(Note: This is part six of a preview series reviewing Michigan State’s 2017 position groups and looking ahead to 2018)
EAST LANSING — Michigan State’s linebackers were expected to be a strength of the defense.
Turns out that Joe Bachie made them even better.
The sophomore took over at middle linebacker and flashed his speed and tenacity while directing a defense that improved dramatically in a year. The Spartans became the nation’s second-best defense against the run and improved their sack total by 17 from 2016.
Bachie and Andrew Dowell, a senior and expected third-year starter, will return in 2018 to anchor the next group of young linebackers coming up behind them.