Drew Beesley made it clear how he felt about his former teammate Kenny Willekes.
“Kenny, I looked up to him a lot,” the Michigan State football senior said on a video call Thursday. “There's no replacing Kenny. There will always be one Kenny Willekes.”
There also happens to be one opening at defensive end for the Spartans, the one left vacant by the graduation loss of two-time All-American Willekes to the NFL.
Beesley and others are back at practice in East Lansing preparing for next Saturday’s season opener against Rutgers (noon/BTN). And one of new coach Mel Tucker’s key needs to bring to life his vision of a relentless, dominant defense is to fill the pass rush that left with Willekes, Raequan Williams, Mike Panasiuk, Joe Bachie and Tyriq Thompson.