were playing for bowl eligibility. Across 159 total snaps last year and eight games, Denson received an overall PFF grade of 64.1 and a coverage mark of 64.4. Denson can play at either the field safety or nickel back spots and has a good chance to earn a bigger role in 2025.

No. 6 Ade Willie (Sr.)

While Willie has played the majority of his snaps thus far at the wide cornerback position, Willie was earning first-team reps at nickel back during spring practices, according to sources, and is expected to play there in 2025. Of course, if needed, he has the versatility to still play cornerback as well. Willie filled in at cornerback a fair bit for the Spartans last fall, starting the final two games of the 2024 campaign against Purdue and Rutgers when the defensive backfield was at its worst injury-wise. In total, Willie played 187 defensive snaps last season and an additional 102 on special teams. When he was in coverage, Willie allowed 13 receptions on 17 targets for 248 yards and three touchdowns across 109 coverage snaps. PFF gave Willie an overall defensive grade of 48.0 last season, with his coverage marked at 47.0. 

Other notable safeties/nickels on the roster:

No. 3 Jeremiah Hughes (Jr.) – After playing the majority of his reps at cornerback in 2024, Hughes is expected to play primarily nickel in 2025, but could still play outside cornerback if needed. Hughes’ role on this team should be interesting. He was a high three-star recruit coming out of high school and landed at LSU, so the talent has always been there for him. As a true freshman, he was able to see the field in all 13 of the Tigers’ games, but most of that was on special teams. In his first year at Michigan State in 2024, he played sparingly on defense as well. Now, entering his junior year, Hughes might be primed to take on a real role defensively. MSU could certainly use him as a nickel or as someone that can play near the sidelines if someone ahead of him on the depth chart goes down or needs to sub out.

No. 21 Tracy Revels (R-So.) – One of MSU’s pickups from the spring transfer portal window, Revels comes to East Lansing with three years of eligibility in his pocket after a solid 2024 season with Bowling Green. After getting snaps here and there during the team’s first six games, Revels earned a starting spot and immediately showed his worth. He ended the year with an overall PFF grade of 70.3 and a 71.5 mark in coverage, while largely slotting in as a strong safety. He totaled 40 tackles and one pass breakup, as well. While he may be stuck behind Martinez and Spencer for now, this is a player who could really pay dividends for Smith down the line. He is expected to play primarily the boundary safety spot for MSU.

No. 28 Dontavius Nash (R-Sr.) – Another transfer portal addition with one year of eligibility remaining, Nash comes to Michigan State after starting six games with East Carolina last year. Last season, Nash started out as a rotation guy before getting a starting spot for five games, but then did not start ECU’s final three regular season games. He then started in the Pirates’ bowl game against NC State, where he had an interception. In 167 coverage snaps, Nash allowed 14 completions on 24 targets for 215 yards and three touchdowns. In 2024, Nash primarily played wide cornerback. However, he told Spartans Illustrated at the time of his commitment that MSU mainly recruited him to play safety, but that he also has the capability to operate as both a nickel back and at wide cornerback if needed.

No. 27 Devynn Cromwell (sixth-year Sr.) – Cromwell comes to MSU after spending the 2024 season at Texas Tech, where he played in nine games and started two of them. He totaled 20 tackles for the Red Raiders and had an overall PFF grade of 62.4. In 98 coverage snaps, he allowed just three catches for 14 yards. His journey to Michigan State is also an interesting one, as he is from Toronto, Ontario and spent four seasons playing Canadian college football at the University of Guelph. He could certainly find himself in the rotation in 2025, but we will see how it shakes out.

No. 19 Armorion Smith (R-Sr.) – Smith is a player who has certainly shown his ability to perform in the past. Back in 2022, when he was a redshirt freshman at Cincinnati, Smith played all 12 games that year for the Bearcats and also intercepted a pass during the team’s bowl game. After transferring to MSU, though, he’s had to deal with lots of on-field and off-field adversity. A season-ending injury four games into the 2023 season derailed his campaign that year. Then, the tragic passing of his mother last year that left him in charge of five younger siblings. After Smith was largely a special teams guy in 2024, it would be a tremendous feat and story if he were able to net an increased role with this year’s defense. 

No. 30 Aveon Grose (R-Jr.) – The brother of former MSU defensive back Angelo Grose, Aveon is another guy who largely played special teams in 2024 (194 snaps) and will be looking for some more snaps on defense this upcoming year. Grose saw 31 defensive snaps in the season opener against FAU last season, but only got 14 total plays with the defense the rest of the way.

Cornerbacks

No. 7 Joshua Eaton (sixth-year Sr.)

One of the several additions from the transfer portal for Michigan State, Eaton comes to East Lansing by way of Texas State and is anticipated to be one of the squad’s starting wide corners on Aug. 29 against Western Michigan.

As his mark as a sixth-year senior suggests, Eaton is sort of a college football journeyman. A Rivals four-star recruit out of Houston, Texas, Eaton began his career at Oklahoma. He spent a total of three seasons in Norman — two with now-USC head coach Lincoln Riley and one with current head coacg Brent Venables — but only exhausted one season of eligibility due to the COVID year and by only playing in four games during the 2022 season.

Following that, Eaton entered the transfer portal and landed in San Marcos with Texas State. Each of his two seasons there were certainly successful. In 2024, he started all 12 of the Bobcats’ regular season games and only allowed 15 catches on 36 targets, according to Pro Football Focus. 

