4 more Spartans football players join transfer portal
Friday was a busy day for the Michigan State football roster.
Four players the transfer portal, most notably junior quarterback Rocky Lombardi, who started the team’s first six games this season.
Lombardi is the fourth MSU player to enter the portal Friday and the ninth to do so since coach Mel Tucker took over Feb. 12.
The other three: redshirt freshman offensive lineman Devontae Dobbs and redshirt sophomore cornerback Davion Williams, both Belleville products, and redshirt sophomore linebacker Jeslord Boateng.
Lombardi leaves after starting nine games in his four seasons, including three in 2018. He threw for 1,901 yards with 11 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 22 career appearances at MSU. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound native of Clive, Iowa, completed 84 of 157 passes for 1,090 yards with eight touchdowns and nine interceptions this season, adding 39 rushing yards on 32 carries.
This season, his first as the full-time starter, was up and down. He threw for 319 yards in the opening-game loss to Rutgers with three touchdowns and two interceptions. He then orchestrated a 27-24 win at Michigan, passing for 323 yards with three TDs and no picks.
His progress unraveled starting the next week at Iowa, when Lombardi threw three interceptions and passed for 227 yards in a 49-7 blowout loss. He got pulled in the second quarter against Indiana after two more interceptions. Redshirt freshman Payton Thorne replaced him.
Thorne finished the season 48 of 85 for three touchdowns and three interceptions in four appearances. He ran for 47 yards on 25 carries and one of MSU’s two rushing TDs this season. Tucker brought in Temple grad transfer Anthony Russo on Wednesday and added three-star Texas prep prospect Hamp Fay on signing day. Fay is expected to enroll in January. The Spartans also have sophomore Theo Day and redshirt freshman Noah Kim as scholarship QB options on the roster.
Dobbs was the top offensive guard recruit in the country in the 2019 class and played in four games last season, including a start at left tackle against Rutgers. However, he was not in uniform for any of MSU’s games this year.
Williams was a three-star recruit in the 2018 class but did not play much this season, logging 88 snaps and producing eight tackles over seven games.
Boateng was also a three-star prospect in 2018 and played almost exclusively on special teams this season, 46 snaps in total.
Last week, another former Belleville star, sophomore Julian Barnett, also entered the transfer portal. Since the beginning of the season, eight MSU players have submitted their names as new coach Mel Tucker reshapes the roster.
Recruiting updates
Tucker landed one of his two highly recruited players from New Jersey.
Geno VanDeMark, a 2021 three-star offensive lineman from St. Joseph Regional High in Montvale, New Jersey, signed his letter of intent to Michigan State football on Friday, the final day of the early signing period.
His high school teammate, four-star run
ning back Audric Estime, who verbally committed to MSU in September, announced on social media he would sign with Notre Dame.
The 6-0, 220-pound Estime led New Jersey with 1,857 yards and 22 TDs in eight games for St. Joseph.
VanDeMark (6-5, 295 pounds) is the 18th player to sign with the Spartans during the early period. Oak Park four-star defensive tackle Rayshaun Benny told the Free Press last week that he plans to wait until February to sign with MSU.
Draft news
Linebacker Antjuan Simmons announced on social media on Friday that he will enter the 2021 NFL draft. Though he is a senior, the NCAA has offered all players an extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic.
“This has been one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make due to the love I have for Michigan State,” Simmons wrote. “Michigan State has taught me so many lessons that have contributed to the growth of me as an individual/human. … It’s been a pleasure and I’m going to miss every second of it. It’s time to take the next step and chases my dreams.”
Simmons has been MSU’s leader in Tucker’s new 4-2 5 defense that used just two linebackers. He was one of the best players in the Big Ten, earning second-team All-Big Ten by the media and third-team from the coaches on Thursday.
The Spartans have had at least one player selected in 80 straight NFL drafts, the thirdlongest streak in the nation, after Josiah Scott and Kenny Willekes were selected in April. MSU is one of four schools with at least one player selected in every NFL draft since 1967, along with Michigan, Florida, and USC.