Offensive Line a Portal Point of Emphasis

Context: 2025 Offensive Line

Before projecting what Michigan State’s offensive line can be in 2026, it’s important to be clear about what it was in 2025, because the baseline matters.

Statistically, MSU’s offense struggled to function on a down-to-down basis:

• Yards per play: ~4.8 (≈108th nationally)

• Third-down conversion: ~33% (≈114th nationally)

• Rushing yards/game: ~123 (≈109th nationally)

• Sack rate: 9.6% of dropbacks (127th nationally)

• Total sacks allowed: 37 (12th-most in the FBS)

This wasn’t a case of one broken area, it was systemic inefficiency. Too many plays ended behind the chains, too many drives stalled before they could find rhythm, and too many passing situations became predictable. A lot of this can be attributed to injury. Some blame can be pointed at the RB room, which we believe is noticeably better going into 2026.

Even with a strong individual season from center Gulbin, the line as a unit lacked:

• Consistent interior push

• Edge stability

• Lineup continuity due to injuries

• Reliable depth when starters went down

The result was an offense that rarely dictated terms.

Offensive Line Turnover: Quantifying What Was Lost

At a glance, Michigan State’s 2026 offensive line looks like a major turnover group. In reality, it’s a redistribution of snaps from injury-prone or replacement-level players to proven, durable starters.

Snaps & Starts Lost (2025 Departures)

Player	Position	Starts / Games	Context
Gulbin	C	Full-time starter	Elite season (82 PFF), but interior stability collapsed around him
Lepo	IOL	28 career games	Injured in 2025
Broscious	OT	4 starts / 11 games	Two season-ending injuries
Ramil	OT	5 games	High upside, never healthy
Phillips	OT/IOL	4 games	Back-to-back injury seasons
Terpstra	C	Backup	Emergency depth only
Stewart	OL	0 games	No snaps
Luniewski twins	OL	0 games	No snaps

Key takeaway: MSU is losing a lot of names, but only one consistent, high-level snap provider. The rest represent fragmented or unavailable production.

Portal Additions: Proven Production Replacing Fragile Depth

MSU didn’t just replace bodies, they overcorrected for reliability.

Incoming Portal Starters (Projected)

Player	Pos	2025 Role	Notable Production
Fraley	C	Full-time starter	29 Career Starts. 2025: 800+ PB snaps, 1 sack allowed, Rimington winner
Murawski	LG	Starting OT	Top-5 run-block grade nationally. 12 games at LT in 2025 and 6 games at LG in 2024.
Sharpe	RG	Starting G	4th-best SEC guard (PFF) in 2025. Career played 35 games with 17 starts.
Wright	LT	Starting OT	One of highest-graded G5 tackles. 11 starts in 2025, with a 75.6 pass-block grade
Moore*	RT	Starter	40 career starts. 70 PFF grade in 2025.

*Moore is a returning starter

Snaps Added: Collectively, the four portal additions bring 75 career starts and thousands of snaps. Far exceeding the losses of Gulbin and others.

What the 2026 Line Is Being Built to Fix

The 2026 offensive line rebuild is best understood as a response to those specific failures, not just a talent refresh.

Pass Protection: From Liability to Baseline Competency

Allowing a sack on nearly 10% of dropbacks fundamentally limits what an offense can call. The portal additions directly target that issue.

• Fraley’s profile (800+ pass-blocking snaps, one sack allowed) isn’t about replacing Gulbin’s accolades — it’s about preserving pass-pro efficiency

• Wright brings a high snap volume and pass-protection stability to the left tackle competition. In 2025, he logged 752 offensive snaps and graded 75.6 in pass protection. Across 436 pass-blocking snaps, Wright was charged with five sacks and 17 pressures. Wright’s pressure rate (~4%) is manageable

  
  

What this means contextually: Even modest improvement here (dropping sack rate into the ~6% range) materially changes third-down play-calling and QB efficiency.

Run Blocking: From Minimal Gains to Sustainable Efficiency

In 2025, MSU ran the ball at a reasonable rate (~48%) but produced very little for it (3.6 YPC). That combination signals ineffective blocking, not schematic imbalance.

The projected 2026 interior is designed to change that:

• Murawski’s run-blocking profile upgrades the left side

• Sharpe adds SEC-level power at guard

• Moore returns with strong 86 Run Grade.

• Depth behind them reduces the performance cliff when injuries occur.

Contextually: This line doesn’t need to become dominant to matter. Moving from 3.6 YPC to the low-4s would dramatically improve early-down success and keep the offense on schedule.

Check out our RB Room evaluation here.

Third Down: A Downstream Benefit, Not a Direct Fix

Third-down struggles (33%) were a symptom, not a root cause.

• Too many 3rd-and-7+ situations

• Too many obvious passing downs

• Too much pressure before routes could develop

The OL rebuild targets first- and second-down efficiency, which is how third-down numbers actually improve.

Where This Leaves the 2026 Offense

This offensive line is not being built to suddenly carry the offense on its own. It’s being built to restore functional margins:

• Fewer negative plays

• Fewer drive-killing sacks

• More manageable down-and-distance situations

• Greater durability across a full season

That alone raises the offensive floor significantly — even before factoring in schematic shifts or skill-position upgrades.

Brief Note on the Backfield (Without Going Deep)

It’s also worth noting that the running back room has undergone a meaningful overhaul, adding talent and stylistic variety that better complements a run-forward offensive identity. While this piece intentionally centers on the offensive line, that renewed backfield should allow improvements up front to show up more clearly in the stat sheet. A deeper look at OL–RB synergy deserves its own discussion.

Bottom Line

The 2025 offensive line forced the offense to play uphill. The 2026 line is designed to make the offense structurally viable again.

The jump MSU is chasing isn’t from bad to elite, it’s from non-functional to sustainable. And historically, that’s where the biggest statistical gains actually happen.

The PFF numbers don’t poke holes in the thesis, they lock it in.

• 2025 failed because too many snaps went to sub-55 graders

• 2026 reallocates those snaps to 65–75 grade players

• That’s how offenses stabilize without becoming flashy