And with the first pick in the 2011 MSU spring game draft...
... the Green team takes Johnny Adams, backing up what coaches have been saying about Adams' play this spring.
UPDATE: Defensive end Corey Freeman was not drafted because he is suspended for the spring game, MSU associate AD John Lewandowski confirmed, for violating undisclosed team rules.
Before getting into the picks, here's how it works: Coaches split the seniors into Green and White teams. Kirk Cousins, Keith Nichol, Trenton Robinson, Brian Linthicum are among the Green players. The White team includes B.J. Cunningham, Keshawn Martin, Todd Anderson and Garrett Celek -- and Andrew Maxwell, because Cousins is on the Green team (full rosters coming from MSU shortly).
After a player is drafted, that position group is then picked back and forth until it is exhausted. So here's how it went.
Green team wins coin toss, picks first. Johnny Adams. White then takes Darqueze Dennard, Green takes Tony Lippett, White takes Mitchell White, Green takes Dana Dixon to empty that position group.
With the second pick, White takes Jerel Worthy (and Todd Anderson said later his team was going to take Worthy if it got the first pick). So Green takes Rashad White, then White takes Jordan Sanders, then Green takes Micajah Reynolds and White takes Doug Curtis.
With the third pick, Green takes Dion Sims (remember, Linthicum and Celek are seniors and already split up). White takes Derek Hoebing, Green takes Andrew Gleichert, White takes Drew Stevens.
At No. 4, White takes Le'Veon Bell. Todd Anderson explained later that with watered-down offensive lines, Bell's physicality was seen as a big plus. Green takes Edwin Baker. Dantonio said Baker is "nursing a little shoulder but he'll be fine," which also helps explain the pick. White takes Nick Hill. Green almost takes Jeremy Langford -- because Larry Caper has been bothered by a hamstring injury this spring -- but takes Caper, who is expected to play. Langford goes to White.
At No. 5, Green takes Dan France, a bit of a surprise. White goes with Chris McDonald (White already has senior Jared McGaha). Green takes Blake Treadwell. White takes Travis Jackson. There are your top two centers at this point. Green takes Zach Hueter. White takes John Deyo. Green takes Ethan Ruhland. White takes Michael Dennis. Green takes walk-on Shawn Kamm.
Safeties at No. 6. White takes Isaiah Lewis. Green takes Jairus Jones. White takes Kurtis Drummond. Green takes Mylan Hicks (remember, Trenton Robinson is Green).
At No. 7, outside linebackers. Green takes Denicos Allen. White takes Kyler Elsworth. Green takes Jeremy Gainer. White takes Steve Gardiner, low for him but he is banged up. Green takes Danny Folino. White takes Ty Hamilton.
Then it's defensive ends at No. 8, some surprises. White takes Denzel Drone. Green goes with Tyler Hoover. White takes Marcus Rush. Green takes Will Gholston, giving Green the projected starters for next season. Obviously, this is related to worries about Gholston being banged up, but he said Tuesday he'll play for sure. White finishes the group with Taylor Calero. Corey Freeman, as mentioned above, is suspended for the game for violating team rules.
At No. 9, Green takes Bennie Fowler to open bidding on wide receivers. (Three are already gone, remember. Actually, five because Green has Brad Sonntag and Chris D. Rucker along with Nichol. And Green has Tony Lippett, who can play both ways). White goes with Keith Mumphery. Green takes Fred Smith, who is apparently playing WR in the spring game. White takes Milton Colbert. (NOTE: There was a clerical error in there somewhere, but Donald Spencer did end up with the White team).
At No. 10, White takes Max Bullough to be its middle linebacker. Green gets TyQuan Hammock.
At No. 11, a bunch of stuff happened with special teams players. From what I can gather, Green gets Dan Conroy and Kyle Selden while White gets Kevin Muma and Mike Sadler. Green has Steve Moore snapping, White already has Anderson.
At No. 12, White tried to load up on fullbacks, there was a lot of yelling, and then commissioner Dantonio started making some moves to even up the teams. He sends FB Niko Palazeti to the Green side, with Gleichert going to the White team. He sends Doug Curtis to the Green team to give them more at defensive tackle. The Green team has six defensive backs and the White team four, so Dantonio tries to trade Lippett to White for Mumphery. But the Green team goes nuts, not happy with that decision. So he just gives the White team Dixon instead.
Here are the players who will definitely miss the game with injury: Skyler Schofner (has a head injury, Dantonio said, and MSU doesn't want to risk that), Kevin Pickelman, Johnathan Strayhorn, Chris Norman, Joel Foreman, Antonio Jeremiah, David Barrent, Connor Kruse, Arjen Colquhoun.
So that's it. Here's how the starters look right now:
GREEN offense
QB: Kirk Cousins
FB: Niko Palazeti
RB: Edwin Baker (Larry Caper)
WR: Keith Nichol, Bennie Fowler
TE: Brian Linthicum OR Dion Sims
OT: Dan France, Zach Hueter
OG: Ethan Ruhland, Shawn Kamm (?)
C: Blake Treadwell
GREEN defense
DT: Rashad White, Micajah Reynolds
DE: Tyler Hoover, Will Gholston
LB: Denicos Allen, TyQuan Hammock, Jeremy Gainer
CB: Johnny Adams, Tony Lippett
S: Trenton Robinson, Jairus Jones
WHITE offense
QB: Andrew Maxwell
FB: Todd Anderson
RB: Le'Veon Bell (Nick Hill)
WR: B.J. Cunningham, Keshawn Martin
TE: Garrett Celek
OT: Jared McGaha, Michael Dennis
OG: Chris McDonald, John Deyo
C: Travis Jackson
WHITE defense
DT: Jerel Worthy, Jordan Sanders
DE: Denzel Drone, Marcus Rush
LB: Steve Gardiner, Max Bullough, Kyler Elsworth
CB: Darqueze Dennard, Mitchell White
S: Isaiah Lewis, Kurtis Drummond OR Mylan Hicks
And after it was all over, Keith Nichol guaranteed victory for the Green team. I'm installing the Green as early six-point favorites.
