Michigan State Film Room: Transfer portal additions scheme review

Through the drama and travails of the offseason transfer portal activity, Michigan State has added Armorion Smith (a safety from Cincinnati), Jalen Sami (an interior defensive lineman from Colorado) and Alante Brown (a wide receiver from Nebraska) thus far since the spring portal window closed on April 30.

MSU also had a commitment from TCU transfer cornerback Kee'yon Stewart, but he then flipped his commitment to Arkansas.

In this article, we will focus on the defensive additions and break down the film of Smith and Sami.

Finding film on Armorion Smith was somewhat difficult, as he was a rotational player on a Group of Five team (albeit, a soon to be Power Five program as Cincinnati enters the Big 12 in 2023), but his highest snap count of the regular season came against Central Florida (39), where he notched a number of notable plays.

Smith also played 39 defensive snaps in the Bearcats' Fenway Bowl loss to Louisville.

Above, Smith, No. 27, lines up as the deepest safety at the top of the screen. He stays in phase to get underneath what looks like a sort of post route at the top of the frame, then comes off to make a solid tackle in space on the backside dig.

The sound tackle he made, unfortunately looks to be a bit of an anomaly. Where he looks to be able to stay in phase coverage-wise at a replacement level, most of the time he flashed on the screen was as a very suspect tackler.

Above, he lines up in between the 40-yard line and the hash, and edges toward the run action. However, he is able to positively impact the downfield blockers, and does not provide effective run support against the jet sweep. Ideally, I would like to see more physicality from a downhill safety.

As the last line of defense, missed tackles by safeties are often maximally damaging. Such is the case here, as Smith lines up deep in a short-yardage situation. I suspect he aligned a few yards deeper than he should, as he does not fill the gap opened by the false step of the middle linebacker at the 22-yard line. Smith absolutely whiffs on his tackle attempt, and the UCF back waltzes in for six points.

The lack of physicality is apparent above, when Smith follows the lateral action of UCF's No. 33, and activates quickly downhill against the wildcat back, which is unambiguously positive. However, he gets run over at the goal line, proving his likely inability to be a "box" safety.

The second view underscores that point.

Smith swings and misses on the game-deciding touchdown, when an arm tackle attempt goes awry.

Smith's apparent unwillingness, or inability, to meaningfully contact a downhill player in space will not fare well against the large, physical backs of the Big Ten.

I appreciate his willingness to sacrifice his body at the goal line, but his inability to tackle in space relegates him to a replacement-level player in the Big Ten.

Smith provides much-needed depth for Michigan State's safety group, and will likely see snaps on defense and special teams, but will need to improve his physicality and tackling to make an impact for the Spartans.

On the contrary, Jalen Sami is a player I expect to meaningfully contribute to MSU's defensive line in 2023. I was expecting just to see an average defensive tackle who would be able to give minimal rotational snaps per game and serve as a depth piece. While he still isn't likely to start, I think that is more a function of the strength of MSU's defensive line with Simeon Barrow, Derrick Harmon, Maverick Hansen and others. However, I would expect Sami to rotate in, and to feature in short-yardage situations.

Per Pro Football Focus, Sami was the second-highest graded interior defensive lineman on Colorado last season. The 6-foot-6, 325-pound defensive tackle played between the guards, either as a one-technique in the A-gap, or head-up over the center as a nose tackle. He functioned mostly as a run defender, who was able to absorb blocks with minimal pass rush.

In this Instagram Reel from private defensive line coach Chris Mulumba (unfortunately, we are unable to embed this content into the article, so please open the link in a new tab), one can see a good encapsulation of Sami's (No. 99) talent.

He plays with violent hands, and is extremely strong, forklifting an offensive lineman into a running back for a tackle. I would like to see better pad level, but I understand why a 6-foot-6-inch man would struggle a bit with pad level. I think the coach's caption provides a quality breakdown as well.

"(Sami) makes the play by closing the gap using the offensive linemen body and makes the tackle," Mulumba writes. "Sometimes you don’t need to get in the gap to make the tackle. You can use power and close the gap with his body."