Camp Update: Malik is 'Ready to rock'
Ricardo Cooney | SpartanMag.com
EAST LANSING - You could hear the pride in Ron Burton's voice as he talked about the furthering development of junior defensive lineman Malik McDowell, this week as Michigan State training camp hit full bore.
McDowell will open the season on Sept. 2 on many major watch lists for postseason awards. He is a popular pick for preseason All-America status.
But he has chosen to ignore those accolades as he uses MSU’s loss to Alabama in the last season’s College Football Playoff as motivation to get even better.
“I’ve never lost a game like that, so I just work,’’ McDowell said. “So, I let y’all give it all that stuff cause I could care less. I just know I’ve got to keep working to meet my goals (for this team). My expectations have always been to give the best I’ve got and give my full effort. As long as I’ve felt like I gave my full effort, I’m happy at the end of the day.
“All-American? I guess that is a good thing around here. I guess that would be cool. But at the end of the day, I’m just trying to ball and play football.”
While the 6-foot-6, 276-pound McDowell has proven to be a physical force that regularly draws double teams from the Spartans' opponents, it is his maturation as a complete defender along the defensive line that Burton is most proud of during two seasons of tutelage.
“That’s just part of the maturation between your freshman, sophomore and junior year,’’ Burton said. “Most kids have a tendency to start to want more after they’ve gone through the system. They have the ability and now, they want to know what can make this even easier, ‘How can I understand the fundamentals of it?’
“You’re already special as an athlete but understanding the fundamentals side of it (is what) takes you to a new level.
“Also, the other big part of it is helping someone else, being there to coach other guys. And that’s a big part of him now too.’’
The soft-spoken McDowell, who admits that he doesn't watch much football or television for that matter, addressed his development during MSU’s Media Day earlier this week. He recalled the rude introduction to Division I football he received at the hands of former Spartan All-American Jack Allen, who manhandled the talented but raw rookie during an early session of practice.
“That humbled me and had me thinking is football really right for me,’’ he admitted. “My whole freshman year had me thinking like that. You go from being that good throughout high school and now you come up here . . . but I learned that you just have to be able to push on through it, keep on learning and to keep pushing yourself. I guess I figured it out sooner then later.’’
Part of figuring it all out came from off-the-field talks with former Spartan defensive ends, Marcus Rush, now with the San Francisco 49ers, and Lawrence Thomas, a present member of the New York Jets.
“L.T. and Marcus Rush told me, if you don’t study your own film, you’re (in trouble). They said to watch film of yourself, here you messed up and where you can do better,’’ McDowell said. “So once I started paying attention to that film and figuring out stuff for actually what it is, the game slowed down for me and I was able to play more comfortably.”
That led to increased interest in watching film of opponents for scouting purposes.
“Like I can tell when linemen are going to be pulling, now,” McDowell said. “There’s a lot of stuff out there that you can tell, you’ve just got to pay attention to the little stuff. My freshman year, the game was moving too fast. Now I can just sit down and look for that stuff and be ready to go.
“So right now, I’m just working on my get-off, making sure I get off the ball consistently on every play.’’
He has since parlayed those early lessons into a collegiate career that has made him arguably the best defensive lineman in the Big Ten for 2016.
But there was a process.
“Everyone’s a freshman, everyone has the ability, and as we told Malik when he came here, the best players play,’’ Burton said. “And from the raw ability his freshman year to him starting the bowl game in his freshman year to (the ability of starting) 14, 15 games, the maturity of understanding and becoming more coachable in what he’s doing, now he’s in a position where he totally understand the defense and the package of protections teams are using against him.
“So now, what we are doing now and what he has improved upon is understanding the game and how people are trying to attack him, as he makes his moves, as he plays his strengths and weaknesses. So that’s been the key factor with him, understanding the game a lot better. And that’s where we’re at now: the mental side of the game, the different alignments, the protections and how they attack you. That means more film and more film to come.
“So it’s not only about playing the game but understanding the backfield sets the defense is going against, understanding the splits between the guard and center and then, the tackle and what are they trying to do in a particular situation based on the personnel or the backfield sets, down and distance. So the pre-snap stuff is what he’s starting to understand now and that’s been our gameplan.’’
Additionally, if McDowell has his way, he wants to expand his influence on MSU’s defense by being able to lineup in different gaps along the defensive front.
While it has become commonplace for McDowell to draw double teams on the interior as the primary nose tackle, he is excited about the prospect of getting an opportunity to face one-on-one blocks when he occasionally moves out to defensive end, as is the plan for 2016 against some opponents in some situations.
“I’ve been tired of those double teams for awhile now,’’ McDowell said with a laugh. “It would be a luxury to get a one-on-one matchup because I don’t get many of them and I usually win most of them. So I like ‘em a lot.”
Moving out to defensive end won’t ensure one-on-one blocking, but Michigan State coaches are looking for ways to pit McDowell in favorable match-ups, anywhere along the defensive line. Wherever he travels, double-team attention is likely to follow.
“I still need to learn how to make the play with the double team still on me,” he said. “I know with the double team, somebody else is free. So at the end of the day, if that happens, I’m doing my job. But it would still be fun to make the plays when I’m double-teamed. I need to figure that out and how to make a play on a consistent basis. That is definitely one of the things I’ve really been working on, my angling up and punching in with the double team.’’
McDowell will enter the 2016 season with 56 career tackles, which includes 17.5 tackles for loss. In two seasons at Michigan State, he has six sacks, one interception and two forced fumbles.
Those numbers could increase significantly if McDowell continues to apply the knowledge he has gained to go along with his superior athleticism.
“If that’s what they need, I’m ready to give my full effort,’’ McDowell said when asked if was ready to meet the spotlight reserved for a All-American candidates. “I’m ready to rock.’’