One of the main concerns will be if Eaton can limit the number of penalties, though. He was penalized six times last season, and will certainly face better wide receivers in the Big Ten than he did in the Sun Belt.

Eaton drew a lot of praise from his coaches and fellow players during the spring and appears to be poised for a big role for the Spartans in 2025.

No. 25 Chance Rucker (R-So.)

Rucker is one of the handful of returning players for Michigan State’s defensive backfield that had their 2024 season cut short due to injury. Last fall, Rucker only played in the first two games of the year against FAU and Maryland and was then out for the remainder of the season due to an upper body injury. He appears to be in a spot to see a lot of snaps in 2025.

During the 2023 campaign, though, Rucker flashed as a player that had a lot of potential and could be a long-term part of the program’s future. As a true freshman, Rucker got into all 12 contests and started eight of them. That year, Rucker totaled 23 tackles, an interception and four pass breakups. 

Rucker came to Michigan State as a pretty high three-star recruit, marked at 411th overall and the 45th-best cornerback recruit in the class of 2023 by the On3/Rivals Industry Rankings. A couple years later, Rucker is trying to have a season much like his true freshman campaign health-wise and also showcase any and all improvements he’s made to his game in the two offseasons since.

No. 14 Malcolm Bell (R-Sr.)

Another experienced wide cornerback that should make an impact in 2025, Bell joins the Spartans after putting together a solid career at UConn. Across the last three years there, Bell appeared in 33 total games and made 20 starts. In 2024, Bell received an overall defensive grade from PFF of 77.9, which was the second-best mark on the Huskies’ defense. In fact, Bell’s overall grade improved in each of the three years that he played at Connecticut. 

Like his fellow transfer Eaton, Bell has just one year of eligibility remaining. During his redshirt junior year at UConn, Bell totaled 26 tackles, one tackle for loss and three pass breakups. In coverage, according to PFF, Bell allowed 19 catches on 30 targets and didn’t allow a touchdown across 220 such snaps. 

Now, Bell will have his opportunity to compete for playing time alongside Eaton, Rucker and others for the task of guarding the top receivers of MSU’s opponents. He enrolled in East Lansing in January and went through spring ball with the Spartans.

No. 24 Anthony Pinnace III (R-Jr.)

Pinnace, an Ann Arbor, Michigan native, joined the Spartans in the summer and has had an interesting path to East Lansing. He was most recently enrolled at The University of Texas at San Antonio and went through spring ball with the Roadrunners before entering the transfer portal and committing to Michigan State ahead of the fall campaign in 2025. Prior to that, Pinnace attended Iowa Western Community College, which is where he played in the fall of 2024. Before that, he played for Independence Community College in Kansas. He signed with Washington State in December of 2023, but did not end up being part of the Cougars’ roster in 2024. He earned first-team NJCAA All-America honors in 2023 while he played for Independence Community College.

Sources say that Pinnace could be a potential candidate for immediate playing time at MSU, due to his mix of speed, athleticism and twitchiness, but, of course, he could still need some time to develop at this level first. He also likely needs to add weight to his 160-pound frame. It is something to watch.

Other notable corners on the roster:

No. 0 NiJhay Burt (Sr.) – An incoming transfer from Eastern Illinois, Burt brings a lot of experience to East Lansing in his jump from the FCS level to the Big Ten. Burt intercepted three passes in each of the last two seasons at EIU (six total), including one pic- six in 2023. Last season, Burt totaled 64 total tackles, three tackles for loss and one forced fumble. He was kind of a high-risk, high-reward type of defensive back — he allowed five touchdowns and got flagged six times, according to PFF — but that did not stop him from receiving a stellar overall grade of 77.7 and a mark of 82.0 in coverage. 

No. 18 Andrew Brinson IV (So.) – Brinson is another guy that saw some opportunities as injuries piled up with the defensive backs last season. Of his 59 defensive snaps last season, 38 of them came in the final two games of the year. He received an overall grade of 54.5 from PFF, but he did not allow a completion in 26 total coverage snaps. Brinson is a guy who has shown loyalty to head coach Jonathan Smith and secondary coach Blue Adams, as he was previously committed to them while they were at Oregon State when he was high school before flipping to MSU a little less than a month after Smith was announced as the team’s new head coach. Brinson could potentially see more opportunities in 2025.

No. 2 Aydan West (Fr.) – West is MSU’s top incoming freshman defensive back, according to the On3/Rivals Industry Rankings. Getting his services was a big win for the coaching staff, given the list of the other teams that were also vying for West. After he verbally committed to the Spartans, West officially visited both Ohio State and Virginia Tech, but West stayed true to his word and signed with MSU. He also had a head start by signing/enrolling early and got to compete in spring practice with the team. However, West suffered an injury during the spring and missed time. If healthy entering fall camp, West is a potential candidate for early playing time.

Remaining DBs on the roster (listed numerically)

No. 15 Caleb Gash (R-So.)

No. 20 Keshawn Williams (R-Fr.)

No. 29 George Mullins (Fr.)

No. 31 Deuce Edwards (Fr., expected to play nickel back)

No. 32 Evan Young (Fr.)

No. 38 Dorian Davis (R-Jr.)

No. 39 Elisha West (R-Fr., expected to play nickel back)

For more information on the Michigan State roster for 2025, check out our other positional previews below:

• Quarterbacks
• Running backs
• Tight ends
• Wide receivers
• Offensive line
• Defensive tackles