Michigan State’s linebacker room was potentially one of the thinnest spots on the team just months ago, but after a big haul of transfer talent, it is one of the Spartans’ strongest groups.

Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Joe Rossi has plenty to work with — especially in the long game. Michigan State’s 2024 and 2025 recruiting classes will bring in more talented linebackers — ones that could be an impact early on. With that being said, the three linebacking spots in Rossi’s defense could be filled with plenty of talent in the fall of 2025.

Rossi uses a wide variety of fronts and coverages — he will typically use three linebackers and a hybrid stand-up edge rusher.

If the transfer portal doesn’t poach any talent, this the potential linebacker room for 2025:

2025 Class Standing: Junior

The recruiting gem of the Mel Tucker era, Hall came in as a four-star recruit and started as a true freshman. Hall was acclimated to the college game fast — playing in all 12 games and starting in six — registering 67 tackles and 4.5 sacks. Hall will be looking to take a big step in his sophomore season in 2024 — and if he does, he could be a serious NFL prospect by the time his junior year arrives.

2025 Class Standing: RS-Senior

Matthews was one of the 2024 transfer portal gems for Jonathan Smith and Rossi. He will likely be a Day 1 starter for the Spartans. In two seasons with Old Dominion, Matthews racked up 148 tackles in 26 games. His 82.9 Pro Football Focus grade last season was tied for 21st among linebackers in the country. Matthews could be another potential NFL prospect.

2025 Class Standing: Junior

Bridgeman was another big portal get — but perhaps for the long run. The competition for 2024 is stiff — but in 2025, he could shine. Bridgeman was one of the top linebackers in the country when he was a recruit, he was No. 37 at his position nationally, per 247Sports. Bridgeman could blossom in Rossi’s scheme.

2025 Class Standing: Junior

Pulliam played one season at Miami before coming to East Lansing in May. Pulliam, 6-foot-3, 240-pounds, has size and was a sprinter in high school. Pulliam is intriguing, and how Rossi uses him in 2024 could flesh out his role for 2025. Regardless, Pulliam could see action in a variety of packages, and perhaps be a pass-rushing linebacker or a rush end for Chad Wilt.

2025 Class Standing: Sophomore

The 6-foot-3, 230-pound four-star Northern Michigan product can do it all and could be a big time player for Michigan State. Pretzlaff likely won’t contribute much in 2024 — the group is stacked — but his long-term potential is immense. National recruiting analyst Allen Trieu wrote, “Good size already and will get stronger in college … Should be a solid coverage linebacker and is a good all around athlete. Approach to the game and intangibles make him a very high floor prospect … potential captain type and a player who should be near the top of his team’s tackles stats.”

2025 Class Standing: Freshman

White was Smith’s second 2025 commit. White’s potential is high. He is the No. 65 linebacker in his class, per 247Sports, and there is a lot to like about his measurables and his tape. White is 6-foot-3, 190-pounds — he will need to add weight to his frame, but his athleticism is incredible, he is a two-time state qualifier for the 110-meter hurdles. Last year, he finished second in the event. White is a former safety and it shows through his ability in coverage and his ball-skills. Two words to describe his game — fluid and aware. White told Spartan Nation Rossi plans to have him at the strong-side or weak-side spot.

2025 Class Standing: Freshman

Malone was the third 2025 commit for Michigan State. Malone is athletic and can do it all — pass rush, run-stop, and drop into coverage. His tape exhibits incredible ball-skills — he registered multiple interceptions in off-coverage 20-plus yards deep. He told Spartan Nation he had the hips of a defensive back, and the tape doesn’t lie. Malone has a burst that can overwhelm blockers when he pass-rushes. Malone also seems to always be near the ball, and he’s a playmaker.

Michael France is Sports Illustrated’s Michigan State recruiting beat writer, covering all things Big Ten recruiting for Spartan Nation. Be sure to follow him on Twitter/X@michaelfrancesi for exclusive Spartans recruiting coverage.

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Experts say election workers and even voters face an almost unprecedented amount of tactics designed to intimidate them.

A recent poll from Bloomberg/Morning Consult found that roughly 50% of registered voters across a group of swing-states — including Michigan — aren’t confident the election and its aftermath will be free from violence.

But a new analysis finds both federal and Michigan law offer ample protections against bullying at the polls.

The Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law studied voters’ rights in political battleground states including Michigan.

Senior Counsel Eliza Sweren-Becker says anyone encountering trouble at the ballot box has many options available to defend themselves.

Listen: Experts say Michigan law ‘has the back’ of election workers and voters

The following interview was edited for clarity.