Ricardo Cooney | SpartanMag.com
EAST LANSING - You could hear the pride in Ron Burton's voice as he talked about the furthering development of junior defensive lineman Malik McDowell, this week as Michigan State training camp hit full bore.
McDowell will open the season on Sept. 2 on many major watch lists for postseason awards. He is a popular pick for preseason All-America status.
But he has chosen to ignore those accolades as he uses MSU’s loss to Alabama in the last season’s College Football Playoff as motivation to get even better.
“I’ve never lost a game like that, so I just work,’’ McDowell said. “So, I let y’all give it all that stuff cause I could care less. I just know I’ve got to keep working to meet my goals (for this team). My expectations have always been to give the best I’ve got and give my full effort. As long as I’ve felt like I gave my full effort, I’m happy at the end of the day.
“All-American? I guess that is a good thing around here. I guess that would be cool. But at the end of the day, I’m just trying to ball and play football.”
While the 6-foot-6, 276-pound McDowell has proven to be a physical force that regularly draws double teams from the Spartans' opponents, it is his maturation as a complete defender along the defensive line that Burton is most proud of during two seasons of tutelage.
“That’s just part of the maturation between your freshman, sophomore and junior year,’’ Burton said. “Most kids have a tendency to start to want more after they’ve gone through the system. They have the ability and now, they want to know what can make this even easier, ‘How can I understand the fundamentals of it?’
“You’re already special as an athlete but understanding the fundamentals side of it (is what) takes you to a new level.
“Also, the other big part of it is helping someone else, being there to coach other guys. And that’s a big part of him now too.’’
The soft-spoken McDowell, who admits that he doesn't watch much football or television for that matter, addressed his development during MSU’s Media Day earlier this week. He recalled the rude introduction to Division I football he received at the hands of former Spartan All-American Jack Allen, who manhandled the talented but raw rookie during an early session of practice.
“That humbled me and had me thinking is football really right for me,’’ he admitted. “My whole freshman year had me thinking like that. You go from being that good throughout high school and now you come up here . . . but I learned that you just have to be able to push on through it, keep on learning and to keep pushing yourself. I guess I figured it out sooner then later.’’
Part of figuring it all out came from off-the-field talks with former Spartan defensive ends, Marcus Rush, now with the San Francisco 49ers, and Lawrence Thomas, a present member of the New York Jets.
“L.T. and Marcus Rush told me, if you don’t study your own film, you’re (in trouble). They said to watch film of yourself, here you messed up and where you can do better,’’ McDowell said. “So once I started paying attention to that film and figuring out stuff for actually what it is, the game slowed down for me and I was able to play more comfortably.”
That led to increased interest in watching film of opponents for scouting purposes.
“Like I can tell when linemen are going to be pulling, now,” McDowell said. “There’s a lot of stuff out there that you can tell, you’ve just got to pay attention to the little stuff. My freshman year, the game was moving too fast. Now I can just sit down and look for that stuff and be ready to go.
“So right now, I’m just working on my get-off, making sure I get off the ball consistently on every play.’’
He has since parlayed those early lessons into a collegiate career that has made him arguably the best defensive lineman in the Big Ten for 2016.
But there was a process.
“Everyone’s a freshman, everyone has the ability, and as we told Malik when he came here, the best players play,’’ Burton said. “And from the raw ability his freshman year to him starting the bowl game in his freshman year to (the ability of starting) 14, 15 games, the maturity of understanding and becoming more coachable in what he’s doing, now he’s in a position where he totally understand the defense and the package of protections teams are using against him.
“So now, what we are doing now and what he has improved upon is understanding the game and how people are trying to attack him, as he makes his moves, as he plays his strengths and weaknesses. So that’s been the key factor with him, understanding the game a lot better. And that’s where we’re at now: the mental side of the game, the different alignments, the protections and how they attack you. That means more film and more film to come.
“So it’s not only about playing the game but understanding the backfield sets the defense is going against, understanding the splits between the guard and center and then, the tackle and what are they trying to do in a particular situation based on the personnel or the backfield sets, down and distance. So the pre-snap stuff is what he’s starting to understand now and that’s been our gameplan.’’
Additionally, if McDowell has his way, he wants to expand his influence on MSU’s defense by being able to lineup in different gaps along the defensive front.
While it has become commonplace for McDowell to draw double teams on the interior as the primary nose tackle, he is excited about the prospect of getting an opportunity to face one-on-one blocks when he occasionally moves out to defensive end, as is the plan for 2016 against some opponents in some situations.
“I’ve been tired of those double teams for awhile now,’’ McDowell said with a laugh. “It would be a luxury to get a one-on-one matchup because I don’t get many of them and I usually win most of them. So I like ‘em a lot.”
Moving out to defensive end won’t ensure one-on-one blocking, but Michigan State coaches are looking for ways to pit McDowell in favorable match-ups, anywhere along the defensive line. Wherever he travels, double-team attention is likely to follow.
“I still need to learn how to make the play with the double team still on me,” he said. “I know with the double team, somebody else is free. So at the end of the day, if that happens, I’m doing my job. But it would still be fun to make the plays when I’m double-teamed. I need to figure that out and how to make a play on a consistent basis. That is definitely one of the things I’ve really been working on, my angling up and punching in with the double team.’’
McDowell will enter the 2016 season with 56 career tackles, which includes 17.5 tackles for loss. In two seasons at Michigan State, he has six sacks, one interception and two forced fumbles.
Those numbers could increase significantly if McDowell continues to apply the knowledge he has gained to go along with his superior athleticism.
“If that’s what they need, I’m ready to give my full effort,’’ McDowell said when asked if was ready to meet the spotlight reserved for a All-American candidates. “I’m ready to rock.’’
