Perhaps Coach Mark Dantonio said it best: “If you’re a starter for us, right now for Michigan State with the success that we’ve had, you have the opportunity to go play at the next level.”
Indeed, when you’re piling up 11 win seasons and getting into New Year’s Bowls with regularity, you become a NFL Draft prospect factory. Defensive Tackle Malik McDowell is definitely up next.
“He’s a great athlete, unbelievable football player,” said Michigan State Tight End Josiah Price.
“Hopefully he comes out and lives up to all these high expectations that everybody has of him. Hopefully, he doesn’t read into the media too much, and think ‘I’m amazing blah blah blah.’
“Hopefully he works hard everyday and earns All-American status and I think he will.”
Malik McDowell might just be the league’s top NFL talent, but you can also make a strong case for:
Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers (which we profiled here), Ohio State’s Raekwon McMillan (who we profiled at this link) and Iowa’s Desmond King (profile linked here)
McDowell will have to MSU’s anchor on the D-line, as both starting ends have now graduated and the tackle position doesn’t have the experience that it once had. Shilique Calhoun was a three year starter in East Lansing, but he’s now with the Oakland Raiders.
McDowell was the most disruptive DL on the team last season as he finished second in both tackles for loss and QB hurries. This he accomplished in spite of all the double teams. He should end up having higher NFL Draft stock than Calhoun when all is said and done. The 6-6, 280 junior nose tackle is one of those guys with a body that seems impossible.
Guys his size shouldn’t be able to move like that and guys that can move like that just shouldn’t be his size.
Price said that Malik McDowell really looks like a guy who will be playing on Sundays next season.
“Definitely, you see him walk through a room and you think he plays in the NFL probably, he’s a specimen.”
“It’s almost like how are you that big, how do you do that,” MSU wide receiver R.J. Shelton said of McDowell.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.