Snap counts, PFF grades: Freshman defenders shine for Michigan State vs. Maryland

EAST LANSING – Better, but still not good enough.

After a dismal performance against Washington last week, Michigan State came out improved a week later against Maryland. Five turnovers made the scoreboard look nearly as ugly, but the Spartans played better in most other facets of the game – a fact reflected in the grades issues by Pro Football Focus.

Here’s a look at some of those grades, plus snap counts from Michigan State’s Week 4 loss to the Terrapins.

* J.D. Duplain 81

* Nick Samac 81

* Kevin Wigenton 77

* Nathan Carter 72

* Noah Kim 64

* Brandon Baldwin 59

* Spencer Brown 56

* Montorie Foster Jr. 51

Jaron Glover 50

* Maliq Carr 44

* Tre Mosley 38

* Evan Morris 28

Jaylan Franklin 28

Tyrell Hery 27

Christian Fitzpatrick 27

Ethan Boyd 25

Antonio Gates Jr. 23

Keyshawn Blackstock 18

Katin Houser 13

Alante Brown 7

Jordon Simmons 6

Sam Leavitt 4

Kristian Phillips 4

Ashton Lepo 4

Davion Primm 3

Jack Nickel 1

* Chance Rucker 65

* Dillon Tatum 65

* Malik Spencer 62

Zion Young 56

* Cal Haladay 52

Angelo Grose 52

* Jordan Hall 47

* Derrick Harmon 47

* Aaron Brule 46

Armorion Smith 41

Tunmise Adeleye 38

* Maverick Hansen 31

Simeon Barrow Jr. 30

* Jaden Mangham 23

Avery Dunn 20

Brandon Wright 19

Jarrett Jackson 16

Chester Kimbrough 8

Ken Talley 2

Khalil Majeed 2

Darius Snow 2

Aaron Alexander 1

Harold Joiner III 1

* Playing in the first extended action of his career, freshman defensive back Chance Rucker was among Michigan State’s five highest-rated defensive players. His 71.7 grade in coverage was tops on the team. He was targeted eight times, giving up five catches for 51 yards. Two of the incompletions against him were pass breakups.

* Another freshman, linebacker Jordan Hall, was also among the Spartans’ five highest-rated defensive players in his first start and was the team’s highest-rated linebacker.

* Running back Nathan Carter had his lowest grade in four games for Michigan State. PFF graded him for one quarterback hurry and one pressure in three pass block snaps. His 88 snaps through four games are third-most among Big Ten running backs, only one behind Rutgers’ Kyle Monangai and Minnesota’s Darius Taylor.

* Quarterbacks Noah Kim and Katin Houser had similar grades as passers, Kim grading out at 60.5 and Houser at 58.4. Kim got the better overall grade due to being the team’s highest-graded runner of the game. He was also credited with one big-time throw.

* Simeon Barrow played a smaller role compared to most of this season – 30 snaps instead of 45 last week – but came out with his best grade of the season, 75, and the best defensive grade of any Spartans player in the game.

* Maliq Carr took home the honor of highest-graded Michigan State offensive player, at 73.3. He had several strong catches, but notably his run-blocking grade was easily his best of the season.