Eliza Sweren-Becker, Brennan Center for Justice: Federal law sets a floor preventing and prohibiting intimidation of voters and election officials. And those laws are quite strong. They’ve been on the books for a long time and they’ve been enforced for many, many years. The states can go above and beyond that floor to protect voters against intimidation. And they do, in fact, do that. The laws that are specific to Michigan are really complimentary and consistent with the existing federal laws. They’re enforced by different prosecutors as opposed to U.S. attorneys and employees of the U.S. Department of Justice. The laws in Michigan also go to some of the more specific election-related issues that may be occurring in Michigan. For example, Michigan law places a number of guardrails around voter challenges. And that’s something that federal law doesn’t get deeply in the weeds of. But Michigan law constrains them in a number of different ways.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: There was a controversy at the central Detroit location where they counted votes in the last presidential election. Officials moved some observers out, they complained that they were getting in the way of counting votes, more or less. And those poll watchers claimed that they were being sent out of the area so that they would not see any fraud being committed. What do you suggest either the poll watchers or the workers do in such a situation?

ES: Not knowing the specifics, if those who were present at the vote-counting site were intimidating the election workers or disrupting the election processes, then the election officials and workers were appropriately removing folks. Election observers remained at that vote-counting site and nothing inappropriate happened as a result of those removals. The thing that was inappropriate was the disruptive and intimidating conduct.

QK: Are there any differences in Michigan’s voter intimidation laws as opposed to other states that surprise you in any way?

ES: The protections against intimidating election officials in Michigan, for example, are quite specific. And that’s an issue that we’ve seen come up in Michigan in recent years. And so, the law affords particular protections for election workers and officials explicitly in the Michigan code. And while it’s true that every election worker and poll worker is protected against intimidation, the level of specificity may differ in certain states. It’s a clear and strong protection for election officials and election workers in Michigan.

QK: That’s certainly become an issue in Michigan, as many election workers have talked about fear over their safety, not just during election day or when they are counting votes, but they oftentimes get threatening voicemails or other things directed at them even after a certain candidate has lost. Are there steps that can be taken either during the actual vote counting if intimidation occurs, or something else that election workers can do nowadays, compared to the past, if it happens before or after election day?

ES: If there are issues that are occurring at a polling place, for example, intimidation by a poll watcher or a challenger, poll workers in Michigan have the authority to remove that disruptive or intimidating poll watcher or challenger from the voting premises. So it’s not just a remedy after the fact. But if there’s instances of misconduct, as they’re occurring poll workers have the power to stop that in its tracks.

QK: If something develops that’s of concern on election day itself, a lot of times you’ll hear major political parties say, “We have attorneys at the ready.” And they say they’ll go to court to make sure that this or that is addressed in some way. For the various workers or voters, for that matter, who might be waiting to cast their vote or in the midst of doing so, what would you suggest they try to do? Especially if they don’t seem to have a group of attorneys at the ready. Are there particular ways that they should protest that they feel like they are being intimidated, or particular officials they should protest that to?

ES: Yes. If somebody is going to the courthouse to vindicate voting access and voting rights, typically the remedy they might get is, for example, an extension of polling place hours to ensure that voters have the opportunity to cast their ballots and any disruption that may have taken place doesn’t infringe on the number of hours that voters are entitled to be able to vote on election day. But in the moment of intimidating or disruptive conduct, the first thing I’d recommend is that a voter alert an election worker to that conduct. Those workers, again, have the authority to maintain order within the polling place. And voters can also call a nonpartisan election protection hotline if they are observing anything that they think is out of the ordinary, that is disruptive, that is intimidating. That is a way to pass along those concerns and complaints. And it could enable that person or set of voters to actually get representation if needed, because nonpartisan lawyers participate in that election protection hotline to make sure that every vote cast counts on election day. That number for election protection is (866) “OUR-VOTE.” There are strong existing state laws and federal laws — including state laws in Michigan — that protect voters from intimidation, election interference and disruption. And laws that likewise protect election officials and election workers. So while it’s something that we are watching very closely, voters and election officials should know that the law has their back.

Everyone knows that Michigan loves to run the ball but the Wolverines would love to nab a stud wide receiver or two in the 2025 class. That may just end up being possible with Las Vegas Bishop Gorman five-star Derek Meadows.

The 6-5, 200-pounder is one of the most coveted receivers in the entire nation and recently he put the Wolverines on his calendar as one of the five schools that will receive an official visit.

As you can see above, Meadows will kick off his official visits with a trip to Ann Arbor this weekend. Then, for the next three weeks in a row, he’ll check out his four other top schools starting with Georgia and Notre Dame, who might be leading for him, followed by LSU and Alabama.

There are a few things to pay attention to when it comes to Meadows. In the past, this is the type of prospect Michigan wouldn’t have a chance with, but after winning a national title, everyone is paying attention at least a little bit. Also, it’s a little unfortunate that he’ll visit Michigan first, but if Sherrone Moore and Co. knock it out of the park, everyone else could fall short moving forward. Finally, the news that schools can directly pay athletes moving forward bodes very, very well for Michigan as one of the richest schools in the entire country. That has to be a good thing moving forward for Moore and his staff as they start to recruit on another level.