MSU Has Found Its Best Pass-Rusher

However, over the last few games, MSU may have found a defensive end who could develop into the team’s best pass-rusher. 

This offseason, Jonathan Smith and his defensive staff looked for help along the defensive line. They found several players, but none may have been more important than Wisconsin transfer Anelu Lafaele. 

Anelu Lafaele's emergence

A former four-star prospect out of Farrington High School in Honolulu, HI, Lafaele did not see the field for the Badgers last season and decided to enter the transfer portal. He joined the Spartans to be coached by Chad Wilt and Legi Suiaunoa. 

It was tough to project what Lafaele was going to do for MSU in his first season in East Lansing, as he did not play a single snap last season. The staff believed he was ready to attack FBS offensive lines, as evidenced by his 34 snaps through two games (per Pro Football Focus). 

Lafaele has the second-highest pass-rush grade on the Spartans through two games at 68.5, just behind linebacker Aisea Moa, who has played 10 fewer snaps than Lafaele. So, this shows that the redshirt freshman is the Spartans’ best pass-rusher. 

Against Western Michigan in Week 1, Lafaele recorded his first collegiate sack and also knocked the ball loose from Broncos QB Brady Jones. 

He was not credited for a sack against Boston College QB Dylan Lonergan, but he was in on an important play that gave the ball back to the Spartans. 

At 6-foot-2 and 239 pounds, Lafaele wins with speed, quickness, and a relentless motor off the edge. The numbers aren’t eye-popping yet, but with more reps, they will be.

MSU has not had a pass-rusher of Lafaele’s caliber in years, and he is just getting started. He has already shown flashes of being a consistently dominant presence off the edge for the next few years.

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